It’s only rock n’ roll but I like it. The sentiments of the Stones still ring true forty years on, even if Little Crazy don’t exactly play rock n’ roll. Their lead singer, Sophia, has that same confidence and on stage presence of a peacock that has propelled Mick Jagger through a long and successful career. A band like this is not dependant upon note perfect virtuosity, it metabolises pure passion and energy to make it work. It’s loud, raw music with high blood pressure and an overactive thyroid. It is this kind of music that always was and always will be the nerve cord along the spine of rock – sweaty, pumping, living for the hell of it. This is the music of spilt beer and bleary eyes, crass chat up lines, drunken philosophies, early morning walks home and spewing in the gutter.
Held together by solid rhythmical drumming it takes no prisoners and shows no mercy. Be prepared to surrender or leave now. This is ethnic cleansing for the soul so don’t go to their gigs if you want to contemplate Descartes or are trying to complete a thesis on string theory. This band strips away subtleties and sensitivities and injects you straight in the jugular. It does exactly what it says on the tin, no short change, no messing. This is a wolf in a wolf mask.
And of course music like this isn’t just about the music. It’s the whole package, the angst, the posturing, the snarl and undoubtedly the look. As a woman, Sophia is the best front man a band could ever need. She looks good. She knows she looks good. She looks as though she feels good, and all of that helps feed the feel good factor that is so tangible in their performance. She milks the audience and has them suckling from her. Add backing singers/dancers into the mix and you have a complete show – sound and vision, and while there are still rough edges these are just the birth fluids of an emerging band.
Songs like ‘Fear’ and ‘save u’ are riveted together with power chords and a rhythm section that only occasionally pauses for musical breath before putting the pedal to the floor again. ‘My love’ begins with a classic base intro that hardly has time to kick off before the drumsticks are beating hell out of the skins again. These guys want to make it, but they clearly want to have a good time in the process, and that’s the fundamental ingredient for success. You have to enjoy what you’re doing for it’s own sake. Without question they’re having a ball. They haven’t been together that long so the passage of time should hone their stagecraft further and definitely make their forthcoming debut album – No drink no play – something to look forward to.
But it’s not all just high octane combustion. A song like ‘Red’ balances out the playlist with their own nod to the power ballad and indicates that as their confidence builds they should venture a little further beyond their comfort zone and expand their musical territory. Indeed listen to the acoustic version of ‘my love’ on their website and you hear a maturity taking shape. Press play on ‘alone’, close your eyes and you hear echoes of Robert Plant’s phrasing and vocal style - and the image even comes with a bit a string bending lead guitar.
Little Crazy have a list of dates coming up so go see them strut their stuff, but don’t go near this band with a naked flame, it could be explosive. They chose their name well. All the best people are a little insane, and as everyone knows, it’s a fine line between genius and insanity.
Review by Peter Heydon
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