The Quails

It’s not often that the bar staff at a great music venue like the Half Moon rave about a new band – come on, they’ve seen it all before. But that’s exactly what happened last night when The Quails hit London like a category five hurricane.

The five-piece, from the sleepy Devon seaside town of Teignmouth, blasted through a fantastic set of danceable, quirky indie pop songs that left the audience breathless and begging for more. Front-man singer/guitarist Dan Steer may look like a badly drawn boy but he sounds like the finished article and guitarist Max Armstrong stunned the crowd with some amazing chunky riffs, while every hit-you-where-it-matters song was underpinned by the tightest rhythm section outside an atomic clock, courtesy of bassist Sam Banks, drummer Chris Prentice and rhythm guitarist John foulkes. Talk about a Wall of Sound! Phil Spector, eat your heart out, because these boys sounded like Heathrow the night before a bank holiday.

Teignmouth already has one band that are doing reasonably well for themselves - I think they're called Muse. But here’s a tip for you: The Quails are coming, and if anybody asks you how you know, tell them a little bird told you.
Go to www.myspace.com/thequailsband to check them out – and don’t miss them when they come to your town.