I never thought that pop-punk would be a genre I'd be into, but Not Like This is so catchy it's impossible not to love it. The whole album is hook after hook and every lyric makes you want to sing along. In fact, there's not a moment in Cutesy Monster Man that doesn't make me want to be down the front at an Iron Chic show screaming along, and that feeling pretty much continues for the next half an hour. At times, it's an aggressive record, but the overwhelming theme is shamelessly-fucking-upbeat.
I hadn't heard Iron Chic when I bought this LP. Banquet were putting out the UK cd version and had a show coming up in The Peel with Pacer and OK Pilot, both of whom were bands I was into. The ticket was £7 or £13 with the LP, so I chanced it (Banquet usually know pretty good music. As a side note, this record exists in countless colours so I must be the only sucker with black vinyl). At this point I don't think I'd even heard of Latterman, or any of the bands that have some connection to them, with the exception of RVIVR who'd made it into a lot of friends end-of-year lists in 2010. I'd streamed the RVIVR album and enjoyed it, but still wouldn't be aware of the Latterman connection until much later. I now own a whole much of records by these related bands but I've been putting off writing about them until I'd written about Iron Chic.
Part of the reason I love this album so much is because Iron Chic were probably the highlight of Fest in 2011. I liked the record a lot beforehand, and the show at The Peel was great fun but their set on the Saturday afternoon of Fest was incredible. They played in 8 Seconds, which was a large and fairly unpleasant venue. I'd been in there for a bit and caught RVIVR before them (who were great too). The crowd definitely began to swell before Iron Chic came on, but as soon as they started to play the whole room went crazy. I'm not talking in hyperbole here, I was about halfway back and instantly lifted off my feet and carried in every direction the crowd moved. There was a sea of bodies crowd-surfing and you could barely even hear the band for the singing. Whilst there's something cool about seeing a large band play a small venue, it turns out it's even better to see a small band rock such a large venue It was really a sight to be seen. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 18/03/11
Colour: Black
Etching: Side 1: "Let Dougbagg do it", Side 2: none
mp3s: Download code
