PORRIDGE RADIO

PORRIDGE RADIO/SPEED TRAINING/HEADBOY AT VILLAGE UNDERGROUND, SHOREDITCH – 23/11/21

One of the great things about leaving London is that I've started noticing sunsets. You don't really notice sunsets much in London. The buildings get in the way. Also, there's lots of other things going on and you just really need to keep your wits fully about you. I stop in a lay-by in the New Forest to take a photo of the sunset, despite having previously decided that the world doesn't need any more photos of sunsets in the New Forest. The world may not need any more, I think, but perhaps I could do with one or two.

Perhaps I could do with one or two

And then I found myself back at VILLAGE UNDERGROUND. Back where it all began.

This is where I started writing Nights Out

HEADBOY defy expectations right from the off by not being boys at all. At least I don't think they are, and I'm not sure whether it matters or not. They are future people: genderless, post-ironic, cool trousers. Interestingly though their music is firmly rooted in the past. It is a sort of angst-driven, post-punky guitar music of the kind that hasn't really evolved since the late '70s. They sing songs about alligators and being scared all the time, and I wonder if the two things might be related.

Cool trousers

It feels like SPEED TRAINING are trying to get something out of their system. You can tell from how noisy and hyperactive they are that they would have been very naughty at school, and in my new career as a supply teacher I can imagine their younger selves sitting in the back row of the classroom and telling me to fuck off or just ignoring me completely. They're certainly not going to do what I tell them to. Musically, it's a schizophrenic mix of spare, melodic, folky passages and noisy shouty bits. There's someone playing a saxophone, and the guitarist is wearing a cardigan which is a nice touch and makes me feel not too out of touch. I am wearing a cardigan too, you see.

Becardiganed guitarist not pictured

It's funny, I had imagined that PORRIDGE RADIO’s fans would be younger, but as usual I find myself surrounded by middle aged men. In fact looking around I feel young. I am one of the younger ones. I'm not even bald yet! God, bands are so punctual nowadays. Have you noticed? At half nine on the dot, as scheduled, without any fuss, they begin. Bands always used to keep you waiting for ages, didn’t they, but they don't any more. And bands always used to be out of their faces, or at least act like they were out of their faces, but they don't so much these days. Nowadays, they seem quite sober and professional and really into what they're doing, and humble too. Porridge Radio are every bit as great as I thought they'd be and I thought they'd be pretty great, and they are pretty great. At the centre of it all is the magnetic presence of Dana Margolin. There's a kind of raw emotion to her songwriting and performance that reminds me of Kurt Cobain, her songs tending to build to a pitch of emotional intensity until there's nowhere else for them to go. I feel like they deserve a mosh pit, but we’re all just a bit too fucking civilised for that. At the end they invite the audience to come and say hi. "We'll be at the merch table," says keyboardist Georgie. That's the post-ironic future people for you: sincere, open, emotionally articulate, keen to foster a sense of community and individualism. And cool trousers too, of course. The future's bright, people.

Punctual