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Heloise and The Savoir Faire, 23rd January, Lonely Hearts Club @ The Railway.

There are many things most men won't admit to. Crying; Paternal instincts; Moisturising. And a secret gay trash disco queen inside of them ready to be unleashed.

I had mine unleashed recently when Heloise and the Savoir Faire went from Stateside to Winchside, bringing their thrift shop New Wave to The Railway Inns Lonely Hearts Club.

It's fair to say that the Railway is probably THE least glam of venues, but the sparkly scenesters from the New York underground scene managed to electro-fy up a cold Friday night and take you on a kitsch trip to a hip underground New York dance club.

I'll admit though, it didn't look that way at first, as Heloise looked decidedly un-hip wandering around beforehand - the fear that they were all production and video lighting, and several thousand sequins short of a sparkly cat suit was going through my mind. And it looked as though that might be right, as the first handful of songs didn't really match the image and slickness from the recordings. But, whether it was intentional - which I think it was; they're far too slick and choreographed - or just finding their feet, the rest of the set just got better. And sparklier. And camper.

Covering everything from techno and electro, to trashy, ballsy and thrashy NY punk with a gay disco backing, the new wave kids in the back drunk in the cabaret cocktail and danced, danced, danced!

There are distinctive Saturday Night Fever undertones to ‘Illusion’, glossed up with modern stabbed keyboards and choppy riffs, and played out with some seriously synchronised dance moves – not always confined to the stage. And how often would you see a bald Freddy Mercury-alike getting down to a bit of breakdancing?

With a sound and image such as theirs, it’s inevitable there are going to be comparisons to a certain band, but there’s a lot more going on here – think trailor park Scissor Sisters, in a good way.

Heloise is a superstar, and the rest of the dancers are suitably flamboyant and flashy – although the drummer and guitarists did look more like building site Oasis fans, which was slightly out of synch!

She has a voice reminiscent of Debbie Harry and Roisin Murphy, and the band sounds like GoldFrapp on happy pills – with disco-kitsch beats and outfits that Madonna would shit her saggy hot pants for.

‘Canadian Changs’ was probably the highlight of the night, and Heloise could well have had Lonely Hearts Clubs’ mantra in mind in it’s lyrics - "we love the modern music, we love the music".

http://www.myspace.com/heloiseandthesavoirfaire

Lonely Hearts Club nights run on Friday nights at the Railway Inn, Winchester.

http://www.myspace.com/lonelyheartsclubnight