A band I’ve liked for a while but one I’d never seen. So i wasn’t missing out. Although, a lot of Nottingham did miss out…

Venue: Bodega, Nottingham

Date: September 25, 2013

Sky Larkin seem like they’ve been part of the alternative music tapestry for ever. While it’s true their formation occured 9 years ago, it wasn’t until 2009’s excellent debut record, The Golden Spike, did the indieverse begin to sit up and take note.

Since then two albums have followed, 2010’s Kaleide and the new throbbing muscle of a record that is Motto, an album which is predominantly mined from tonight.

For those unfamiliar with Sky Larkin’s sound, think girl-led spiky alt.rock with nods to devilish post-punk.

The crowd at the Bodega is pitiful. Around 30+ punters have bothered to turn out tonight, but Katie Harkin doesn’t mind one jot; she’s happy leading her band on a mission of heavy riffs, incendiary drumming and throbbing bass lines regardless of the size of her audience.

Looking like a model for charity shop chic, with a velvet jacket which reeks of 70s glam, Katie merrily marches on, with newbies ‘Bravo Dodo’ and ‘Newsworthy’ both having scatty time signatures yet sounding remarkably instant.

Oldies ‘Antidotes’ and the feral ‘Fossil, I’ are superb, while ‘Motto’, the album’s highlight, ends proceedings in true thrashy style.

A painfully low attendance, but a frightfully ace display.