The Enemy - Nottingham Rescue Rooms Live Review

The Enemy

Nottingham Rescue Rooms

Tuesday 30th January

Live Review

Hailing from Coventry, capital city of provincial boredom and all things generally nonentity, one probably wouldn't expect The Enemy to have much to say. Wrong!

If anything, the humdrum nature of their hometown has given them a million reasons to shout about. I guess some would call it turning a negative into a positive, although in this case, adopting the plural sense would be a tad more accurate, as The Enemy are quite clearly pent-up, angry young men.

Whilst it's probably fair to say that without the likes of The Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys opening the doors for suburban gang-like musical forces to become all the rage again, let's not take anything away from the fact this three-piece - still at the tail-end of their teenage years - are a pretty dynamic, tight-as-a-cork-in-a-£3-bottle-of-Asda-plonk, highly accomplished force who quite simply belie their years in terms of nous and stage presence.

And of course, let's not forget the tunes, because these three Midlanders are seemingly knocking them off with the consummate ease of a regular, healthy diet of breakfast, lunch and evening meal.

While comparisons with The Jam and The Who are always going to be made for obvious reasons - and again, where is the problem in being likened to two of the most influential bands in British musical history? - it's the subject matter of their songs that immediately brings the chain of thought a little closer to home.

You see, just like fellow Coventry spokesmen The Specials, The Enemy recognise the evils of 9 to 5 drudgery ('Its Not OK'), pseudo pretentious goings on in shirt'n'shoes chain niteries ('Nightclub'), and the general apathetic state of the nation ('Pressure') enough to be able to make it sound plausibly entertaining and slightly prosthetic at the same time.

In fact, every song in their set sounds like a potential single, and what band can you say that about in recent years with the exception of the aforementioned Sheffield clan? Exactly, now go figure for yourselves.

8/10

Dom Gourlay