The Mooney Suzuki @ The Hive

If the garage-rock revival is a ship that has well and truly sailed by now, then nobody has bothered telling The Mooney Suzuki. This hairier than thou quartet from New York have been strutting around stages for nigh on a decade, and with a new album entitled "Oh Mercy" to plug, they allude to no signs of a flagging enthusiasm for the business called show. And "show" is an apt description for tonight's high-octane performance, with front-man Sammy James Jr. stealing the focus at every given opportunity, whether by taking a mid-song wander through the crowd during a euphoric sounding Alive and Amplified, or by imploring it to invade the stage for the rollicking set-closer. Meanwhile, lead guitarist Graham Tyler completes a guitar solo lying on his back. Good ole-fashioned rock n 'roll clichés, y'all, but unfortunately the tunes can't quite live up to the entertainment value of the presentation: once you've heard one Suzukis tune you've basically heard them all. At least there's fun to be had in Alcohol, the band's hilarious ode to all things boozy which, appropriately enough, provides a welcome change of pace from the one-dimensional riffage - even if it does smack of novelty factor. (Barry Jackson)