Operator Please, Water Margin, 16 May 2008

Imagine travelling 10,000 miles from Australia to play one song for smug boogie-woogie man Jools Holland. Imagine that song is only 2.17 seconds long. That’s Operator Please – they may not be climate friendly, but they’re desperate to share the love.

So what does Brighton give them? A good honest bit of C-list venue atmospherics for annual city-based festival The Great Escape, that’s what. Escape? Pah! 250 people crammed into a basement the size of a small wardrobe, not enough room to swing a koala, stage on the floor, intimidating wall of people in your face, sweat dripping from the ceiling...

That’d be enough to send most bands scuttling for the door, but not this lot. Like said koala, Operator Please may look all sweet and innocent, but they can easily rip your face off, and The Water Margin fair gets blown apart. Here to promote ‘Yes Yes Vindictive’ - one of the most exciting indie records so far this year - we get a lesson in thrilling bastard punk pop, like the B-52s in a fight with Arcade Fire and The Gossip in a sardine can.

‘Get What You Want’ kicks things off, followed by ‘Terminal Disease’, and singer/guitarist Amandah Wilkinson immediately hits her stride - Cindy Wilson and Fred Schneider in one small package, a ball of furious energy with a frankly tremendous voice. The rest of the band are precociously talented too, and though sound problems threaten to spoil things for a while, the band refuse to be phased, ripping into Devo’s ‘Whip It’, complete with a co-ordinated dance routine from Amandah and violinist Taylor. ‘Communicate’ is followed by ‘Other Song’, slightly sappy on record but powerful live: “I'm smiling most the time, I smile so that you'll never see the fear”.

A ridiculously euphoric ‘Leave It Alone’ segues into Jools' fave ‘Song About Ping Pong’, and the ceiling just about lifts off. ‘Zero Zero’ completes the night, and the house of full of smiles. Offset your carbon next time, but fly back soon.

The Water Margin, Brighton, 16th May 2008.