Группа Sharp Pins из Чикаго выступила в Глазго с обильным, но не всегда запоминающимся поп-панком

Sharp Pins @ King Tut’s, Glasgow, 10 Aug Chicago power poppers Sharp Pins have the look but lack the punchline Leather trousers? Check. Johnny Thunders' haircut? Check. Scissor kicks? Check. The puzzle pieces are all in play, and yet for Sharp Pins the jigsaw never quite matches the picture on the box. The Chicago four-piece, led by wunderkind Kai Slater, have a seemingly limitless stash of power pop tunes. It’s a shame that while they are all good, none of them quite hit the dizzy heights. First up though are locals Ferguson Hi-Fi, the new outfit from Peter Ferguson, fka Wuh Oh. This is an intriguing proposition, with the online demos coming across as scratchy, DIY, home recordings, while the live show offers a much fuller sound, with a band who can give Ferguson the backing he deserves. There’s an exotic, almost dangerous edge to the delivery, with Ferguson coming across like Harry Styles after he’s just spiked the punch with acid. Sharp Pins certainly don’t lack quantity. Current album, Balloon Balloon Balloon boasts 21 tracks across 43 minutes. However, it’s only right at the end of their live set, when the guitarist swaps over to the viola, that we see some different textures from the band. You wonder whether less might sometimes be more. The sharp, angular delivery even occasionally suggests the short-lived new wave of new wave scene where bands like These Animal Men battled it out for pop glory. It's perhaps also the case that the Monday night crowd at King Tut's is not quite ready for the high-octane rock'n'roll of Sharp Pins. Perhaps some summer festival slots will give better returns. But if Nirvana were the perfect combination of The Beatles and Black Sabbath, then Sharp Pins are perhaps the ultimate marriage of The Beatles and, well, The Beatles. That’s not a bad thing. But for every Helter Skelter, it’s nice to have an Across the Universe.