High Jinks and Shonky Shanks at the Barfly

So the New Year is well under way and Fringey decided to start as we mean to go on – by taking ourselves off to an indie disco in the Barfly (an antidote to the Fabric style clubbing of Christmas). We did intend to meet up in the Lock Tavern but there was a queue to get in by the time we arrived. - A QUEUE! To get into A PUB! In CAMDEN! Out – bloody – ragious.

So it was straight to the Barfly, and how dank and horrible it is when empty. Still, the indie children (and some grownups) soon piled in to flaunt their indie kid moves to the ‘Don’t Look Down’ djs. I’ve no idea who was on the decks downstairs, but they’re quite good at picking the indie that we wanted to be listening to. Lots of Long Blondes/Holloways/Larrikin Love/Futureheads/Walkmen/MysteryJets, you get the general idea. - Like I said, it’s an INDIE DISCO. (We even spotted an Indie Hen Party. Although the Barfly isn't an obvious choice, we liked that they tried.)

Also, no self respecting Indie Disco would be complete these days without a bit of real live music for our ears to hear and our eyes to watch, and tonight we get to see our first ever band cheekily ripping off the Arctic Monkeys (just a bit). O FRACAS are fun and pop. The 'indie kids' will love them.

Next up are ROLAND SHANKS, and oh my, haven’t they got lots better since the last time Fringey saw them. They have a sharper sound and are a bit poppy, a bit punky and a bit electro. A little bit of everything really that was played at the aforementioned disco, but not at all bitty. Its all mashed together into something we quite liked listening to. They finished up with new single ‘Cutting Teeth’ out in February, I think you should go purchase. ('tis a pity that Jamie, Shanky vocals/bass, is such a short arse.)

The rest of the evening was spent tracking down the prettier boys and dancing our socks off.

2006 should be lots of fringey fun.