In South East London we don’t get much in the way of Rock n Roll, so when we do we should cherish it.  So it was quite a surprise to find that when flicking through the gig guide of the nme that The New World Disorder Tour was calling at the Paradise Bar in New Cross.  For the uninitiated The New World Disorder Tour is a touring package of four bands who alternate their stage times with one another each night, no headliners just Rock Democracy.  The idea is to see some of the hottest new talent and give us a taste of what 2004 has to offer.

The tour line up looked very promising, Hang on the Box are an all girl Punk Group from China.  The highly rated Future Kings of Spain, South Londoners Ludes and the nme hyped My Red Cell.  First Disappointment of the tour was the Chinese Governments refusal to grant Hang On The Box a visa to leave China.  They deemed that the group whose debut album is titled For Every Punk Bitch and Arsehole would have been poor cultural ambassadors.  This meant that every show had a local band as the opening act (A musical democracy guys, except for the local act).  I didn’t catch the name of the opening act but to be honest this was no great loss.  They were the kind of Garage band who you hoped were trying to emulate The Stooges but you just knew they were basing their act on The Hives.  I could also be as unkind to point out they looked like the kind of band which looked like they would have been ripping off Oasis about 5 years ago, but that possibly is a bit harsh.

Thank God for My Red Cell!  This is a band for which all the hype is justified.  A band which is so Rock n Roll, the guitarist got run over outside the venue, despite having a suspected broken leg he played the set sitting down and then went to casualty, Rock n Roll!  Like the demented offspring of Joy Division and The Pixies if they ever had the chance to copulate.  My Red Cell remind me of all the reasons why I fell in love with music in the first place, they can do melancholic on 50 Quid but still with a bass that effects the nervous system.  On Dedication when they sing ‘Fuck Love and Hate, Lets Masturbate, to Rock and Roll’, they make we want to quit my day job, learn guitar, tour the world, and spend the rest of my life snorting coke from super models naked bodies.  Which is surely the sign of a great band. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of their debut EP, I promise you wont regret it.

After the great aural seeing too that was My Red Cell,  I’m afraid that Future Kings Of Spain didn’t really do anything for me.  They unaffected me so much I don’t really have an opinion of them which has to be a band thing, just average really.  Whilst headliners  Ludes really are the emperors new clothes.  Sounding like a marketing mans wet dream, they mix a large dose of the White Stripes with the kind of skiffle and Spaghetti Western guitar solos that The Coral seem to revel in.  This is all well and good, but do we really need a London version of The Coral?  All style no content I’m afraid.