A freezing cold evening in Manchester sees local institution Dry Bar offering up a selection of promising new talent across two stages. Headlining the main stage are Beat The Radar, and judging by the guitarist's blonde poodle perm I was expecting them to deliver a set of 80's tinged hair metal. Fortunately I was bashed around the ears with a classy approximation of US-inflected alternative rock that has become their stock in trade since forming in Lancaster around a year ago. Boasting a powerful sound that welds together the psychedelic grunge of the Smashing Pumpkins with the poppy guitars associated with today's crop of US chart-bothering rockers, Beat The Radar write intelligent yet accessible songs that pull you in with their soulful melodies and wistful lyrics.The band spring from the traps with the infectious riffs of Misunderstood What You Said which set the tone for the rest of the performance and provide a template for their brew of 3 minute pop songs distilled through fuzzy guitars and muscular rhythms. The highlights of the hook-laden set are By The Sea which sails on frontman Jonny Swift's cracked, almost talky style, and Spaceman which sees backing vocal duties being handed over to the excited throng in attendance. The short set flies past and whilst I'm impressed by the tightness of the band, I'm left with the feeling that they could have played a couple of extra songs to fill out their time slot a little better. It will be interesting to see if they have the depth and variety of material to cover the course of an album or a longer performance. That said, for 20 minutes of melodic, uplifting, guitar-driven rock you simply can't beat… err… Beat the Radar.
Words: William Bradley
Photographs: Hannah Dornford-May
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