Jim Noir, Fibbers, York, May 27

by Admin | June 21st, 2006

Ever wondered how Siddhartha would sound if he were a band? Fret no more. Jim Noir and his bouncy powerpop come as a breath of fresh air in a musical scenery of world-weary bands that try too hard to be ‘unpredictable’.

With Jim Noir, the smiling begins right away: the stage is littered with garden gnomes (‘stolen from posh parties’) of all sizes, the biggest one riding a kangaroo, and there’s a desk-lamp on the keyboard with a little drawing labelled ‘Phil’s Lamp’. The band themselves are outlandishly attired, with sharp haircuts, ponchos, hats, and Noir aptly wearing a red bandleader jacket, all of which creates a pleasant air of theatrical flippancy. The band’s sweetly naïve lyrics, boyish looks and constant smiles, added to the soft, upbeat backing singing and deceptively innocent songs, unexpectedly contrast well with Fibbers’s, er, unostentatious atmosphere. The band members make funny faces at the audience, chase each other with guitars and there is much good-humoured stage banter (‘What’s the plural of Jesus? Jesi?’). They’re endearingly self-mocking as they announce My Patch: ‘The one you’ve all been waiting for, our big hit, the famous one… it got to number sixty-five in the charts!’

The band are just as lovely off-stage as on. They hang around to chat with the audience and make no fuss about granting us an interview, though they’re cautious in their replies (‘am I allowed to answer that?’ Noir repeatedly asks his manager). They name a mixture of influences in electronica, 60’s one hit wonders and various rarities (but they’re ‘not geeks’) and the result is a lively, breezy sound backed by solid tunes, not unlike the Beach Boys. The sunny choruses repeated into catchiness, the abundance of ‘pa pa pa pa’s and 80’s-disco-style keyboards give such a bright and colourful mix of happiness that you wonder if the band is ever in a bad mood. But when asked how they manage to keep themselves so happy, Noir looks surprised and half-seriously replies that he’s a deeply miserable and bitter man who writes music as a way of expressing love, and that gives him happiness.

And, well, I’ve never seen an audience look so happy.

Kathryn Bromwich