**HUCKSTER CLUB**

Check out the gigwise review of our first night:
Monday 18/06/07
Tellison, Cats and Cats and Cats @ Water Rats, London
by Amy Vickery on27/06/2007

The launch of the Huckster club is packed. And with such a stellar line-up its hardly surprising. Gigwise squidges its way to the bar, squidges its way to the loo and squidges its way to the stage where it stays squidged.
Cats and Cats and Cats clearly think they’re very arty which makes you screw up your nose slightly. However, they do have a very tight control on their music. They control their sound carefully with tricks like dropping their voices before a loud crescendo of noise. There’s much mirth and clapping accompany their whimsical set, but it does become repetitive quite quickly, and occasionally directionless.
The balance of violins with playground style yelling creates an attempt at Arcade Fire depth. “We’re going to mug you” vocalist Ben assures us. Someone obscurely yells back “You’re Disgusting!”. Ben decides this is the best thing he’s ever heard yelled at a gig.
Ben’s on occasion toneless voice guides us through the set which contains whimsical diversions. One song starts with a music box twang as its intro before noise erupts Cajun Dance Party style. Los Campesinos are also evoked, with sections such as a rat tat tat tat on the drums standing out as a beat which defines one track. Each track is played at such intensity that they start to merge a little. The pause at the end for Ben’s petit ooo is delicious however.
Tellsion’s crowd are baying for their presence. The quirky duel vocals of the bespectacled front men create a great pop sound. What’s more, the band look so delighted at the crowd’s reaction that their grins are infectious.
It’s a very mainstream sound in fact, and not a million miles away from far such as Fall Out Boy. However the layered barber shop harmonies lift it to something more. One track builds and builds to a crescendo which you expect, but instead you hear a snap, building on the originality of their presentation. The smaller of the guitarists looks like a shrieking Spaniard with his petit moustache and specs resting on his nose as he throws himself across the stage. He plays to delicious vocalist Stephen who spar like Spanish bulls.
One girl snaps savagely with an instant camera and hurls the polaroids onto the stage. And that’s exactly the point of this gig - it’s contemporary nature. The music is snappy and fresh and inspires your appreciation. It’s not artsy fartsy, its just music for people to dance to. And they do.