Finally we don't have to travel up to the Yorkshire Moors or down to the streets of Jack the Ripper to see a half decent band and this, my friends, is incredibly good news.
On to the bands and first up were Birmingham's own (Silver) Souvenirs, a band clearly chosen due to their ability to captivate, relax, excite [and probably juggle] an audience simultaneously, a quality which is difficult to come by. A synth-pop sundae with sprinkles of math rock [but with far better quality vocals], (Silver) Souvenirs make it very difficult for anyone, in what must have been a particularly daunting full room, to resist dancing.
That's a lot of love from some lovely looking ladies right there.
Photo by Jade Sukiya : She's Hot and She can take damn good photos.
Next on were Oxford's TROPHY WIFE who were what can only be described as a very bizarre looking live act. This is not to say that the music wasn't of a high standard, more that their on-stage anctics were a bit of a distraction with the [passionate] drummer looking as though he'd created his own world in a stobe-lighting lit club in Ibiza and the synth player pounding his pedals in a leprechaun like manner. Having said that, the singer's no-frills-but-deeply-sweet vocals and the contageous bass riffs and beats in the form of well-known White Horses and ever popular Microlite were enough to win the crowd over, with the end coming in the form of a soup'd up, dance cover of Joanna Newsom's Book Of Right On.
The chappies are all very lovely looking but I just really like looking at this photo. Not staring, like a weirdo, just looking.
The final act of the night were Esben and the Witch , a deeply dark three piece hailing from sunny Brighton. Although not much of a continuation from the other more 'lively' bands, EATW wear a welcome breath of air, albeit fresh in the loosest sense. The hauntingly soft yet equally powerful vocals [which, i must add, sound much better live] marriaged with morose guitar punches and lighter synth sounds really create an atmosphere of uncertainty and excitement. I've got to add though that whilst this was all very new and good [in Birmingham standards at least], the obligotary 'I'm a girl so I have to play bass drum in every song a bit like the ting tings but with more eyeliner' was something that did quite the opposite to setting them apart from the other girl/boy bands currently spending their lives on twitter. That being said, they are most definitely worth a listen, live if you can make it, with stand -out songs being Marching Song and Warpath.
Catch them today at London's XOYO and tomorrow in Brussels.
I couldn't actually see their faces at the gig because they'd all let their hair down back to front.
They're all lovely looking too. No witches here. Jog on.
x
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