Live

The Enemy, Twisted Wheel

Paul Cook 07/04/2009

Twisted Wheel, the three-piece indie punk rock band from Oldham is a bittersweet concoction of punk-revivalism and indie tainted rock 'n' roll. Several influences punch their way through Twisted Wheel's music, too many to mention in fact, and whether it's just a matter of taste but even the most open-minded music fan would agree that the band were just very noisy.

Twisted Wheel amidst the shining reviews, Paul Weller-recommendation and Clash-comparisons, unfortunately display a distracting mish-mash of styles, sounds and tempos. Despite an interesting attempt to hark back to the days of Sid Vicious and co', a car crash of indistinguishable lyrics sticks in the memory more than the music. The best tracks of the night were the simpler of the band's songs. Lucy the Castle and Strife were enjoyable but the heavier You Stole the Sun and She's a Weapon were hard to comprehend and made for a disappointing show.

The Enemy busy promoting their recent follow-up album Music for the People came on to an excitable capacity crowd. The show's production was very impressive. A huge light-screen displaying the tour dates behind the band lead to the opening song, the album-opener and one of the band's strongest to date, Elephant Song. The grandeur and infectiousness of the riff kicked the show off in typically energetic style. The album favourites from We'll Live and Die in these Towns such as Aggro, Away from Here, Pressure and It's Not OK soon followed and for fans of the band were well performed, well sung and full of energy and passion.

However it was the newer material which impressed on the night, with the older material already sounding outdated and samey. The simple addition of a piano here and stripping back the guitars and drums to a simpler, more structured rock style has made Music for the People a stronger, more considered album than the debut.