Review: Skinny Lister, WhitLive, The Duke, Whitstable, Saturday, May 19

by Debbie Neech

If you've ever wondered what a sea shanty on steroids would sound like, you only had to be at the Duke in Whitstable on Saturday to find out.

Skinny Lister are the latest up and coming band to be featured in WhitLive's "introducing" gigs at the the Duke, aimed at bringing the chance to see new bands before they hit the big time.

One daily paper memorably described this London-based five-piece as the Pogues with good teeth, and they certainly bring a high level of riotous energy to their version of folk. This hard-working lot never seem to stop - they were 2011 PRS award winners for the most performances at UK festivals and now they're about to promote their debut album, Forge and Flagon, with a UK tour.

Songs like Rollin' Over and Trawlerman are their stock in trade, but there's only so much foot-stomping full-bore folk you can take in one go, especially if the sound mix isn't spot on, so it was good to also hear some of their slightly calmer, more melodic songs, like Colours and the waltzy Seventeen Summers.

I'm not sure the acoustics of the room at the Duke worked quite as well as seeing them in the open air at a festival would, but they still managed to get the party started, with the crowd dancing and passing around the flagon while singer Lorna Thomas came down from the stage to sing with the punters. If you're up for a party, these are for you.

They may be skinny by name but their brand of folk music is definitely full-fat.