The Vacation/ Hard-Fi/ The Feeling Good Conspiracy/ The Noise Next Door @ Water Rats 07/10/04
By Kate Etteridge

Tonight we get both ends of the punk scale, if a little anachronistic - starting with a fake blast of millennium American pop punk and ending with a more 4 Real element of garage rock n roll in the spiked vein of the Stooges through to the Hives. Triplets The Noise Next Door kick off the night with a song called 'Lock Up Ya Daughters', surely a fiercely ironic title, as by the looks of these young pups you'd be in no danger of anything more than a badly cooked meal or a sloppy first kiss. Leaping into the footsteps of Busted and McFly, they plough through the usual thick riffs, low chunky bass and pop choons, apparently picking up a gurning teenage version of Tré Cool along the way. It's as if they were incarcerated as small children and force fed Green Day for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for ten years then suddenly set loose one day and were only able to function in the world as a three-piece punk pop group with spiky hair. So it's probably not their fault. They're also identical triplets, which helps to make something that's initially slightly annoying become something slightly creepy.

The Feeling Good Conspiracy, in complete contrast, err on the wrong side of 30. A very serious looking bunch, the first song gradually steps up instrument by instrument into the narrative of 'Bloodstains on the Bumper', the electric violin adding drama with an urgent tone. Tales of interstellar space are punctuated by intermittent alien noises, drums pounding out warning beats before third song 'Gravel Toes' moves into a more rocky territory, perfect harmonies and random rhythms shooting all over the place below the jangly guitars and whistling violin. 'La Luna' is total pop noir, throbbing bass, speculative guitar, ending with 'You're So Wild' in all its controlled haphazardness.

With tonight's line-up gradually gaining strength, a refreshing blast of ballsy uncomplicated rock announces next band on Hard-Fi. Forgiving them for a slightly dodgy name, their repetitive refrains, attitude laden appearance and confident Dead 60s vibe wins out, their new single 'Cash Machine' opening with ethereal backing music before their trademark sharp guitar slices into a full out chorus. Seemingly fans of the off kilter sounds of Hot Hot Heat at times, fifth song 'Unnecessary Trouble' is a swagger of harmonised 'whoa whoa whoa's with funky bass snaking into the high voltage chorus of immaculately timed kinetic energy.

White noise feedback reveals The Vacation, looking like they've been puked out of the mouth of 70s metal, unleashing a tight sound born out of that earlier era yet springing out something fresh. The 1-2-3-4's snap and snarl whilst the songs crash and chug into bombastic aplomb, vocalist Ben Teger announcing in a low LA drawl that "we're from America, USA…and we is here to take your women" with a mischievous glint. Third song is a spanking marvellous freight train of a number, the bass really hitting the pit of your stomach, riffs rolling dirty around us before leading into a quick twisted version of Groove Armada's 'See You Baby'. Giant killer hooks scavenge for stalwart survivors, ferociously inciting a the front row to mosh away. New single 'Destitute Prostitute' ("one for the ladies") shows off riffs heavier than heaven, careering off the rails, a call and response chorus shared with the crowd, the band "out for blood", calling us their "congregation", inspiring a hefty dose of devotion and inspiration no doubt tonight. Finishing on a track scathingly dedicated to "LA rats - the suits in the BMWs cruising the Strip with their mobiles and cheap thrills", a blood curdling scream kicks it all into shape with sharp guitar solos and steady drum forming the spine of the song, Teger continuing his monologue with Jagger swagger whilst the band meander behind him crashing into a crescendo of pulsating posturing noise battering against the senses into a cocksure testosterone overdose of a finale.

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