Give it a whirl
Torrential rain and traffic jams both conspire to ensure that we miss the start of Spinerette’s set, not a problem that a few thousand other punters appear to have had as there is a big crowd for a mid afternoon slot in the huge NME/Radio 1 tent.
Formed by Brody Dalle and Tony Bevilacqua from the ashes of The Distillers, Spinnerette have made slow but steady progress and they were always going to get plenty of attention given their pedigree. The first thing you have to get over is that they’re not The Distillers, sounds obvious I know but if you try and compare the two you won’t get far as they are completely different animals. Gone is the out and out growl and energy, replaced by progressive alt rock that is largely mid paced but still manages to retain an impressive level of intensity.
You couldn’t really say the songs are catchy, more that they rumble along with the occasional outbreak of thrashing guitar. Dalle’s vocals are as distinctive as ever but today at least they lack a little bite and indeed her overall performance is rather reserved. She doesn’t seem that interested either between songs or during instrumental breaks, preferring to meander around the stage at a leisurely pace. It doesn’t make for a particularly engaging performance and it’s debatable whether the material is strong enough to stand up on its own. A hard one to call, there are moments where they build to a crescendo and inject some real energy but invariably it comes down again and an hour after the set finishes I’m struggling to remember any stand out moments. There’s something in there but to really appreciate Spinnerette properly I get the feeling you have to put some work in, they’ve done just enough today to make us think it might be worth the effort.