Reva at the Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If only the so called Brit Pop phenomenon of the 1990s had been founded in the heartland of pop, the public houses, the bars and clubs that cosy alongside the River Mersey it would have arguably been as colourful as the Mersey Beat era of the 1960s. It would have also arguably been more substantial and lasted with more ferocity than what eventually fizzled out between a few bands, sometimes with the British press over egging it to the point where there was a farm somewhere in Lancashire on 24 hour production schedule to meet the near selfish demand.

It is a shame that the period didn’t have the chance to relish in the four-piece band from Liverpool, the very enjoyable Reva, for where Oasis and Blur hyped up the thought of the branding of Cool Britannia, Reva would have just come along, saw the lay of the land and with distinctive heritage that comes from having the Liver Birds perched upon the shoulders and giving the music a hand up to the view that giants see.

Not that Reva are the only band in Liverpool that understands the power of the three minute song, if that was the case then the much loved International Pop Overthrow would find it difficult to relish playing at the Cavern every year to big crowds. For those though that took the opportunity to go along a see a very good young band in the Zanzibar Club, the music they would have been fortunate to hear would have inflamed the art living within us all.

For Lewis Cromby, Luke Lawler, Jake Larsen and David Duff, the music was inflaming, arousing, they provoked a debate in the mind of how to utilise this great sound when it could be said that the Liverpool area is already the pinnacle of Britain’s music culture. It certainly irritated the soul that all you could do was imagine the audience inside the Zanzibar Club franticly sending out text after text suggesting that their friends come out and see Reva as soon as possible.

With a set that included songs such as Landslide, Waiting for the Sun, the excellent Second Nature and the very cool Symmetric, Reva just played their heart out, they showed respect to the 1990s but also there was that wonderful Merseyside scorn tucked just underneath the eyebrow and out of sight unless you were looking for it that this is a band who knows, who understands that life is best rejoiced when arousing the flames of the future.

There is always enough kindling in Liverpool, there is more than enough fuel, the three minute song, the Brit Pop standard isn’t always pockmarked with the thought of the surreal grin and people giving quick sound bites from outside Government official homes, occasionally a band like Reva come along and shake the tree with a bit of violence but with a winning, engaging and beautiful smile firmly planted upon their face.

Ian D. Hall