I have found a new band to love. It is the Mentalists. They are a frolicsome, jump up and down band who distill raw joy from the very ether surrounding them. It may be too soon for me to be entirely objective; I have only seen them live once and may be all puppy-loved up, but they filled my slip-on suede shoes with a vital boogie-lust.
The gig was 10 days ago but it is only now that I have stopped vibrating sufficiently to type accurately. They are solid musicians of the drums, two guitars, and bass variety. The lead singer has a tuneful well-toned voice that sounds like the battersea power station looks -- grand and fun and a bit quirky and mysterious. Why does she make those strange sounds? Those Oooo-EEee-Oooos? Why are they so big and odd? I'm not sure, exactly, but I like it.
The Mentalists are a damn good-looking band. So much so that at the end of the gig amid the applause and screams of appreciation, I found myself shouting "Strip the drummer!". I soon realised this was inappropriate and subtly changed this to "Whip the plumber!". This didn't seem quite right either so, in the end, I contented myself with clapping and hooting.
The Mentalists are playing at the Good Ship in Kilburn tonight and you should go see them. Sadly, I cannot as I am on a train bound for Wolverhampton and writing this with one powerful thumb on my mobile phone. Please, do go, and send them my excited puppy-love.
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