Micko And The Mellotronics

Micko and the Mellotronics ? kicking it big style in both the live arena and on wax (check out the excellent Half Dove Half Pigeon and Vice Anglais albums, both bursting to the seams with XTC meets garage punk art pop n roll), it?s grand to welcome Micko and his mover shakers back to the Dublin Castle for a night of crisp and crafted rocking. Brother of actor Wash and a bit of thespian himself, Micko has straddled the worlds of indie, punk and ska with innumerable excellent collaborations and projects. Cult Figures- Way back IN 1979 a nifty little comedic lofi punk pop 7 Inch in praise of ?Zip Nolan? got played on John Peel and appeared in our record shops housed in a beautiful pinky bluey foldout sleeve ?Swell Maps were involved at first, which gave us even more of a reason to snap this fantastic record up? but then Cult Figures became their own men and went on to create their own pleasingly ramshackle pop punk rumble? and then out of the blue a few years ago suddenly they?re back! Now with three excellent albums under their belts, chock full of alluring, sardonic pop, rocking post punk and subtly psychedelic sass. An excellent body of work that comes well recommended, whether featuring original sadly passed vocalist Gary Jones, whose massive shoes have been wonderfully refashioned by new singer Fraser Gillespie. Dirty Viv ? fuzz tone pop and post punk grind played with an impeccable trash aesthetic and admirable disregard for formality and unnecessary gloss- plenty of glam though, care of the titular Viv, resplendent in short skirts and peroxide hair. They don?t care.