The Merseyside five-piece have an upbeat pop tempo and catchy funky vocals, which strike a stark contrast to the viscous ASBO ballads that Hadouken produce.
The gig sold out weeks beforehand as big names like Hadouken aren't that common at The Sugarmill. The venue was heaving with young fans draped in glow-sticks, UV paint and occasionally some clothing.
An obscure splice of Lady Ga Ga and Britney Spears hyped up the crowd before the gig, initially when 'toxic' began to play I thought it would be the DnB remix. Unfortunately It wasn't.
However the mix of pop music and teenagers has always made sense and Soft Toy Emergency fitted in effortlessly - pouncing on the stage with a sound very reminiscent of Alphabeat but in a good way.
Their opener White Lights injected the crowd with energy and made for a great sing along. The catchy chorus- "We've been staring at white light and we are blinded by our reflections" is accompanied by a neat electric tune that can't help but make you smile.
The sassy scarlet lead singer- Jen riled up the crowd for the nights headliner, whilst strutting around the stage in Kylie Minougue style-gold sequined hot pants, which the lads in the crowd definitely appreciated.
Other stand out tracks included Circles, a plucky-punky track that harks back to the greatest days of No Doubt and their latest single Critical. The single has an almost comical Europop streak running through it, as most of the lyrics sound as if they have been lost-in-translation from Swedish.
Overall Soft Toy Emergency have a great, upbeat sound that pumps from the same vein as La Roux and is riding the revival of 80's synth pop perfectly. So far Radio 1's Jo Wiley, BBC6 Music's Steve Lamacq and XFM's John Kennedy have backed the band. Considering their very successful slots at Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury this year, undoubtedly Soft Toy will be climbing the festival billings and into your ears sometime very soon.
Soft Toy Emergency are still touring with Hadouken and are playing a handful of other dates this year.
| THE BIG REUNION w/ The Wombats | Skegness | ||
| THE CRAUFORD ARMS w/ Hadouken! | Milton Keynes | ||
| ROADMENDERS w/ Hadouken! | Northampton | ||
| THE ROYAL w/ Hadouken! | Derby | ||
| REMIX w/ Hadouken! | Hitchin | ||
| THE BIG REUNION w/ The Wombats | Skegness | ||
| LIBRARY w/ Hadouken! (14+) | Lancaster |
Soft Toy Emergency's latest single Critical is out now and is available from iTunes, 7Digital and Play.
