Newcomer of The Year: And The Winner is . . .

Soul Kitchen Newcomer of The Year 2011: Miles Kane

First he was a Little Flame, a Rascal and then a Shadow Puppet. This year however, the Mersey's most bespoke Mod went solo. Quite predictably, he did it in some style.

Three years ago, Miles Kane was Alex Turner's mate, a Peacock strutting upstart playing sidekick to the Voice Of A Generation. How wrong this perception was. Fast forward three years and Kane has experienced the high of a Number One album and Mercury Prize nomination with The Last Shadow Puppets' Age of The Understatement and the lows of professional and personal break ups (with his band The Rascals and supermodel girlfriend Agyness Dean). Many would have floundered at the prospect of a solo jaunt after only ever experiencing the security blanket of a band. Kane though, has the frontman gene ingrained into his DNA.

From his first backing vocals with The Little Flames, Kane couldn't tear himself away from the mic stand. This unrelenting desire to follow in the swinging footsteps of his idols shines through on record and stage. Being a Merseyside mop top with a penchant for sharp suits and even sharper guitars will draw the Fab Four comparisons out in their droves. Yes, Kane cites John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band as his favourite album, 'Gimme Some Truth' as his favourite song AND even blatantly pilfers the Walrus' 'Cold Turkey' riff for Colour of The Trap track 'Better Left Invisible' but there's more to Miles Kane than being a mere modern day Lennon caricature.

Catch an interview with Kane and he regularly namedrops French connoisseurs of cool Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Dutronc as heroes. The Gallic duo no doubt inspiring the filthy garage riffs of 'Inhaler' and 'Come Closer'. Dutronc's fingerprints are all over the video for single 'Rearrange' and Monsieur Kane recorded a cover of 'Le Responsable' (albeit an anglicized version) as the B Side for lead single 'Come Closer', which has now also become a rousing live set staple.

In fact, Kane consistently brims with unpredictability. Upon the release of Colour of The Trap in May of last year, many were expecting rehashed Rascals or perhaps sub par  Shadow Puppets. Contrarily, Kane rattles off scuzzy garage with aplomb on the aforementioned 'Come Closer' and 'Inhaler', flirtatiously duets with the bewitching Clemence Poesy on seductive slow burner 'Happenstance' before sailing effortlessly through the Style Council pop of 'Quicksand' and thundering out Middle Eastern cinematic soundscapes on the grandiose 'Kingcrawler'.

The fun doesn't stop there either. To see Kane play live is akin to witnessing a young Giggs, Gascoigne or Rooney take to the field for the first time. He's young, talented and absolutely fucking fearless. The Soul Kitchen was lucky enough to bear witness to Kane's mercurial live talents twice last year. The first time, in late October, was a headlining show at Manchester's HMV Ritz. The venue's infamous rubber dancefloor suitably bounced from start to finish as Kane did likewise, boomeranging around the stage like a Scouse Tazmanian Devil, complete with Taz's customary howls and some bonus kung fu kicks that stamped an exclamation point onto the end of every riff.

A month and a half later and he's supporting the rock and roll colossus that is Kasabian on the Manchester leg of their cretacious sci-fi Velociraptour. No easy task, with the vast confines of the Manchester Arena providing a much more ominous presence than the Ritz six weeks previous. However, despite being charged with the task of warming up Pizzorno, Meighan and co's baying masses, Kane takes to it like an impeccably coiffed duck to water. His boundless energy is soon matched by the 15,000 strong audience who begin to filter in with much more urgency as if this is the main event that they're potentially missing.

Closing with 'Inhaler' Kane hollers "Manchester, let's lose our fucking MINDS!" and amidst the traditional overpriced Carslberg downpour, they promptly do. The set finishes with Kane holding his guitar aloft, roaring his appreciation back at his new found devotees. You get the impression that if he had a few million more album sales to his name, he'd Pete Townshend the guitar through the nearest amp.

Then, much like the cocky young upstart who's netted a hat trick on his debut, Kane exits left, leaving behind an enraptured crowd who now impatiently await a repeat performance. If young Mr. Kane continues in the same vein as 2011, he'll soon be returning to the arenas as the main event.

Until next time,

Keep on Keepin' on,

Baia

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