Music
Dragonette @ Liquid Room, August 26
Published Monday, Aug 27 2007, 16:15 BST | By Nick Levine
Dragonette are nothing if not persistent. The Anglo-Canadian electro-pervs have been thrusting their crotches in our faces for over a year now - taking on A-list support slots (Basement Jaxx, Sugababes, New Order) and earning praise from the more poptastic media outlets - but synth-pop superstardom has yet to come knocking. 'I Get Around', their major label debut, climbed no higher than number 93 on the singles chart, while follow-up 'Take It Like A Man' failed to crack the top 100. At present, their debut album Galore is available solely on iTunes.
Tonight's gig - a warm-up slot for Swedish new wavers The Sounds - is initially weighed down by a sense of lethargy. Frontwoman Martina Sorbara shuffles onstage looking more like a tea-lady than the nipple-licking kinkstress that Galore promises. Her three-piece band is as sprightly as an arthritic gymnast. But Sorbara soon springs into life - singing gutsily, dancing fearlessly and advising the audience not to use soap on their vaginas - and the band reels out a succession of glistening electro-pop nuggets. 'Jesus Doesn't Love Me Anymore' is both hooky and overblown; the electro-honky tonk of 'True Believer' houses a chorus the size of Edinburgh Castle, and 'Black Limousine' brilliantly combines a crunchy riff, cock rock fretwork and coquettish lyrics about "men who like to spend lots of money on girls". At one point Sorbara boasts: "We're Dragonette and we're from the future!" She's lying. With their layers of pile-driving synths, boundless pop smarts and obsession with sexual politics, this lot are really from 1986.
Their seven-song set concludes with a riotous rendition of 'I Get Around'. When this ode to slaggery - "I say yes when I oughta say no," indeed! - segues into a cheekily reworked snippet of a recent Calvin Harris' hit ('The Boys'), it becomes evident that Dragonette have the full package: thrilling pop songs, a compelling frontwoman and a sly, irreverent sense of humour. All that remains is for the world to catch on.
Tonight's gig - a warm-up slot for Swedish new wavers The Sounds - is initially weighed down by a sense of lethargy. Frontwoman Martina Sorbara shuffles onstage looking more like a tea-lady than the nipple-licking kinkstress that Galore promises. Her three-piece band is as sprightly as an arthritic gymnast. But Sorbara soon springs into life - singing gutsily, dancing fearlessly and advising the audience not to use soap on their vaginas - and the band reels out a succession of glistening electro-pop nuggets. 'Jesus Doesn't Love Me Anymore' is both hooky and overblown; the electro-honky tonk of 'True Believer' houses a chorus the size of Edinburgh Castle, and 'Black Limousine' brilliantly combines a crunchy riff, cock rock fretwork and coquettish lyrics about "men who like to spend lots of money on girls". At one point Sorbara boasts: "We're Dragonette and we're from the future!" She's lying. With their layers of pile-driving synths, boundless pop smarts and obsession with sexual politics, this lot are really from 1986.
Their seven-song set concludes with a riotous rendition of 'I Get Around'. When this ode to slaggery - "I say yes when I oughta say no," indeed! - segues into a cheekily reworked snippet of a recent Calvin Harris' hit ('The Boys'), it becomes evident that Dragonette have the full package: thrilling pop songs, a compelling frontwoman and a sly, irreverent sense of humour. All that remains is for the world to catch on.
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