THE STRYPES // THE CAVES, EDINBURGH

The Strypes start the ‘Spitting Image Tour’ playing at The Caves in Edinburgh

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THE STRYPES ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM AND UK JUNE TOUR

Picture the Jam having a one night stand with the blues” says my friend as we stand in the Caves listening to The Strypes. At first the statement almost confuses me; two pretty drastically different ideas, punk/mod and the blues. They really shouldn't go together at all, except in this case they do. 

The Strypes hail from Cavan, a small town in Ireland and have been together since 2010. Seven years later the Strypes haven't burned out and it’s clear to see why Noel Gallagher, Dave Grohl, Miles Kane and Elton John are all fans of theirs. 

Throughout their set the band play a mixture of tunes from their two albums ‘Snapshot’ and ‘Little Victories’ as well as playing a lot of new material. It’s interesting to see the strong differences in the songs; whereas the first album is obviously influenced by 60s and 70s blues bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds, The Strypes second album takes strongly from 2000’s indie bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian. With the newer songs they were debuting it’s clear to see even newer influences emerging, with the vocal melodies being very reminiscent of Paul Simon. 

Due to the different genres being represented, The Strypes draw an audience ranging in age with the more youthful crowding towards the front. The highlight moment was during ‘Scumbag City’ when bassist Pete O’Hanlon invited the crowd to join the band on stage. A mass of people flocked to the stage and joined in harmony to Scumbag city in a chaotic rendition of the song. 

After security took their turn removing the crowd from the stage, the band also left and it was unsure whether they would return. However, they came back completing their set with hits ‘Heart of the City’ and ‘Blue Collar Jane’.

An excellent showcase of four immensely talented musicians getting fans excited for their upcoming album ‘Spitting Image’, out on June the 16th. 

THE STRYPES TOUR CONTINUES:

JUNE 02 - THE TRADES CLUB - HEBDEN BRIDGE, UK
JUNE 06 - THE BULLINGDON - OXFORD, UK
JUNE 07 - O2 ACADEMY 2 - LEICESTER, UK
JUNE 09 - THE ARTS CLUB - LIVERPOOL, UK
JUNE 13 - DINGWALLS - LONDON, UK
JUNE 14 - THE GLOBE - CARDIFF, UK
JUNE 29 - THE VENUE AT PRESTON - PRESTON, UK
JUNE 30 - PLUG - SHEFFIELD, UK
JULY 06 - THE SPA ASSEMBLY - LEAMINGTON, UK
JULY 07 - THE WATERFRONT - NORWICH, UK
SEPTEMBER 09 - THE SUGAMILL - STROKE-ON-TRENT, UK

REVIEW BY: SETH ALLEN