Another Wednesday, another evening exploring the Huddersfield Parish and lurking in and around the cellar bar.

I arrived in time to catch local band The First Ones – a group of lads still firmly in their teens, and who have cut their teeth now on the bill of quite a number of Parish line ups.

I first caught these lads when they were actually  ‘the first ones’, their band name an ironic reference to the first warm up act on an evening that many people miss, or idly watch from the bar waiting for mates to arrive.

These days the First Ones have been promoted to often being the second ones, and as it had been a while since I had caught them, I could really see development and a real stage presence. The First Ones are not just there to make up the numbers.

There was a nice confident buzz about the First Ones, with a loud and noisy presence onstage, and some good in between song interactions. That practice and live experience stood the band in good stead and it was an enjoyably tight set presented this evening.

If Biffy Clyro are your thing, The First Ones do an admirable cover of track 57. I don’t always rate covers, but this one was performed with much conviction, and it fitted nicely into the rest of the guys set. As well as Biffy, fans of the likes of The Cribs would be happy here.

The main turn commented later on that they had got nervous after hearing The First Ones on stage  worrying about following them. A great and convincing performance tonight. I’ll await more.

Liverpool based Ugly Jumper were the main act tonight, undertaking a short tour to get their name more out there, even if their timing was particularly poor, as the band were also working on exams at LIPA the time.

The band describe themselves as emo, but to my ear it’s a little more on the melodic scale, but with enough guts in the tank to add a throaty percussion, a hard edge to the clever intricate guitar work, and vocal roar when it’s needed (which is pretty often).  

I kind of assumed the band name related to a maligned item of clothing, but perhaps it more referred to athletic achievement. I can confirm I spotted a lot of jumping on stage; none of it was ugly (then I didn’t spot any ugly sweaters either).

There’s a slight feel behind it perhaps for the likes of All About Eve and Alanis Morrisette. I’m thinking of what is often the slightly halting but always very tuneful vocals of lead singer Kaccee (KC), and the solid punch of classic 90’s Brit indie behind her.  Lyrics are often of personal introspection, so we have EMO with a cutting dash of hope and a slice of bite.

Ugly Jumper currently have a sole Spotify track out there (there’s a demo on Soundcloud too), something the band regret and intend to rectify soon.

To be honest, this set took me aback – it’s a rare band that has such a complete and polished set with only one released track. Likewise the performance was natural and very relatable. These guys would be comfortable wearing an Ugly Jumper, they would just stroll on there and rock it. There’s no wall between them and the audience; just open and honest and no too cool for school vibe.

The band are a friendly bunch (and I share a link with Hereford with Kaccee).  When I asked whether they were signed up somewhere, they looked rather taken aback with my compliment and assured me not. Haha, I even checked with Aaron from the Parish that they hadn’t been contacted by a flashy promo team for the gig…. a little tip for anyone with a label and a bit of cash to splash.

The band slogan describes themselves as being for the virgin losers, the middle aged boozers and the baby boomers (2out of 3 in my case hahaha) but I think there’s many more than that select group that would love to witness a live set from this team.  

Wednesdays are my new favourite nights.

* words and ropy images by Tiggerligger