➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣

Paradise Point: Roman, Adam, Cameron and Johnnie

❚ THEY’RE BROODY, A TOUCH SULKY, they’re very fresh and very photogenic in black and white. Four songs online show they play their instruments with startling energy — bass, rhythm guitar, syndrums and synth. Their music is high-octane power pop on one track called The Only One. Furious upbeat emo on another called Tears. Whiffs of Duran Duran on Unbearable Without You. The singer does also happen to have a voice, bone structure, mad hands, attitude. Can’t be more than 18. There’s no evidence on their website of ever playing in public. This is the Band With No Past.

Where do bands like this come from, fully formed, straight from the egg? A whisper tells you they’ve already landed a deal, but that can’t be true. Google the name Paradise Point and all you find is a Palm-dotted beach in San Diego.

Somebody else tells you PP are Brits, playing their first date this month, live with, er, actual instruments. Hang on. These aren’t indie scruffs or thrash rockers. These kids are in their teens, unashamedly popsters, writing songs and making their own music like real pop groups used to before boy-bands — and before the Cowell X-culture robbed the pop charts of a generation of musicians. We have to reach way back into the heritage for groups who could play their own pop.

It turns out to be Steve Strange who’s showcasing Paradise Point at The Face, the bleeding-edge Neo-Romantic clubnight of the 20-tens, but hang on again, you wouldn’t call this band Romos, they don’t dress like Alejandro Gocast. Yet. OK, they sing of angsty love, like in two more tunes they’ve covered on video and posted today — live versions of Katy Perry’s Firework, and Rihanna’s Only Girl in the World, just to show they can big-time it. Straight to-camera demos, in one take, in fashionable black-and-white, understated and fearless and fizzing with energy. Don’t say Busted. Don’t say McFly. Really, there’s no need to wince.

Strange, I’ve seen that face before ... the one on the right’s called Roman, and he somehow reminds me of her

So far, there’s no press coverage on the band. There’s no info, even of any kind, on Paradise Point’s MySpace page or at Facebook. Apart from four names in alpha order: Cameron Jones (vocals), Roman Kemp (bass), Adam Saunderson (guitar/synth), Johnnie Shinner (drums). So, Watson, what do you deduce? Kemp’s face, Holmes, looks familiar, seen it somewhere before. By jove, Watson, you’re right — some pretty high-powered friends on MySpace, as well, Lady Gaga top of the list. There’s a clue in their YouTube tags too: if you like the tags, you’ll probably like the Band With No Past. Better trek down to The Face Friday fortnight, see what they amount to…

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