Tonight’s Our Thursdays duke-out starts with an impressive set from Protobaby – a sort-of acoustic, by the numbers rock outfit, with a line in decent, pedal driven, Edge-esque guitars and upbeat tunes.
Frontman Colm McGuiness is something of a wannabe heartthrob with a rich bass voice and has no compunction against getting down onto the floor in front of the stage with his fans. These guys are clearly into balls-out, gut busting rock 'n' roll, and 'Freedom', the title-track from the band's recent EP, stands out amongst some ordinary rock tunes, as does the thundering ‘Sold You A Lie’.
Despite the name, Very Angry Girls initially turn out to be surprisingly short on confidence for an all girl punk-rock quartet who like to be called V.A.G.
A nervy beginning sees lead singer Sinéad Mitchell struggle to be heard, but once she settles into the set there’s a definite Courtney Love meets Shirley Manson swagger about her. ‘Red Balloon’ and a cover of The Cure's ‘Friday I'm In Love’ are both standouts, as is finisher ‘Safety Pin Grin’.
While there are an awful lot of rough edges about this young band, there’s definitely a diamond buried somewhere in there, waiting to be polished. Keep an eye out in the future.
It’s boy beats girl on this occasion, with Protobaby having just enough experience to shade it on the night.