The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Straight Lines at Boston Music Room

Straight Lines at Boston Music Room | Live review
26 October 2015
Alejandra Arrieta
Avatar
Alejandra Arrieta
26 October 2015

Music review

Alejandra Arrieta

Straight Lines at Boston Music Room

★★★★★

Highlights

Freaks Like Us

Links

Twitter Facebook Website

Welsh band Straight Lines is part of an endangered species. Their repertoire is made up of dancey punk riffs and heavy beats that emerged from that strange and very American pop-punk era of ten years past. Headliners of a 2000s vibe night at the Boston Music Room, they are anything but unprecedented. The first song of the set, Freaks Like Us, is a good introduction to their sound – one that is spot-on, but not really their own.

The small venue with no more than a hundred people contrasts with the rock-star attitude of vocalist Thomas Jenkins, plays an awkward tapping solo, and addresses the audience as “London” when pleading to “make some noise”. The fact that drummer Dane Campbell is wearing an Elton John shirt, and Jenkins a Harley Davidson one, adds very little to this aura of authenticity they are trying to pull off.

The mood is abruptly changed when Tompkins is left alone to sing and play Ring the Bells, to which he can’t resist the urge of making a pun joke, implying that this acoustic song (played with an electric guitar) might sound familiar. The disparateness of the situation grows with the realisation that this kid actually has a great pop voice, and that he might just be better off pursuing a solo career singing love ballads. But as soon as the tune is over, they’re back to the emo sounds of the turn of the century.

Say It for Your Sake, Antics and Loose Change are among the attendee’s favourites, as they have that perfect mixture of passionate screaming, pop lyrics and loud guitars that define the genre. The audience is having a great time. In fact, they look so into it that one might wonder what year it is. But, no, it isn’t 2006 when Yellowcard, AFI, and Fall Out Boy would figure in the music charts. Straight Lines have been missing out on all the great music of the last decade. They are basically a garage band emulating their favourite – and out dated – music acts. It is not necessarily a creative merit, but at least, in all honesty, they’re really good at it.

★★★★★

Alejandra Arrieta
Photo: Evelyn Opoku-Agyeman

For further information about Straight Lines and future events visit here.

Watch the lyric video for Antics here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Related Itemslive musicPoppunkreview

More in Live music

The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Sarah Bradbury
Read More

Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium

★★★★★
Bev Lung
Read More

Elton John sparkles on his Farewell tour at BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

Twenty One Pilots at Brixton Academy

★★★★★
Regan Harle
Read More

Imagine Dragons at MK Stadium

★★★★★
Katherine Parry
Read More

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Kenwood House

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

Nile Rodgers at Kenwood House Heritage Festival

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Interpol at the Roundhouse

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Alejandra Arrieta

Straight Lines at Boston Music Room

★★★★★

Highlights

Freaks Like Us

Links

Twitter Facebook Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Africa Fashion at the V&A
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • “He used to spit at the audience, roll on the ground, he did, in fact, hump that plastic dog – he was the original punk rocker”: Baz Luhrman, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge and Alton Mason on Elvis
    Cinema & Tv
  • Tigers
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Terminal List
    ★★★★★
    amazon
  • Baymax!
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Parisian bar Little Red Door to take over Adam Handling’s Eve Bar on 7 July
    Food & Drinks
  • Netflix Walking Tour
    ★★★★★
    Cinema & Tv
  • Chelsea Flower Show 2022: Greenery and wellbeing
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Netflix Walking Tour
    ★★★★★
    Cinema & Tv
  • Africa Fashion at the V&A
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • “He used to spit at the audience, roll on the ground, he did, in fact, hump that plastic dog – he was the original punk rocker”: Baz Luhrman, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge and Alton Mason on Elvis
    Cinema & Tv
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Veuve Clicquot Widow Series: A Beautiful Darkness exhibition opens on 29th October for one day only
Care – Then and Now at Oxo Tower Gallery | Exhibition review