The Mariachis

Think Don McLean meets early REM meets Bonnie Tyler with maybe a pinch of Van Morrison thrown in - the Mariachis are the greatest band I've seen in a long time (and bearing in mind I live in Camden, this is no small feat.) They were playing The Borderline on Friday night, an underground Soho club whose clientele consists Americana-seeking Missed-Woddstock-First-Time-rounders (an ageing Country Joe MacDonald is billed for April 30th) with money in their pockets (a bottle of Becks is over £3 and it cost £7 just to get inside). As for the band, they consist of five twenty-somethings, with a keyboard player of which would not look out of place in The Scissor Sisters, a frontman who looks like he's fresh off the beaches of California (actually he's fresh from a roadtrip down the west coat, which is apparently where they got their inspiration from), and a too-arty lead guitarist in an obligatory random hat (tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Oscar Wilde.) But musically they are brilliant, and have the added advantage of not sounding like Coldplay, or Keane, or Snow Patrol, that is to say they are actually not miserable (my tastes do occasionally stray from miserable music, and on the misery front there's a plethora of stuff in the charts to keep me occupied at the moment.) They manage to mix rock and country sounds with three-part harmonies (yes, folks, a band that can actually sing!) good enough that you don't need to listen to the lyrics in the hope that they make up for everything else you're hearing (actually the lyrics are fairly standard Americana rock, with the odd line here and there that suggests that the band have read a bit on the way - Kerouac et al references are there for those who look out for them) to create music that makes you want to dance (or in my case jump up and down a bit and splay my arms around, making my beer go fizzy and spill everywhere.) As an added bonus the support band didn't turn up so the Mariachis played an exhausting two sets to a growingly enthusiastic crowd.

I think the Mariachis should be huge. Unfortunately they are still pretty niche as no promoter will spend the money or take the risk on a band that isn't Coldplay or Keane or an already-established Pogues or Kate Bush making a comeback. But go to www.themariachis.com and have a listen, and if you are free, go to their next gig at the Carling Academy on 26th April.