Artists: Scaramanga 6
Venue: Carpe Diem, Leeds
Review by: Nick Lavigueur
SCARAMANGA 6 should be headlining the main stage at the Leeds Festival this weekend.
But as the major record labels of the world are yet to propel them to glory they instead headlined the intimate surroundings of a basement bar in Leeds city centre.
Despite the smaller scale, the Huddersfield band still tore the place apart with their driving alt-rock and unique pantomime style delivery.
They may be down to four members now but as it says on their MySpace site, “When we play, we slay”, and slay they did.
The self proclaimed evil pop group, led by the Morricone brothers, threw their hearts into the performance as they powered their way through a polished set of dark musical melodrama.
But it’s not all slashy guitars – song Walk Through Houses begins with a soft accoustic intro before the rock really kicks in.
And it’s this dynamic ability to switch between tuneful melody and furious thrashing that marks the appeal of the Scaramanga 6.
Misadventure is a ska-punk number as good as anything American favourites Less Than Jake could come up with.
Pitched somewhere between The Hives, Hayseed Dixie and Joy Division, the fusion works and fans of any kind of high energy guitar based music are sure to jump on board the Scaramanga 6 train.
Their sixth album Songs of Prey is available at independent record stores and online.
www.myspace.com/thescaramangasix
