Ja Ja Ja
Live @ The Lexington, London, UK 01/21/10
Scandinavian club nights (with or without bands playing) have been a regular feature in London for quite some time now and the new kid on the block is Ja Ja Ja, who started a monthly club night at The Lexington last November. The Lexington is one of London's most exciting venues at the moment, some of the most up-and-coming bands play there, and the bar area downstairs is fantastic. Anyway, since there were three bands playing there was no time to hang out downstairs, but one had to stay upstairs (which is more grimey than downstairs, but still kind of nice in a quirky way). First out were Iceland's Leaves who left me rather bored, reminding me of a dull Radiohead. Next up were Norwegians Simon Says No! who were not as boring as Leaves but even less to my taste. They've been compared to shoegaze mammoths such as Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, but being no great fan of either of those two bands, I am probably not their target audience. It was not a good start to the evening, but thankfully Icelandic band Sudden Weather Change somehow lived up to their name and put on a brilliant show, sounding like a band from the mid 80s, and thus ending my night on a high. Ja Ja Ja is a great night out though and I'll without a doubt return to it. I'm sure some fantastic bands will end up playing, it's definitely worth keep an eye out for who they've got on the bill.
- Stefan Nilsson