An indie rock n’roll band fronted by a knitted puppet called Bo! is no mean feat, simply because of the whole logistics of the thing. Bo! - I’d like to call her Bo! - is wearing a Pete Doherty t-shirt tonight with “The Drugs Don’t Work” emblazoned on it.
Of course, the lead singer of the band isn’t actually a knitted puppet, but the very tall rock chick Miss Pepper. She proudly comes on stage and jokingly admits “Bo! is having sexual relations with Pete but is afraid to admit it.”
Tonight they support a very camp electro, Air-type act who are, comparatively, pants. Bo play quite a short set consisting of one of my favourite songs ‘I’m Bored’ which apart from nicking the title from an Iggy Pop song has no relation – it’s perfect 2/3 minute pop rock with a heavy Strokes/Yeah Yeah Yeahs-type sound. They also play the extremely catchy ‘Buses’ which has had an airing on MTV Flux and ‘Blinkandyou’llmissit’, which sees Miss Pepper keen to pick a fight.
Other things with ‘Bo’ in them? Well, Bo! Selecta on Channel 4… Bo Derek, 70s film icon who appeared with Duddley Moore in ‘10’ for those of you old enough to remember… but other than that, Bo’s are admittedly thin on the ground. For now… Bo! Pepper is yet unsigned, but definitely one to watch – the band are chasing a slot at this year’s V Festival, and can be seen supporting Ghosts in the near future…