Alternatively, the band’s popularity may be down to the mistaken idea that their front man is actually Ron Weasley and that the gig is some form of Harry Potter convention, but the absence of broomsticks and the presence of jaunty, rather than pointy hats suggest the other is the more likely explanation. Larrikin Love do, however, go well beyond the kind of shambolic messes often heard in the wake of the Libertines’ dissolution. Where The Others and The Paddingtons sank in self-interest, Larrikin Love’s musicality and diversity keeps them afloat on the current indie high tide. Ska undertones drive many of the rhythms and some cheeky duelling banjos (well, half of them) produce an unexpected hoedown between songs. Edwould couldn’t really sound any more like a Pete Doherty cast-off (“Do you want a friend or do you want a fight?” quizzes singer Michael), but is rescued by a bizarre violin solo. Opener Six Queens has a faint whiff of incense about it and Happy As Annie is indebted to, bizarrely, both country and punk. Stranger still is how smooth the blend is. Encore Silver begins with a raucous clatter of drum and morphs into a sort of cow-bell rumba fusion. This carnival feel is a fitting end to a gig as eccentric, however self-consciously, as Patrick Moore in a leotard. | 
