Zipper Unpulled

Joy Zipper/Lucky Jim, Birmingham Bar Academy (aka Academy 3), Wednesday April 28th 2004.

According to Joy Zipper's PR, there hasn't been this much buzz on the tour circuit for years (as there is for the band's first UK headlining slots). Yet that's hard to credit when the cosy Bar Academy is barely half-full, due perhaps to the competing interests of The Zutons nextdoor (and HAL at near-ish Wolverhampton Little Civic) combining with teeming rain to deter the casual punter. All of which makes for a more intimate evening with the much-lauded Long Island group than one could have anticipated.

But first, there's Lucky Jim, although quite why is not immediately apparent, with their fairly traditional take on Dylanesque songwriting the only thing they seem to have in common with the headliners is their use of a makeshift drummer. LJ are the first non-dance act to be signed by Brighton's Skint Records, but while they're competent enough to be serviceable support I saw nothing to suggest an imminent return on their investment. I did like their last song though, and their PR girls were very friendly.

Memo to Tabitha Tindale: when walking through your fans to get to the stage, try not to wrinkle your nose up so much! Tabitha is wearing a tight-fitting red dress (with a koala imprint) over jeans, and what look like faux-crocodile shoes. Partner Vincent Cafisio, like the Patrick Swayze character in Roadhouse, looks shorter than you thought he'd be. They're accompanied by an intense-looking bass player and a drummer who just picked up sticks for them yesterday.

This is the first gig of the Joy Zipper tour, and occasionally they're looser than a diarrhoea sufferer's stool. But with their considerable charm and the intimacy of the occasion (it's not often you can sit on a sofa a few feet from the stage with a clear view of the band, now is it?) this doesn't seem to matter that much. Tabitha comments on Vincent being nervous, but with her woody woodpecker laugh and excitable demeanour she cuts a more vulnerable figure herself. Vincent does keep getting us confused by referring to their first and second records because over here their albums were released the wrong way round due to boring record company snafus, but it matters little as both 'American Whip' and 'The Stero And God' deliver great songs: 'Baby You Should Know'; 'Christmas Song'; '33x'; 'Check Out My New Jesus' and (oh, I almost forgot) 'Alzheimers'.

Vince and Tabitha's vocals pass the live test, and the ambience of amiable playfulness they create between each other is a winning one (he complements her songwriting to her bashful protestations; she pats his butt at the end of the show). They don't do an encore however ('we don't know any more songs!' Tabitha lies sweetly) and I was just left feeling the live show lacked an x factor, maybe a visual impact (perhaps a slideshow would help?) to match the blissed, hallucinogenic flavour of many of their songs. Still, to be fair, this was very much the warm-up show for their tour and was a very enjoyable evening watching an excellent band at such close and cosy quarters.