Well somebody had to do it. Somebody had to put the ‘ram’ back in the ‘ramalama-ding-dong’.

Current Melbourne sweethearts Little Red played their first major headline gig last week, launching an EP teaser for a debut album due out on July 5.

Over the last 12 months or so, the band has been slowly building a loyal and ever growing base of fans that arrive at the gig in all manner of shapes, sizes and ages.

This eclectic mish-mash represents perfectly the all-encompassing LR stage show, which seems to include something from every single disc in your parents’ record collection.

There’s soul, there’s funk, there’s blues and there’s a selection of 60 beats. But at the risk of sounding like Billy Joel (and nobody wants to do that if they can help it), it’s still rock n roll to me.

Of course, the most obvious retro-fit on the Little Red set list is based on the band’s unashamed devotion to Doo-Wop harmonies. The last time this genre was revisited was when the aforementioned Billy Joel tried unsuccessfully to breathe new life into it during the 90s and everyone told him to fuck right off.

But the chaps from Little Red differ in their approach, in that they create a sound so true to its 1957 ancestry, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in a padded booth with Ralph Malph and a chocolate smoothie.

Other tracks lifted from the release suggest a world of other influences, which are all tackled respectfully and with the sort of irreverence you might find within a cult road movie or a bag of licorice allsorts.

But it’s the 50s/60s theme that holds it all together, along with the smiling faces of 5 boy-next-doors you can’t help but love. And though the album in question will surely catapult these adorable kooks into stardom, there’s one very good reason why you should make it your business to see them live.

His name is Taka Honda and he’s the drummer.
 
If you can imagine what Ringo Starr would look like if he was born to Japanese parents you’re starting to get the picture. With the wobbliest head I’ve seen in years, I was considering the commercial merits of releasing a nodding doll in his honor once Little Red start to hit it big.

These guys are going to be huge and my only wish is that you really did hear it here first.

6 stars out of 5