Holy Ghost Revival @ Captain's Rest, 20 Oct

Fed up with waiting forever for Chinese Democracy? Holy Ghost Revival are here to help, with singer Conor St. Kiley (even their names sound as though they were lifted from Spinal Tap) doing his damndest to evoke Axl Rose’s heyday stage presence tonight. Their ridiculous AOR cock rock is closer in sound to a Meatloaf/Elton John collaboration, and while this means it’s difficult to imagine ever wanting to listen to their clichés on record (unless perhaps when driving across LA during spring break to a, like, totally gnarly pool-party), live it's hard to entirely dismiss their colossal daftness. Though their attempt at bad boy behaviour feels petulant - smashing a glass in a quiet mid-week Captain’s Rest looks more like a tantrum than rock star excess, Mr St. Kiley. Their flickering smiles suggest a band vaguely aware of their own absurdities, yet not afraid to turn things up to 11. And that’s one louder, maaaaan.