The Morphines and The 89 80s at The Sesh, Linnet and Lark - 30th November 04 By Andy Dykes, Photos by Darren Rogers

Photograph Gallery   The 89 80s Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   The Morphines Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4

Once again tonight, Princes Ave's Linnet and Lark plays host to a evening of live bands. With a stage littered with instruments and a bar crowded with rock n roll types, it looks suitably like the home of what is fast becoming one of the most widely respected and indeed played evenings in Hull. Tonight's headliners The Morphines are second on the bill for The Sesh's Christmas party; a bill topped by The Paddingtons, and including the likes of Turismo and Ernest. It's been a good year for The Morphines and it should prove to be a fitting end.

First up though are The 89 80s who have travelled all the way from York for this, only their second gig. Due to slight technical hitch - or something - they've been billed all over the place as The 89 90s. But nominal discrepancies aside, the band amble onstage and dive into their set. The 89 80s kick into a slightly bluesy number, reminiscent perhaps of Queens of the Stoneage.

It proves to be the strongest number of their set, a wise tactical move in terms of grabbing people's attention from the off.

It's quite hard to pinpoint exactly where The 89 80s get their sound from. At times, they sound a little like Green Day in their darker moments, but then they also sound like a band who can jam well together, like Smashing Pumpkins perhaps. However, they don't give off the kind of energy that their tunes suggest they should. But this is after all only their second gig, and in that context they put in a pretty fine performance.

The 89 80s have some big tunes, and with more live practice, could be a very good live band.

The last time I saw The Morphines, they weren't particularly tight, but their songs had an exciting feel to them, owing more to old skool punk as opposed to the newest wave. Since then, they've had a change in their line-up and have tightened up considerably. They've also honed their sound, now more in the direction of friends and contemporaries, The Paddingtons and the New Cross explosion in general, as opposed to the likes of Sham 69 to whom I think I compared them last time.

This shift in sound seems to work well for them though. The Morphines write some real catchy tunes and belt them out with attitude and much staggering about the stage. There's melody, shouting, loud bits, quiet bits...it's entertaining stuff, and The Sesh crowd seem to be enjoying every note.

There're a whole host of influences in The Morphines' genetic makeup. There're obvious ones, such as The Libertines and Joy Division, but also much subtler influences. There are the dynamic sensibilities of the likes of The Pixies and Nirvana, but often the songs flow like something off of a White Stripes record. The Morphines now sound like a much more commercially viable band.

If they move as fast in 2005 as they have in 2004, it wouldn't be a shock to see them making some real headway in the industry. Nice action.

Check the thisisUll.com Gallery

Photograph Gallery   The 89 80s Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   The Morphines Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4

Photographs courtsey and Copyright © Darren Rogers 2004

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