Right then, I think it's time to write another little post about various things I've dragged myself out to in the past couple of weeks, and the general state of play.
No news really springs to mind, so I may as well write about the bands straight away.
First up there's last week's jolly jaunt to Shepherd's Bush Empire for Stars & Sons, The Dodos and Okkervil River. Stars & Sons, who released their debut single, In The Ocean this week hail from sunny Brighton and make fairly typically Brightonian fare (see Electric Soft Parade, Actress Hands, Tenderfoot). Its upbeat, pleasant and proficiently played. Not too much wrong with it, in fact, but still lacking a fundamental quality required to raise it beyond the reasonably good.
The Dodos were actually a far more engaging and exciting prospect than expected. Whilst singles 'Fools' and 'Red & Purple' stand out a mile on this years Visitor album, the live set is less biased towards these two. Both came early on, but my attention didn't sink at any point. I can't really be bothered to describe the music of a band who've been everywhere and represented a bit of a bloggers delight for months on end, but it is worth saying that their percussion is among the best I've ever had the pleasure of being entranced by. A really bloody good show from them.
Unfortunately, despite their reasonable stage-craft and collection of excellent albums, I cannot say the same of Okkervil River's set. I last saw this band when they made their first trip to these shores in 2003, playing a sweet set to about 50 of us, sat cross-legged in the upstairs room of a pub in Brighton. I think that every person there will look back on the gig with great fondness, as they won us over with their passion, lyrics and genuine charm. Having honed their songwriting since then, and with 5 years on the road under their belts, I was hoping, basically, for the same but better. Obviously things wouldn't be the same, Shepherd's Bush Empire being very significantly different from The Albert, but unfortunately the most significant thing I noticed was the lack of that charm. It is almost as if the band have started to believe their own press, and have thus become a little self-important. Will Sheff does have a brilliant knack with a lyric, and he may look disarmingly similar to Where's Wally, but this was a pompous, indulgent show from them on the whole. Shame.
The next gig was the second lovely Cool Fun night at The Old Queen's Head, in Islington. I won't go on about it too much, as my friend Dan Market and I are Cool Fun, but it was a very good gig, with an especially bonnie set from the almost unfathomably fast-improving Rose & the Distractions. Worthy of individual note was the effect-laden, one-legged mandolin perfection from multi-instrumentalist Ralegh Long.
The following night, two Shoreditch shows allowed me to take in 3 bands. First up were SMALL, whom I have banged on about before on here. Finally, they came to London, and i must say that whilst the music was near perfect, there was a rather offputting vibe to their stage show. Two of the three members were wearing leather trousers, and the drummer may have been too, as he was sat down and I couldn't see. That should be enough to make my point about them.
Next up were The Operators, of the Isle of Wight. Three quarters of a great, if rather naff pop band on show there. Breathtaking rhythm section (they record in Mark King's studio, and rumours abound that the bassist is his son), a couple of stand out tracks, and a honking, galumphing fool of a singer. More bum notes than true, unfortunately. Still, they can play.
Finally, I saw We Have Band, who were the best band of the evening. A nice line in disco-y, driving electropop. Pleasingly organic though, with splashes of surprisingly twinkly joy on offer. They put on an engaging, intelligent show which put me in mind of the mighty TV On The Radio at times. Although that is a generous comparison to draw, and you may go and see them and decide to disregard everything else you have read here, they are a neat little band, with something slightly different to offer.
That is all on the gigs front for now. I have heard a couple of other golden nuggets lately, but that can wait for another day. A couple of bands to see tonight should lead to another post soon enough.
