Alas, this week saw yet another lacklustre, working class righteous, angry mob instigating band of grommet sized proportion receive a wincey pat on the head from a tabloid driven awards body for best up and coming band.
Such a predictable salute in a category that had endless possible winners, the announcement seemed less shocking in a ceremonial climate that steamed from both the boredom of a generation of stale minded adolescents and relentless ego masturbation. Yet seemingly ignorant to those involved in this display, five rock’n’roll juggernauts from Australia have been understatedly rolling around Europe in a bus taking the decayed minds of such youth and injecting them with the hedonistic nipple juice of Iggy Pop. Indeed, the crowd at KOKO rekindled a lust for life and a lust to get as disorderly as security would allow, with Operator Please providing gut thrusting, hoo-ha pop as the perfect soundtrack.
Tighter than a toddlers hold on a lollypop, Operator Please left not a soul in the sold out event in doubt of their ever increasing grip on the affection of indie pop and rock audience in the UK, with a 45 minute set that in it’s faultless timing and musical unpredictability did woo the crowd into one wild frenzy. Opening with Get What You Want, a spoiled toned rock’n’taunt anthem for the ambitious, front bird Amandah held her own with guitar in mitts and as much swagger as Johnny Cash, while baby blonde Taylor tip toed and tap danced her way through the set, earning the violin a top spot on the cool list of instruments.
One after the other, the band belted out the tunes from their up coming debut UK LP Yes Yes Vindictive, eventually, closing with a funk filled cover of Whip It by Devo which led rather too organically into Just a song about Ping Pong. With a humble “thank you”, and a riotous squeal from Amandah they retorted to the crowds applauds with Zero!Zero! And instantly, I became absolutely sure of one thing. This band will soon claim the natural rewards that accompany mature and accessible song writing, unimaginable humility and a cute post-teen style. Who needs a trophy when you sound like Operator Please?
