Gigs

Gig Review: NME Awards Tour 2008 - The Young Knives + Lightspeed Champion + Ungdomskulen

Venue: Astoria, London
Date: 26 February 2008

Remember when being a geek started being cool? It was sometime around the nineties wasn’t it? But now here we are in the naughties and I’m completely lost because tonight’s line-up is uber-geek. My imagination runs wild as I picture them backstage trying on each others spectacles and fighting over who can name all the Marvel superheroes in the fastest time. The loser must have been Ungdomskulen as they are first to appear.

If Elvis Costello had eaten Josh Homme he’d look a lot like Kristian Stockhaus, the band’s portly frontman. He dances spasmodically, jagging his guitar back and forth, as across stage bassist Frode Flatland nods his long hair appreciatively. Their progressive new wave is, at first, spiky and surprising, but soon becomes more rhythmic and natural. The drums of final band member Øyvind Solheim are, at times, staggeringly good. ‘Gloryhole’ features a jaw-dropping dance beat created mainly via a series of bells and blocks over which guitar is carefully layered, whilst ’Spartacus’ would sit well in any set with its funky tempo and chorus hook. As their most accessible song of the night it prompts plenty of applause out front. We learn after the show from Stockhaus, who we spotted admirably manning the merch stall, that the band certainly appreciated the favourable response.

Vampire Weekend have gone missing and it’s Lightspeed Champion who take up the baton making a surprise appearance. As one-time Test Icicle, Dev Hynes, stands crowd-side of the amps he is instantly surrounded by a bank of photographers all desperate for a snap of him in his trademark furry hat. From rock monstrosity to the saviour of pop music - it’s quite the transformation. He strums gently at his big ol’ guitar as the band assail us with tales of woe and hate; prostitution and ex-girlfriends. Before unveiling ‘Galaxy Of The Lost’ Hynes stares out at the crowd and shouts “This is fucking sick and it’s about to get sicker”. The full backing band emerge including a female drummer (no, she’s not just eye candy) and a superb violinist who fills out each song with a certain orchestral whimsy. The sweeping spots, strobe and dry ice are suddenly on the move and Hynes is feeling the heat under his bearskin. He’s struggling on despite the sweat pouring down his face. “It’s because I care”, he pouts. Following the haunting beauty of ‘Fucksucker’, a title completely at odds with its music, they throw themselves into a Star Wars medley with the violin taking the lead. These lighter moments litter the band’s set but we all gawp in admiration as the 10-minute epic ‘Midnight Surprise’ is wheeled out with its gently swaying folk-pop texture which punches through into effortless plucked guitar. Sick, must obviously mean very good.

The Young Knives, Oxford’s popular indie post-punkers, are brothers Henry and Thomas Dartnell - imagine two of the early cast of Grange Hill all grown up and acting lairy. They’re joined by drummer Oliver Askew who Henry crudely introduces with “He’s got a fucking beard and it looks like a fanny!”, before adding, “Well, only the fannies I’ve seen”, which prompts a laugh from the crowd. It’s actually quite strange to see them headlining part of the 2008 NME Awards tour considering the magazine’s rather negative stance towards their latest album, ‘Superabundance’. Their set is naturally littered with tracks from it - ‘Dyed In The Wool’ and new single ‘Up All Night’ shine brightest - and it’s certainly no duffer. Effervescent and insistent, without becoming repetitive, they repeat chorus words to slam their point home. Strange to see such a simplistic form of music forefront today’s pop scene but the crowd seems more at ease with it. Unfortunately the brand’s been heavily watered down and coming so soon after Lightspeed Champion’s display of complex witticisms it falls a little flat. At least there’s the fat jokes which the Dartnell brothers happily trade in. “Touche, fatboy”, yells Henry, before striking the first chords of ‘She’s Attracted To.’ With the unnecessary introduction of an orchestral backing quartet you get the impression that they’re trying a bit too hard but in the end it’s fairly harmless stuff. I think I’m off home to trade my designer specs in for some welding goggles.

For fans of: The Cribs, Stockhaus, Good Shoes
Band links = The Young Knives / Lightspeed Champion / Ungdomskulen

John’s review also appears in Subba-Cultcha.

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