Play, boys. (Hefner - Live)

Name: debod

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Product:	Hefner - Live
Date:	03/02/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The live show outstrips the albums.

Disadvantages: The drummer is at the back. They may not be "live" very much longer.

The best gig I have ever seen was Hefner live at the Boule Noire in Paris a few days ago. I am utterly smitten, so this'll be a long one. Bear with me. And with Hefner, as it seems they need some bearing with.

I was not enamoured when my friend lent me one of their albums on the Too Pure label. In very bad form, I judged the thing on its cover, which seemed to have some American style artwork (all the artwork is done by Darren, the lead singer by the way). I listened inattentively a couple of times and decided I wasn't really into them. The style seemed like US bland guitar pop rock. I was vaguely amused by some of the lyrics: "I'm gonna make myself go blind tonight" was one whose metaphorical content I appreciated, but other than that, no big deal.

My friend then persuaded me to go with her to see them, by buying the ticket as a belated birthday present. I enjoyed the concert so much that I now feel I should reimburse her!

So why the big turnaround? Firstly, I think the personality of the band as a whole is not to be underestimated. Their style is "geeks made good" if you'll pardon the expression. Toothy, and slightly greasy looking, it is easy to think, "Ah yes, it's obvious why these guys started a band... in an attempt to up their cool rating at school."

But, to quote George Michael "It's not what you've got, but what you haven't got that makes you star." Accordingly, school dorks usually turn out later to be the coolest dudes. And, in some way, most of us with an ounce of sensitivity feel that we were probably dorks at school. So, being at this concert is like experiencing a collective dorks' revenge, watching a bunch of blokes with whom we can all identify making heroes of themselves on stage.

The music assumes a different dimension live. The songs are played faster and rockier and Darren lets rip with his voice, nearing punk in certain song
s. The tunes are quite simply fantastic pop melodies. They did their latest album, alongside some old favourites apparently. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was tempted to compare this concert experience to listening to the Beatles 1 album. Just great pop song after great pop song. I kept waiting for a mediocre number to come up... but no, they kept thwarting me with successive brilliance.

It wasn't just the tunes. The lyrics are fabulous. Funny, intelligent, simple, poignant. People were creasing up with sheer pleasure at the humour, which is somehow schoolboy/adolescent but at the same time makes you feel intelligent for having "got it", for sharing the joke. This is true for the band's name: their namesake is the editor of a well-known men's magazine, and it's simultaneously gratifying to know this piece of media trivia and yet somehow dorky to admit to it.
Some of the lyrics that really got me went something like: "Things are much better than before, I listen when you talk and we do it on the floor." It's almost stand-up comedy in pop song form: well observed social commentary, nicely put.

The slightly boffy, too clever for their own good side can be seen in the Greek mythology origins of next lyric quotation, but see how they immediately undercut it with a wry, funny remark. "And every Prince who lives in Greece/ Will tear themselves to pieces for her beauty/ Born of a swan/ Jesus don't be long, let her body sweat above mine in the summertime/ And was it she that wrote Porn is Woman Hatred on my overcoat?/ Christ, I need that coat, it really shouldn't be this cold in summertime.

Other highlights include "The day that Thatcher Dies", which was written in envy of Prince's 1999, and Pulp's Disco 2000. Darren wanted to write a song for a definite party date in the future, and this wonderfully disrespectful and tasteless track is what he came up with. Maybe i
ts resonance is limited to the Thatcher generation, but I doubt it. It's a universal sentiment to hate certain politicians, and the French in the Boule Noire's audience were singing along with "The Day that Chirac dies".

Darren was a bit drunk, which made him very gregarious and likeable. He chatted amiably between songs. The bassist seemed to be holding his lips in a tight smile over gritted teeth with the effort of overcoming his shyness. The way he waggled his hips in time with his strumming was most appealing. The drummer is the looker if you ask me (or my friend, or most of the girls in the audience... of which there weren't many). But he was stuck away at the back and only emerged at the end to sell T-shirts. The other multi-instrumented, baseball-capped member of the band (Jack?) came across like a grinning, sharp-witted loon.

Overall, their enjoyment of the occasion was successfully transmitted to the audience, and their obvious talent, wit, character and authenticity made them a hundred times more charismatic and impressive than any manufactured boyband you care to name. (Not that Hefner and boybands should even be mentioned in the same breath).

"Whistler" were the warm-up act, and the pretty, blonde, deadpan lead singer certainly heated some cockles. I really liked them too, a sort of cross between The Cardigans, Belle and Sebastien, and Ivy.

So, if you can, check dates on their website Hefnet.com and go and see Hefner live. You might not have the opportunity for much longer as a split is rumoured. Darren might concentrate on his art, the drummer has another group, and after four years of only moderate success, (a recent No.50 in the charts with "Pull Yourself Together") things are getting to crunch stage. What they need is for one of their songs to go ballistic. It is tempting to imagine them having a big summer hit in the vein of Ash's "Girl from Mars" or "Oh
Yeah", as many of their tracks feature a similar mix of uncustomary lyrics and great, tingling, pop guitar/drum lifts in the middle of the song. On the other hand, as their charm lies in their geekiness, maybe this means that they will never be mainstream enough for a big hit. Thankfully.

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