Choosing the perfect support act is a tricky business; aim too low and risk offending your audience’s ears, but aim too high and you may struggle to match the standard that they set. Working on this theory, Hot Club de Paris must've been a little worried because Scottish four-piece Copy Haho definitely fall into the latter category. Think Blur's ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ era mixed with Bright Eyes and hijacked by We Are Scientists – a giddily perfect sonic combo that raised the bar to near-Olympic height.
 
Luckily, Hot Club... have got enough talent to hold their own and bucket loads of Scouse charm to go with it. Opening with ‘Who Am I? (What's My Name?)’ and its call to arms of 'What’s my motherfucking name?' (I told you they were a charming bunch), the three Liverpudlians make it perfectly clear that they’re not the type to be outdone by any young-gun support act. With a list of tracks that all clock in at around the two minute mark, Hot Club... give a concise lesson in jerky riffs, unpredictable time signatures and genius song lyrics - how to do art-punk properly (with added funny bits).
 
The clever thing about going to see this lot live, is that you also get a fair whack of stand-up comedy thrown in for your money. In fact, the time split of comedy and songs is probably about 50/50. It combines to make for a thoroughly entertaining evening. Hot Club...'s songs are meant to be played live - the punk influence showing far more than being put through production. And the cherry on the top came in the form of a roaring run-through of Paul Simon’s ‘You Can Call Me Al’. Hot Club... had previously vowed not to play that song anymore after its "musical raping" by The Wombats - as if there’s any contest.
Hot Club de Paris: a testament to how to make tight, catchy and technically precise music without the pretensions.

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