Radio Bandcouver - SK Robot, Girl Nobody & Marq DeSouza @ The Green Room Live Review

It was defiantly not the kind of Pop you associate with the current playlists of most radio stations or video channels. It went from the gritty, rocky hard-won storytelling of The Marq Desouza Band ( You may know Marq from the no-nonsense combo Solarbaby) to the ethereal Euro-vibe of Girl Nobody to the almost Guided By Voices tinge of SK Robot.

As the promoter and MC of the show, and the weird weather this July afternoon and evening, attendance was a concern,even after endless postering, e-mailing of papers and radio stations, and even a guest spot on Mojo Radio with Paul Myers's "1,2,3' show the afternoon before the show. But, not to worry, the people came. It is summer, and people tend to go out later.

First up: THE MARQ DESOUZA BAND who I announced as a mix of Dylan, Stones and Steve Earl with the needle still in his arm. His 4 piece combo which included Dave Gannett on co-lead guitar ( You may know him from Sarah Wheeler's band and Tennesee Twin), who, along with Marq displayed an impressive array of skillful fretwork. Also playing along Haney (his first name is Mark too. But to save confusion, we'll refer to him by his last name), plugging away on the bass and a tactful display of skintapping by a man named Dan. They split their set up with an acoustic set which included such memorable tales as: "Screen Legend" and "Where did All Your Wit Go?" and an electric set which included such rousing rave ups as: "I Don't Speak French" and "Raise The Living Dead"- which included both Marq and Dave filling the room with some wild slide guitar freak outs! A inspired, no-nonsense, energetic set!

Then, after an intriguing, atmospheric build up, which I didn't want to interrupt, came GIRL NOBODY, with their charming and vivacious singer Marta, whose vocals and playful stage demeanor remind many of The Sundays, Cranberries and Bjork, to give you some idea of where she's coming from. The eclectic 5 piece, which included the delightful Marta adding some insightful organ fills, weaved their way through some dark rockers like "Face In the Dirt", catchy electronica fueled workouts like "Manchester" to some downright hypnotic numbers that just had the throng mesmerized. I felt like I'm on a trip and I wasn't even on drugs. Well, a few beers and... this is a good thing. By the way, their upcoming first album is very close to being completed. A well executed and varied set that added to the further stretching of the Pop form to the more diverse animal it's supposed to be in the first place.

Then, with their 3 guitars, keyboard, bass and drums barrage, SK ROBOT proved you can make a more pleasant noise with so much audio stimulation available to them. Most of their songs are pocket Pop gems, very rarely more than 2 minutes long at most. Such pleasing excursions as:"Sweet Gun", "That Girl" and "Game Of Pricks" bring back the days when Pop wasn't such a dirty word. This 5 piece is a sort of low-key supergroup consisting of members of such fine Pop units (okay, that's stretching it even further) as: Cinderpop (who are working on a new album), Speed Buggy, the Liars, Saddlesores.... In between songs members would switch from guitar and bass, passing them around like a happy communal gathering. They even called a long-distance fan and left a message on their voicemail via their signature tune: "The Hooded Church of Satan". They didn't get around to playing Wings' "Junior's Farm". That's more than 2 minutes long isn't it? Besides, I think we had blackened the name of Sir Paul enough times on the radio show the other night. Sir Paul. You have great melodies, but, terrible lyrics was the general consensus, and he did wreck he songs by screaming too much.

Anyway, this night at The Green Room was a fantastic display of what Pop music can and should be, taking its influences from any form you can get your hands on and fearlessly putting it out there for all to see, dammit!

- Mark Bignell