Brisbane’s Confidence Man are only three-quarters man and half-confident really – two extroverts, two introverts, the former in hotpants at the front, the latter playing their instruments with black veils over their faces so that people don’t realise that they also play in other bands.
All four have fake names – Janet Planet, Sugar Bones, Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie – again either for anonymity or to draw even more attention to themselves.
They’ve been stirring up the gigging scene in their homeland, being named the “best up-and-coming live band in Australia” on Radio 1 equivalent Triple J, which didn’t go down well with a swathe of music lovers on the internet who think they’re a bit silly really. With those weird stage names and boy-girl singer set-up, they could be this decade’s Scissor Sisters, while their singles Bubblegum, Better Sit Down Boy and Boyfriend (Repeat) recall Fatboy Slim’s wackier moments.
Now they’re coming to brighten up the British winter, signing a record deal with London indie label Heavenly and playing XOYO in Shoreditch next week. I’m confident it will be enormous fun.
Dec 6, XOYO, EC2 (020 7354 9993, xoyo.co.uk)