There is something special that occurs when a scouse band decide to make their guitars jangle and do it well. The feeling it generates is magical, ethereal, and primal like the need for people to go to the Vale of Avalon and have a big party no matter what century it is. Whilst the sound of a guitar is in the fingers, that jangle is like a scouse accent in musical form. The latest scouse indie band to start to jangle is the young four-piece Keyside Cassidy.
A warm Saturday night saw them take to the stage at Jimmy’s with a good natured, but rowdy party audience in front of them. Now this could have seen the band wilt under the need to entertain rather than just get through the show and learn about yourselves musically. I wouldn’t have blamed them. It’s a tough ask to entertain people when you’re still working things out and constantly evolving as a band, but Keyside Cassidy definitely grasped the opportunity to take advantage of having a fun audience in front of them.
Within their sound is an obvious aural connection to The La’s, but whereas Liverpool’s most beautiful frustration always had a seriousness to them, Keyside Cassidy are one of those bands that will take you away from the darkness. With their frontman Dan Parker engaging with the crowd from the off, the rest of the band (Ben Cassidy on electric guitar and Oisín McAvoy on drums) are able to focus on building their sound up, with the acoustic guitar of Dan working over the top to soften the sound. As a consequence of this mix in sounds, Keyside Cassidy create a potent brew, able to take you out of a darkened, sweaty basement and into the fresh fields of festival season.
You will see Keyside Cassidy listed on plenty of bills over the next twelve months, in Liverpool and beyond, as they seem to be a band intent on improving by taking on audiences and seeing what works and what doesn’t rather than stay in a rehearsal room until certain that the sound you are searching for has been reached. It’s a tactic which is definitely working for them as they improve constantly. Some days might not be as a good as this one, but you know what, stick with them and they’ll prove it worth your while.
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Gary Lambert
