Claw The Thin Ice @ Fuel
First of a trio of emo bands at Fuel this evening, Claw The Thin Ice err on the Indie side (with screamy bits), sounding a little like a heavier Death Cab For Cutie at times. Unfortunately they are hampered by the sound at Fuel, which is shocking. It's unclear whether the PA is knackered or whether its because of the cave-like set up of the place, with the stage being shoved back at the end of a low-ceilinged club, but whatever the issue, everything is horribly muddy which didn't make for the ideal start.
The Manchester mob are obviously friends with a number of the other bands playing as they seemed to be chatting and wandering across the stage throughout the set to grab their beer from the backstage area which was also oddly distracting. CTTI do their best though and manage to turn out some pretty catchy, melodic indie-emo tunes with an anthemic edge; their front man giving an impassioned performance and their drummer fighting against the constant problems of his cymbal falling off the stage. A set fraught with issues but still not without charms due to the tunes on offer and I'd still check them out again.