When I first heard the Black Kids debut track – “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You”, I was really excited. They had that same “instant smile on your face, feeling like summer” sound that I love about Los Campesinos and Delays. I checked them out on Myspace and have to admit that I wasn’t overwhelmed by their other material. Not to worry though, I’ve seen plenty of bands that don’t sound great on Myspace but blow audiences away with great performances.

Cut Off Your Hands are a case in point, if you’d listened to some of their tracks on Myspace you’d be forgiven for thinking they were just another bunch of Foals wannabe’s but having seen their lead singer Nick Johnston deliver another blistering performance full of intensity and angst you’d have to agree they are so much more than that. On the downside, Nick doesn’t stand still for long so if you’re planning on photographing them, you’d best make sure your auto-focus is up to it!

Cut Off Your Hands Live at the Sugarmill, Stoke-On-Trent, 2008-06-11 (Mike Gatiss/Mike Gatiss Photography)

The Black Kids unfortunately weren’t really my kind of thing, I guess I should have been warned when the vast majority of fans queueing outside where under 18 yrs of age (with a fair number under 16 yrs) , “I’m Not Gonna Teach…” went down well enough but the rest of their material left me a little cold and unimpressed. I’m going to hold off on the judgement though, it’s early days for this young group from Jacksonville, Florida and while they’ve got a lot to learn about stagecraft, they’re in the enviable positions of having the time to do some studying.

The Black Kids performing live at The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent, 2008-06-11 (Mike Gatiss)