If you fancy seeing a new band that aces a modern version of early Stones meets The Yardbirds meets soul, you can put this in the bank: You will love The Strypes live. These Irish kids are in their mid-teens, they’ve played hundreds of shows around the UK and Europe, and their “Snapshot” album went top ten in England. The time has finally come for them to invade America. The Strypes will surely have a high profile at SXSW, and they recently flew over for a handful of major market shows in addition to their winning US TV debut on Conan O’Brien.
The Troubadour in LA show was star-studded on January 28. Elton John, whose management company handles The Strypes, was perched in the VIP balcony. Members of Muse, Blondie, and many other bands were on hand to see this band getting some much deserved attention in the States. I’d seen The Strypes and interviewed them last May at The Great Escape in Brighton, England so I knew what I was in for. The young lads more than delivered, playing over an hour. Like their album, there were lots of cover songs and there was only one song that wasn’t blazingly fast. This band is letter tight and, if anything, they might have actually played a bit too fast. Chalk that up to LA adrenaline.
The Strypes even dressed smart with suits with open shirts and they really locked in to a perfect groove with about five songs remaining. They band especially hit their stride during a covers medley of “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” into “Si Si Rider”. Their “Blue Collar Jane” EP is out now with the album “Snapshot” dropping stateside in mid-march. Beyond their youthful intensity, this is a supremely talented band. See this band live! Reviewed by Bruce Rave
The Strypes 
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Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
Reviewed by b3
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April 1, 2014
Saw the Strypes at the El Rey. Pretty epic night. I knew somewhere out there in this big world there would be someone out there to ignite some rock flames. Boy did they. What a fun band. I have not seen anything like that since the Cramps played live.
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