The Strypes: what a difference a year makes

Stars: ***

It’s amazing what can happen to a band in the space of a year. At Electric Picnic 2012, we encountered Cavan buzzers The Strypes several times over the weekend. They rocked a few small stages, stored their gear in The Ticket’s shed and generally made a bit of noise.

In 2013, they’re making a lot more noise and on much different stages. They’ve spent the last 12 months touring, recording and spreading their retro rock’n’roll licks far and wide. At one early point, guitarist Josh McClorey says it’s great to be back in Ireland and that sounds like relief rather than a cocky boast.

What’s fascinating is that the songs remain the same. It’s the same wall-to-wall wham-bam of old-school garage rock and rhythm and blues from a band who play tighter and meaner than the Liverpool defence at the moment. The new songs, the self-penned ones, are as strong as the covers which were largely their sole currency this time last year, though it’s telling that there’s very little diversity or changes in mood in the set. The crowd whoop along nonetheless at this coronation ball. We’ll probably see them a year from now on the main stage.