By Glen Screeton
ON April 10, I was just one of the near capacity crowd at The Parr Hall to witness the performance of local band The K’s and what an excellent night it was!
You could sense people were ‘up for it’ from the moment the D.J support paid homage to Warrington by spinning ‘Boys that Sing’ from the brilliant Viola Beach amongst plenty of other popular Indy Pop/Rock tracks that had the audience bouncing.
It might sound unusual to have a D.J rather than a support band but tonight was mainly a showcase of The K’s new album ‘ I Wonder If the World Knows ? ‘ .So what was my verdict ? – Energetic , Electrifying and Exciting , plus any other synonym beginning with E that I can think of . The Earlestown lads namely – Jamie Boyle ( lead vocals and guitar), Ryan Breslin ( lead guitar ) Dexter Baker ( bass ) and Nathan Peers ( drums ) were polished and relaxed from the start and with a foot on his monitor looking like the ultimate rock star, Jamie’s confident vocals at this show were superb and at times reminiscent of 90’s band Pure Essence vocalist James Mudriczki . Ryan on lead guitar stated he wasn’t feeling very well but wouldn’t miss this for the world, you wouldn’t have noticed though as his licks were excellent and all of this was underpinned by the very tight rhythm section of the always smiling Dexter on bass and Nathan on drums demonstrating brilliant rudiments and fast hands, proving you don’t need a massive kit to be effective.
Of course this is all testament to their early days of ‘Posh Practice’ – those gigs we musicians play when just the man and his dog turn up! Contrary to popular belief the band are certainly not an overnight success and they have been grafting away for 4 years so practice does make perfect. Indeed, their debut album sat near the top of the charts is thoroughly deserved and is currently at number 3 in this week’s (12 – 18 April 2024 ) Official Albums Chart update , just behind Jamie’s ‘biggest inspiration’ The Libertines and their latest studio LP ‘ All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade.
I don’t like comparisons but if I was asked who The K’s sound like , just think of a cross between early Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines so I have no doubt Jamie is delighted to be up there at the top of the charts with his all time favourite band. However, I personally think The K’s are more diverse and play a great range of fast numbers to the more meaningful electro-acoustic songs about growing up as musicians in a Northern working class town. You could see the lads were perhaps touched with emotion by the very large local crowd and on a number of occasions they all appeared to stare out and just soak it all up – “this is mental, we’re just four d***heads from Earlestown” . Certainly not ,and anyone who saw them last year at Parr Hall and Neighbourhood Weekender knows otherwise and once the show ended after roughly an hour and quarter it was nice to see the lads signing merchandise and posing for photos with their adoring young fans and there were plenty of them!
Based on their performance I think they gained a lot more fans tonight but as ever don’t take my word for it , go and have a listen yourself folks!
The K’s debut album I Wonder If The World Knows? is out now via LAB Records.
