Photos and review by Simon Thelwell
The Hours is a band with a fair bit of real life experience behind them as members Antony Glenn and Martin Slattery have previously worked with artists such as Joe Strummer and Shaun Ryder and earned the approval of radio DJ Zane Lowe.
They were preceded by the thoroughly enjoyable Glasslights, who plodded on with their soothing three part harmonies and personal songs despite a sparsely populated venue and unintentional vocal reverb.
The first aspect of The Hours that strikes you, after the piano adorned with Damien Hirst artwork, is just how sharply dressed the entire band is, which might lure you into the false idea that this is a band more about style than substance.
The realisation that this is a talented, versatile group sinks in fast as the band goes from thumping anthemic tune to slower piano driven ballad with frontman Antony Glenn even looping his own voice for backing vocals to some songs and going into expletive laden spoken verse for others.
If you’re a fan of well written lyrical content then The Hours are definitely a band for you to check out, each song is full of substance, wit and the occasional pop culture references. In fact the brilliant single Ali In The Jungle (requested no less than five times by one fan) manages to mention Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela and the titular Muhammad Ali among others in just the chorus.
As charming as the songs themselves, the band is refreshingly down to Earth, joking and bantering with the crowd between songs.
The Hours are a formidably tight live band despite at one point skipping a song on their setlist and having to play it later. The fantastically symbolic lyrics are clearly the backbone of this band, complimented perfectly by the delightful piano work and booming drums, making songs like Ali In The Jungle instantly recognisable and catchy.
I wholeheartedly recommend anyone to spare a few minutes and spend some time with The Hours. You’ll be singing alone in no time.
Glasslights
