A four-star review in Q magazine for their debut album proves that this Dublin combo have the songs to match the style, and it shouldn't be too long before Rory O'Keeffe and his glam tarts swish their way into the VIP lounges of the UK music press.
The Ultra Montanes have been plugging away steadily for a few years now, but with each new single they add extra layers of musical mascara, fine-tuning their songs like supermodels matching lipgloss.
The band's Saturday night gig at the DA Club was packed with friends, femmes fatales and the odd obsessive fan, there to witness diminutive alien punk fiend Rory O'Keeffe in full flight. O'Keeffe has the swagger, the attitude and the Feargal Sharkey warble, but - more importantly - he's also got cheekbones sharp enough to slice watermelons. This is important if you're planning to become every teenage girl's - and boy's - silver dream idol.
Songs such as Anyway, Ageing Starlet and Weird Turn Pro are delivered with cranking, sometimes clumsy grace, and every chorus nods knowingly towards influences like Television, T.Rex and The Velvet Underground. Strangely, their version of Femme Fatale, which closes the show, seems somewhat heavy-handed, but when the Ultra Montanes get the balance right they can really knock you down with a feather boa.
