Keylock kicks against the pricksā¦
Plunger have followed Aaron Keylock for almost ten years now: from pre-teen appearances at Charlotte Street Blues jams to touring his LA-recorded album Cut Against The Grain around the country in the company of SIMO. The smooth upward trajectory of a dream guitar-hero career hit a few potholes last year, and Plunger worried the wheels might come offā¦ but thankfully Aaron was back, with a new band debuting all new material at Camden Assembly.
After walking on to Johnny Cashās Aināt No Grave, the five piece (Aaron on guitar, Jonnie Hodson vox, Jack Browning bass, Joe Major drums, Thom Carter keys) announced their presence with a jagged MkII Purple tutti-stabbing intro to Other Side, an off-kilter rocker with a splash of Iron Butterflyish psychedelic heft: punchy fluent bass and a brief squealing solo led to a crisp dead stop. Jackās muscular Gloverish almost-solo heralded the meaty chords of Ju Juās swaggering cock-rock, appropriately topped by Jonnieās Coverdalesque belt: a mellow organ-led midbreak gave space to draw breath before a skittering Skynyrdy close.
There were more obvious southern flavours in the sentimental lighters-in-the-air good ol' boy anthem Coming Home, with some nice harmony vocals added in the chorus; in the mellow Band-meets-Crowes Come On Come In with Jackās bass mirroring Jonnieās meoldy line and Aaron chucking in a short, lyrical Rossington-Collins burst before a storming rocking finish; and in the excellent Ways Of Saying: smoky Fender Rhodes and melodic guitar contributing to a Marshall Tucker Band vibe before picking up the pace for a beefed-up Rod-and-Ronnie barroom romp.
Jonnie alternated gutsy vocals with some tasty harp playing in the head-bobbing strut of Handful Of Nothing, and displayed an impressive impassioned vibrato in the stylish minor key middle eight of Rich Manās Fool, which was bookended by a hard-edged denim boogie opening and a dark 70s voodoo soul coda.
The relaxed country-tinged lope of Bright Eyes showcased cracking vocals and some sweet southern-fried guitar before another Faces-style double-speed piano-led canter, and the set closed with Shine On Me, a good-time singalong finale with a Stones-meet-Dennis-Waterman-covering-Games-People-Play kind of vibe, given a pretty creditable showing from a freezing Monday night crowd. A driving (un-setlisted) encore take on Edwin Starrās 25 Miles gave another opportunity for audience and full band to raise the roof in the chorus.
An impressive debut for a new outfit: a tight polished performance from the band; great rocking material; and a classic cheeky-chappy frontman to involve the crowd (and add the level of vocal quality that maybe provided one of those potholesā¦) The only slight disappointment was that Aaron largely took a supportive backseat role: still orchestrating the numbers but taking only the briefest of solos where they were taken at all. Hopefully as the band evolves heāll get back in the spotlight a bit more again.
