Railcard & The Corner Laughers at The Betsey Trotwood London, Sunday 9th August 202

 

It’s my third Railcard gig already this year and I’m in danger of repeating myself, after all, there’s only so many ways of saying “I bloody love Railcard!” They are fast becoming our ‘Band of the Year’ and it’s not just us; the wind is undoubtedly in their sails as they cruise towards the release of their ‘proper’ debut album “Two Steps at a Time” in September. So, here we are for a Sunday afternoon matinee show at the Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon, it’s such a cool pub that the landlord is wearing a Felt “Me and a Monkey on the Moon” T-Shirt. There’s some Indie Royalty in the bright sunlit room, Railcard’s vocalist and guitarist Rachel Love’s former Dolly Mixture bandmate Debsey Wykes is there along with her partner Paul Kelly, once of Saint Etienne and Birdie. Jessica Griffin from Would-Be-Goods and Pete Astor of The Loft and The Weather Prophets are also present and correct. Yes, there’s a real buzz around Railcard now, so much so that they have even been acknowledged by British Rail, or whoever it is that runs the railways nowadays, with their very own official Railcard ‘railcards’. Handy for one of the best bits of band merchandise I’ve seen in a long while, the plastic Railcard railcard holder, I never leave home without mine. 

 

In fact, Railcard do have a pretty good imagination when it comes to their merchandise – the T-shirt on sale today sports a print of a mock rail network with the station stops replaced by this year’s tour dates and venue. This comes with a “You Are Here” button badge that you are meant to re-position on the shirt according to the gig you are attending at the time. There are also Rachel’s trademark berets in a variety of colours at the merch desk alongside a very fetching Tote bag and copies of their brilliant self-titled debut compilation album that gathered their previous three E.P.s in one glorious package. Last year they also produced some cool Northern Soul style patches together with the release of the “Northern Soul Dancing” E.P. They really seem to enjoy the creative process of coming up with inspired ideas for merchandise and it got me wondering just what new goodies they are going to dream up around the release of the new LP. 

Today’s set is quite different from their recent and rather splendid show at the Water Rats when they were supporting Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires alongside Jetstream Pony, which you can read all about here. They included “Revolutionary Calendar” and “Daydream” from the E.P. collection alongside new songs “Foxy”, which features on the excellent Skep Wax Records compilation “Pets Sounds”. There’s the excellent latest single “Unstable Neighbour” with some spaced out Psychedelic trumpet from Allison and the album title track “Two Steps at a Time”, which comes complete with a catchy whistle-along refrain. Drummer and vocalist Ian Button does his best to explain the background behind some of the songs; however, he is often reduced to amusing Robyn Hitchcock style flights of fancy as his bandmates try to interject and put him off. Rachel is all smiles and occasionally she cracks up when she catches Allison’s eye – it’s this wonderful chemistry between the band that warms the heart of even this cynical old gig-goer. They play a great new Peter Momtchiloff penned track called “Paper Thin” and of course, favourites such as “Railcard”, “Northern Soul Dancing” and the set closer, the hypnotic “Disco Loadout” make their appearance. 

However, sadly there’s still no place for my favourite “Born in ‘62” though, which is after all, the song that explains the catalyst behind the band’s formation, fingers crossed that maybe they’ll play it one day. Then it’s all over until, enthusiastically spurred on by Debsey, we all join in to call them back for a well-deserved encore. They don’t take the easy option, deciding to play another new song called “Inspector Sands”, and it is fun watching the band give it a go for the first time. This song Rachel explains, appears on the bonus 7” single that comes with the limited Dinked edition of the new LP. I’d recommend ordering it now, as it appears that some stores have already sold out in advance. Judging on the quality of the recent singles and new songs that I’ve heard them play live, I’m guessing that the new LP is going to be pretty damn good indeed. I’ll be there at The Lexington on Sunday 20th September for the matinee “Two Steps at a Time” launch party, which also features Gina Birch and an Indie-label record fair downstairs. Now, that’s ticking a lot of boxes for yet another very special Railcard event, can't wait!

 

 

Special guests on the day were The Corner Laughers from Redwood City, California, or half of them at least, as we were treated to an acoustic duo version of the band featuring Karla Kane on ukulele and lead vocals and Khoi on guitar and backing vocals. The connection between them and the headliners is that Railcard’s Ian Button released Karla’s debut solo album “King’s Daughters Home for Incurables” on his Gare Du Nord Record label and he invited them to play as they were over in the U.K. It was an inspired choice, as their beautiful pastoral Folk Pop songs and Californian melodies made for the perfect soundtrack to the glorious summer weather outside. Karla has a wonderful warm voice and Khoi’s backing harmonies complement her perfectly and they quickly endear themselves to the audience.

My personal highlights were “Changeling”, “Terra Mia” and two songs which hint towards their appreciation of the U.K. “Victoria Sponge” with handy lyrical recipe included, and the single “Rainbow Cardigan”, which even namechecks the Lake Districts’ Kendal Castle. As Karla explained, on record with the full band, they sound a bit different to today’s stripped back affair, but to be honest, it kind of suited the vibe of such an intimate, sun-drenched afternoon perfectly. I picked up a copy of their latest album “Concerns of Wasp & Willow” and bagged one of the last vinyl copies of “Matilda Effect”, which included a free CD version and left the venue with a very large and contented smile on my face. You can see more videos of both bands by subscribing for free to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here.

 

With thanks to Karla and Khoi.