Planet Notion - Hey Negrita/@Borderline/August 10th

Hey Negrita have been together for several years but their music has roots that are considerably older, taking in a whisky-soaked Southern mash of soulful blues and country that’s a world away from the current fashion-conscious indie scene. The Borderline, complete with saloon-style bare wood décor, should be their spiritual home and on a warm Thursday evening they certainly got the good ‘ol boys of Soho stomping along. The four piece at first appear to be a rather disjointed collection of obviously talented musicians known individually as The Reverend, Felix, Gus and Three Horse but once on stage the chemistry and light-hearted banter evade any stereo-typing that could be applied to a band named after a Rolling Stone’s song. Opening with ‘Nine to Five’, a barrage of up-tempo country rock lathered with juicy slabs of harmonica, they blast out a refreshing ode to doing absolutely nothing all day - a cheeky swipe at Dolly Parton’s song of the same name maybe. ‘Shipwrecked’ is followed by the more mellow ‘Coming Down’ and ‘One Mississippi’, a pair of songs that show a more sombre side to Hey Negrita but are by no means lesser tracks. Through the evening the mood gently swings from that of un-requited love and impending misery, a favourite subject for any serious country or blue band, to the sort of indie hoedown of ‘Devil In My Shows’ (dedicated to a ‘Lizzie’) that gets people tapping their boots and swigging beer with a grin on their faces. Ending their set with ‘Over the Hill’, taken from the band’s current album ‘We Are Catfish’,

they receive a warm ovation and rightly so - their music is easy to enjoy and very hard to dislike. The paradox is that without the current crop of new indie bands sweeping the nation the qualities that make Hey Negrita such a unique proposition would not be as obvious or enjoyable. Their energy and eccentricities, such as Three Horse’s Man-From-Del-Monte look, make them a real joy to experience so if you’re slightly sick of bands that spend more time on applying their music to the latest NME-induced trends, then Hey Negrita may just be the antidote you’re looking for.