Hollie is, of course, the daughter of Paul Cook, drummer and the quiet one from the Sex Pistols and looking at her tonight you get the impression she’s inherited quite a bit from her old man. She’s demure, obviously a bit shy in putting herself forward. Which is fine if you’re a drummer, but not so good when you’re supposed to be fronting your own show.
In fact, most of the stage announcements tonight emanate from Hollie’s drummer. This is a launch party for the Prince Fatty dub version of her eponymous debut album that came out last year. Musically it’s agreeable fare – savoury slightly wistful lovers rock embellished with the occasional dub flourish. We get most of that debut plus a cool cover of The Whispers’ And The Beat Goes On. Nice to shuffle around to, but there’s nothing gripping enough to raise it above the level of background music. Hollie seems uncomfortable in the spotlight and lacking a really strong voice or the sort of presence that demands our attention, fades into the background herself all too easily. Oh well.