It’s like Britpop never happened. We are up in the excellent new venue Kamera Ballroom above the Lloyds pub in Chorlton and we appear to have stumbled across an Indie Pop gig to party like it’s 1987. There is a stall selling fanzines, stickers, badges and there are two bands on the bill which have their roots in a particular style and aesthetic that definitely recalls the era before “Indie” became codified as as genre – and at worst middle of the road, meat & potatoes guitar music. Kick In THE SUN….

This interpretation is summed up by the newly launched streaming service from BBC6Music : “Indie Forever” – where “Indie” means “Nothing but solid gold upbeat indie bangers” – cue Toploader, Razorlight, The Fratellis, Shed Seven and any number of Oasis-adjacent lads and dads purveyors of “anthemic” beery artless slop – Union flag guitars and daft hats. I don’t care how many tracks by the (insert name of ludicrously overhyped viral ‘math rock’ band here) they play – this is a reductive and backwards step.

Pre 1994 “Indie” meant anything from A.R Kane to PWEI to MBV to The Fall to Scritti Politti to Durutti Column to Cabaret Voltaire to We’ve Got a Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It to The Mighty Lemon Drops to A Guy Called Gerald to KLF to World Domination Enterprises to Loop to Spacemen 3 to Cardiacs to 808 State to Soup Dragons to Mercury Rev to King of the Slums to Microdisney. Even if some of them weren’t on “Indie” labels financially speaking. It wasn’t a genre, it was a catch-all term for a certain way of approaching things. It was what the mid 70s hippy lot tried to call “Rock in Opposition” aka ROI. Imperfect but it certainly wasn’t The Lathams or The Reytons or one of those bands that sounds like a dynasty of local butchers.

Both turns on the bill tonight, on record at least, remind me of the “indie” music John Peel or Janice Long or in Manchester the ‘Meltdown’ show on BBC Manchester were playing in the late 80s hinterland as Acid House and Hip Hop were taking hold at the same time (and also being played by those DJs). Both bands tonight would quite likely have been snapped up for Creation Records having that mix of smart songwriting, firmly 60s guitar sounds and a certain swagger but also a certain oddness and otherness that they share with all of the above. I get the impression both bands have been absorbing some of that untapped oddness from the era of fanzines, bowlie haircuts and pre-Madchester experimentation before everyone got Loaded.

First up on what appears to be a double headliner are Bramwell. Formed in Torquay and now Cardiff based. They immediately impress with their way with a tune. Make no mistake – This Is Pop. They’re confident, but this ain’t no Britpop revivalism – they have a quirky feel about them and enough of an oddly psychedelic edge that keeps them on Planet Interesting. Indie Pop is the touchstone – echoes of Felt or Teenage Fanclub but there is a dash of the late 70s about them too – they could be on Stiff Records – I hear a bit of Squeeze, a bit of XTC at their most bouncy. They have 3 singles out all of which should make for a fantastic debut LP if they can only decide on what their sleeve artwork should be. Highlight for me is ‘British Rails (Are Long and Fast)’ and it is long overdue that someone wrote a song about Captain Sensible – Bramwell have..yesss!

Up next are Autocamper, who I’ve attempted to see more than once and most recently failed as they had an unexpected line-up change as singer and keyboard player Niamh departed for pastures new – cue some regrouping. Their debut ‘What Do You Do All Day‘ is an understated and charming collection of very smart and catchy songs and infectious urgent riffs with a bit of nuance and texture to ’em. Tonight – gone is the swirling organ and vocal interplay between Niamh and other singer/guitarist Jack – instead things take on a more feedback laden raggedy feel- leaning into Velvet Underground or Jesus & MaryChain in their earlier more confrontational era. Mighty fine it is too but I feel like I’ve missed the “Pop” era. It worries me that they may have decided they need to more like the fist-flailing bore-rock of Brian Jonestown Massacre and ditched some of the magic of the debut LP.

They are leaning into riffing and feedback solos and are in danger of becoming just another ‘Psych’ band (that other heavily codified, and increasingly meaningless title). They do at least not start a fight and exude an energy of looseness and just having fun and there is still something intriguing about the band – a strikingly Jarvis Cocker-alike drummer called Arthur, a bloke on guitar (who annoys me a bit with some over-amplified shrieking – I have to say), a bass player who looks alarmingly like Robert Webb and stage right behind shades is – I presume Jack Harkins who has a bit of the Lawrence from Felt about him (never a bad thing). After 30 mins they decide it’s time for an all-star jam and Bramwell plus a few pals cluster on stage and plug in for a 10 minute freeform take on Them’s garage rock staple ‘Gloria’ – a long time since I’ve seen that happen at a gig and it is rather delightful – reminds of Blue Aeroplanes encores with the massed guitars they used to end each show. I have a nagging feeling this is more to entertain each other and their mates in the crowd rather than the rest of us though – and off they go.

A very entertaining evening nonetheless. I look forward to Bramwell’s debut LP and, having missed their initial pop phase – with some trepidation -Autocamper’s “difficult 2nd album” and hoping they sharpen their next direction and build on that early promise – (or was this their last show?) Who knows. If You Know – You Know. I don’t.

Still give me this variant of “Indie” over the fucking Courteeners any day.