ManBREAK - London Barfly


DESPITE the fact that the Barfly's claustrophobia-inducingly small gig room is barely half full, ManBREAK are turning up the style and putting on one of the most endearing performances seen for quite a while. Chief vocalist Swindelli is playing the Scouse scally role to the full, gabbing like a man up to the eyeballs in amphetamines (even though he isn't) and generally coming across like a drugged up Virginia Woolf doing a stand-up set.
The entertainment continues apace when the band eventually manage to shut him up and start a song. Guitarist Snaykee spends half the set in mid air, bouncing like a hotwired pogo stick throughout, while Swindelli and the enigmatically named Mr. Blonde trade vocal lines, sounding for all the world like metal's answer to Black Grape.
The fact that top ManBREAK tunes like 'Ready Or Not' and "News Of The World, are irritatingly reminiscent of more familiar songs that you can't quite place matters not, as their infectious hooks and chopped up rhythms are put across with such enthsiasm that you embrace them in their own right.
Despite the fact that the set slows somewhat when Mr. Blonde ceases lyrical sparring in order to beef up the sound with some guitar playing, ManBREAK's potential is undeniable. Watch this space.

Written by Dan Silver; from Metal Hammer, September 1997

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