In 2008, Vincent Vincent And The Villains’, skiffle-pop was the bee’s knees. I don’t actually remember anything about this gig even after reading through the review. A lasting impression they did not leave, then…

Date: May 23, 2008

Venue: Bodega

These London retro-loving deviants mix jerky guitars with soaring vocals to energetic effect in songs that swing from the fast and hand-clappingly brilliant as On My Own to the flamenco blues of Beast.

Like Jack Penate coaxing his brilliant rockabilly sound from his ramshackle guitar behind a brass-free Rumblestrips, or early Beatles if they’d have been cockneys, VVATV encompass all the good things about retro rock n roll. Like Killing Time, for example, a song so classic-sounding it could be the song Marty McFly can’t get out of his head after overhearing it at a 50s prom night.

Elsewhere they’re not afraid to mask their blues with wistful melodrama (Cinema) while still ticking the necessary aesthetic boxes through the use of rolling drums and howling, scowling vocals.

With a debut album to come, Vincent may have just found some willing disciples in the audience. Keep this up, and the future looks good for this past-obsessed gang.