Razorlight @ Leeds Cockpit - 7th October  '03
	The press have been saying very nice things about this band since their multiple appearances at summer festivals. Wary of the hype, I was lucky enough to hear a promo of eight of their songs and shocked to find they live up to the boosts. Very catchy songs, driven in a solid-souled idiom of purest rock. It had the power to move me and to have me singing along loudly in my car and on the bus (embarrassing, that....). So I was pretty sure that, live, they would have to have a flaw. Live, Razorlight are very clear with a punky energy. There is a trubby, throbby bass from a bassist who sings. I've got a pet theory about bassists who sing, that they bring a whole extra level of tune, beyond traditional counterpoint to their playing. There is a purpose and drive to the playing allied to something eclectically Coral. Me, I think a band whose members dance on the spot is a band that enjoys itself. To look at they are unprepossessing lanky longhaired hipsters with an angular drummer, all elbows and drumsticks. To listen to they are tiny titanic bursts of powerchord and sudden tempo changes tied into songs that remind me of all sorts of things. I hear bits of Patti Smith, I hear bits of New Order and yet I never thought I'd get the two into one sentence, never mind one band. In their last song; Looking For You, they end it with a big jam and feedback before each member, one by one, lays down their instrument and walks off, till only the drums are left. A big rock gesture, one that reeks of confidence beyond a support band. I left smiling and this is one of those times I think I'm going to be saying 'I saw them when' Vanguard Online