25 May, 2011

Holy Ghost! come to Hoxton’s Bar And Kitchen with an almost impeccable modern disco pedigree. They’ve remixed Phoenix, MGMT and Cut Copy, have featured on a Kitsuné compilation and have worked their way on to James Murphy’s DFA to release their eponymous debut album.

Holy Ghost

Electronica of the disco variety is notoriously difficult to pull off with a live band but the New York duo of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel give it a good shot. There’s a five-piece set up tonight, with live drums and two synth players/ patch station operators. Millhiser and Frankel generally stick to their lead vocal/guitar roles but indulge in the occasional bit of polyrhythmic percussion, accentuated by Will Ferrell’s favourite instrument (cowbell, not jazz flute if you’re wondering).

The band set out their stall with opening track, ‘Say My Name’. It’s pure Balearic with a synth heavy laid back groove, doubled vocals, repetitive melodic guitar licks and a little of the aforementioned percussion. ‘It’s Not Over’ continues on the same footing, with an incredibly catchy falsetto chorus and half spoken/half sung verse vocal over an unashamedly Italo Disco arpeggiated synth line. ‘It’s Not Over’ introduces some adroit guitar playing, which continues with a Fleetwood Mac style instrumental melody in ‘Hold My Breath’.

Lead single, ‘Wait And See’ then appears surprisingly early in the set. It’s pure disco pop gold, complete with a wonderful nod to Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’ alongside one of the most beautifully understated bridges I’ve heard in years. This song makes me giddy every time I hear it.

In a way, if I’d left there and then I’d have been a satisfied customer and would have extolled the virtues of Holy Ghost! to anyone who’d listen. The problem is, the performance, which at first comes across as early gig nerves, never quite takes off. Frankel and Millhiser seem like fairly reluctant front men without the stagecraft to match the upbeat, retro nature of their music.

I get the standoffish style of some New York acts. I get being too cool to let yourself go and believe me, I get pre-gig nerves, but there just seems to be little correlation between the Prince/New Order stylings of Holy Ghost!’s sound and what you actually see on stage. As the set progresses, I can’t help but feel gradually more and more detached from a band who honed their talents DJ-ing rather than performing live and I’m left wishing they just grabbed the bull by the horns a little more.

The packed crowd seem happy enough though. The mid-week dad disco dancing never fails to put a smile on the face and I can’t write a review without a doth of my cap to their powerhouse of a drummer. If you were hoping for a rip-roaring New Order style band then you will probably be a bit disappointed by Holy Ghost! live, but don’t let me put you off. The live show can only go from strength to strength.

Delorean (photo credit Sebastien Dehesdin)

December 6, 2010

So how can a Catalonian band who are more used to all things Balearic, rather than Baltic (it was freezing out!), come across in one of east London’s trendier than thou venues? Rather well, actually. If you decided to stay in watching Corrie, drinking tea and eating toast then you definitely missed out.

The four-piece, casually dressed in slightly too large t-shirts, grab the opportunity to warm the cockles with gusto.  They launch into an hour-long set, carefully blurring tracks from their critically acclaimed Ayrton Senna EP and Mushroom Pillow released album Subiza into one another.

The abject noises, drum pads, spacey vocal delivery, minimal piano chords and effects pedals on top of pulsating synth drones that appear in the glorious opening track ‘Seasun’ sets the scene perfectly.

Photo credit: Sebastien Dehesdin

Electronica mixed with live drums can prove to be a bit of a stumbling block, but tonight it works very well (despite the occasional lack of cut in the heavy “snare n bass n snare n bass” beat you crave during the bigger drops). The band help their drummer out by cleverly mixing programmed and live bass.  Plus, there’s not a click track in sight (according to their friendly sound engineer, Marco, anyhow).

By second song ‘Stay Close’, the crowd are doing that reserved Shoreditch-style head nodding and studied swaying dancing that isn’t really dancing at all, which generally means “I bloody love this!” If it weren’t a school night and if London crowds weren’t so predictable, for a moment I am almost able to trick myself into thinking “this could really kick off”…

Photo credit: Sebastien Dehesdin

Of course it didn’t and was never in danger of doing so, but that was nothing to do with Delorean, or their carefully crafted set.

Clap snare sample pads and the gradual introduction of old school rave samples (think of the “wahhhh oh… wahhhh oh… a ahhhh oh uh oh ah ahhhh oh” from Black Box‘s ‘Ride On Time’ and you’re in the right ball park) help the set to develop. The second half also introduces some sparkling guitar lines and choppy, rhythmical disco chords and if anything, there’s not quite enough of this.

So, how do the songs translate from the heavily produced recordings into the live sector? Well, the songs not only stand up, but sound great. Plus there’s enough of a change from the recordings to justify seeing this band several times over.  Stand out track of the evening for me is ‘Deli’.

Photo credit: Sebastien Dehesdin

One particularly good moment comes in ‘Grow’, when the blissed-out outro synth is doubled with some wordless vocals.  This turns the recognisable line into a more predominant first album MGMT style motif and perhaps this is the gap in the market, which Delorean can comfortably fill.

Closing track ‘It’s All Ours’ gets one of the biggest reactions of the night, despite losing a little of its impact due to the lack of live backing vocals.  It’s still a great, euphoric, inspiring last track, however and as the crowd heads into the sub zero night sweating, grinning and generally agreeing “they’re such a good band”, what more could you ask for?

A little less ‘George Lamb Bull Horn’ would be top of my list but that aside, this was a thoroughly enjoyable gig and I for one, can’t wait to see them smashing it on the festival circuit next summer.

Photo credit: Sebastien Dehesdin

Mark Sultan - $

According to the bible of made up facts and unreliable anecdotes (yes, even us revered Musosguide writers occasionally resort to Wikipedia), the adolescent, Montreal born, Mark Sultan showed a keen interest in psychology.  I wonder what this budding Freud would have made of $?

It’s likely Sultan would have been fascinated by his older self’s exploration of multiple personalities.  Although it showcases a wide range of song writing styles, genres and vocal deliveries, Mark Sultan’s second solo record, is certainly wrapped up in a singular, low-fi lovin’, garage rockin’, abject noise embracin’ skin.

Multiple personas in music and literature are nothing new (if they are, then I suggest you run a hot bath, listen to David Bowie’s back catalogue and read ‘Steppenwolf’), but the elongated list of Mark Sultan’s stage names provide a glimpse into just how fluid his sense of self really is (Needles, Krebs, Von Needles, Skutch, Creepy, Bridge Mixture, Kib Husk, Noammnn Rummnyunn, Blortz, Celeb Prenup and BBQ).

The four minute long, industrial psychedelic introduction of ‘Icicles’ gets things off to a rather laborious start, but with surfer rock number ‘Don’t Look Back’, $ begins to hit it’s stride. That said, by the rip-roaring fourth track ‘Status’, the wheels threaten to fall off completely in the raucous multi-vocalled, trumpet and hand clap punctuated outro, which appears to be accompanied by a drummer having several heart seizures all at once.

As homages to The Kinks go, ‘I Get Nothin’ From My Girl’ is right up there, replete with jaunty acoustic guitar, pronounced vocal harmonies and a whistling solo to boot.  This borrowing from bands of bygone eras rears its head again in The Ramones-esque ‘Go Beserk’.  What this song (and the intro to ‘I Am The End’) really showcases is the rather excellent top register of Sultan’s voice.

In ‘Misery’s Upon Us’, one of $’s stand out tracks, this sparkling top register and rhythmical vocal delivery appears again, only this time it’s over a wind up musical box and an ever present drone of guitar feedback.

Sultan is at his most convincing when writing 50s doo-wop inspired ballads. With its gospel vocals, distorted guitar figures and lyrics of unrequited love, ‘Ten Of Hearts’ sounds like it’s screaming out to be featured in a Cohen brother’s film. ‘Just To Hold You’ and ‘Catastrophe’ move along pleasantly enough, but they sound like well executed pastiches of the 50s/60s music Sultan champions, rather than heartfelt original compositions.

‘Nobody But You’ brings the record to a rather disappointing close; it’s one of those songs where you know exactly what the lyrics are going to say before they’ve been sung.  It’s this kind of predictable, occasionally pedestrian song writing, which Sultan strays into a little too often on $.

On his website, Sultan claims he didn’t know this record would be reviewed as ‘entertainment’. This is an admirable stance, however, by writing melodic, three minute pop songs (it doesn’t matter how you dress them up), $ will ultimately be judged by its ability to entertain and engage listeners. Fans of his work will no doubt enjoy this latest batch of songs, as they rightly should, however, new listeners may not find it to be quite the original or completely coherent record they were hoping for.

Hot Chip - One Life Stand

So here we are, one of 2010’s most anticipated releases…but can Putney’s favourite geeky dance-pop musos deliver the classic (and possibly career defining) album many are expecting?

Things get off to a strong start with opener ‘Thieves In The Night’.  It’s all broody synth organ drones and a four-on-the-floor kick drum, which builds anticipation and excitement, as any album opener worth it’s salt should. Alexis Taylor’s instantly recognisable falsetto finally gets things going: “My friend once told me something so right, he said to be careful of thieves in the night.”

From here on, the track seems to be on an ever-upward pursuit for bliss and abandon, with layers of synths, beats and guitars being added on top of one another in a clever marriage of words and music, “happiness is what we all want.”  Lovely stuff.

Next up is the piano led demi-ballad, ‘Hand Me Down Your Love’, which stands out as one of the record’s more instant tunes.  In what seems like an attempt to remain “human” and “honest”, the band have opted for a distinctly acoustic drum kit sound in the intro and verses.  It’s not what you’d expect from a Hot Chip song, but then again surprising listener’s is one of the things they do best.

Pretty string lines and delicious rising melodies ensure that it won’t be long before Erol Alkan decides he wants to sinks his dirty electro teeth into this one, as there is a filthy floor filling monster hiding just below the surface.

* “Don’t give a shit about the cool kids”

It’s no surprise that the album takes its name from the first single to be released from the album. ‘One Life Stand’ is an instant Hot Chip classic.  It’s irreverent, completely mad and is filled with a seemingly bottomless pit of hooks.

The choreography on the video sums up Hot Chips’ “don’t give a shit about the cool kids” approach to their music and image, which has garnered the band such a devoted fan base.  What’s a shame is that this sense of fun doesn’t appear elsewhere on the album. A few more tracks like this, rather than the insipid ‘Slush’ or ‘Brothers’ and One Life Stand would be the first must have of the decade, rather than just the very decent album that it is.

Other highlights include ‘Alley Cats’ and ‘We Have Love’.  The first is more of an entity than a song and is quite simply one of the loveliest, most understated, tracks Hot Chip have written to date.  It drifts in and out of focus like a sunshine drenched winter weekend morning and contains one of the album’s rare moments of Alexis Taylor’s and Joe Goddard’s beautifully idealised duel vocals.

‘We Have Love’ will certainly be featuring in several DJ’s set lists in 2010. It’s subtle dance hall and dub step ingredients are fused seamlessly with Hot Chip’s uncanny ability to produce dark, obscure mantras, which demand to be played time and time again.

* “How come they don’t just play like that cool part through the whole song?”

Taylor and Goddard have clearly decided to save one of the biggest choruses they band have ever summoned for the album’s closer ‘Take It In’. The song employs a familiar song-writing trick of minor key verses and major key choruses, which reminded me of a scene from Beavis and Butthead where they discuss Radiohead’s ‘Creep’:

Beavis: “What’s going on? How come they don’t just play like that cool part through the whole song?”

Butthead: “Well Beavis, if they didn’t have like a part of the song that sucked, then it’s like, the other part wouldn’t be as cool.”

To say that about ‘Take It In’ is a little harsh, but you get the idea. The minimally melodic verses become more attractive with repeated listening and act as a perfect counterweight to the gorgeous falsetto chorus: “My heart has flown to you just like a dove, it can fly, it can fly.  Please take my heart and keep it close to you, take it in, take it in.”

The album still has room for Amnesiac era Radiohead in the minimalist electronica of ‘Keep Quiet’ and an attempt at a 90s dance pop revival in ‘I Feel Better’.  I used to live next door to a halfway house for young offenders and elements of this track certainly come from the same ‘Dance Anthems’ stock, which used to haunt me during the delinquents’ all-too-frequent all nighters. That said, ‘I Feel Better’ isn’t unpleasant, but as with a few moments on the album I can’t help but feel that it doesn’t quite reach it’s potential.

So back to the key question, is the album any good?  It’s certainly a strong addition to the Hot Chip oeuvre and a must for any fan however, I would still recommend 2006’s The Warning to any newcomers.  Key tracks ‘One Life Stand’, ‘Hand Me Down Your Love’, ‘Alley Cats’ and ‘Take It In’ are undoubtedly great Hot Chip songs, but they don’t quite reach the dizzying heights of ‘Over And Over’, ‘Boy From School’ or ‘Ready For The Floor’.

Perhaps Hot Chip are just too eclectic and experimental a band to write an album that will be widely regarded as a classic.  It’s unlikely they will ever write a record that will be universally viewed as a cohesive ‘whole’.  But perhaps that’s not the point. Their inventive and often risky approach to song writing means that not every attempt works as well as it might, but this is precisely why they are admired as one of the most unique bands of the past decade.

So anyway, dance your nuts off to ‘One Life Stand’, find your heart swept away by ‘Alley Cats’ and ‘Take It In’, play ‘spot the steel drum Leitmotif’ that runs throughout and prepare yourself for the brilliant remixes to follow.  This might not be a ‘classic’, but don’t be too surprised if it ends up on a few top ten lists at the end of the year, after all how many bands are capable of sounding completely out of place and in perfect harmony with their surroundings at the same time?

Topman CTRL

March 25th, 2009

One of the trendier corners of East London plays host to the first ever Topman CTRL event. Acclaimed electro popsters Metronomy act as curators and their handpicked line-up ensure that the crowd, packed into The Hoxton Bar and Grill, are thoroughly entertained.

Parisian electro-synth four piece Koko Von Napoo open the evening. While their name doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue, their music certainly lingers in the memory. The band overcome their early out-of-town nerves and visibly grew in confidence as the set progressed.

This is well crafted electro-pop, with an intelligently used palate of synth sounds. Think of a New Young Pony Club/Those Dancing Days hybrid with a colder, more considered delivery and you’re not far off the mark. Lead singer, Toupie, sings in a brittle style reminiscent of former Long Blonde, Kate Jackson and although the rhythm section strays a little at times, a decent run of gigs should soon iron out any creases. Perhaps still a killer single short, on tonight’s evidence Koko Von Napoo are a band well worth keeping an eye out for.

Irresistible singles, however, are certainly something Your Twenties are no strangers to. Fronted by Metronomy’s Gabriel Stebbing, the five-piece (although tonight only four) make sun drenched, guitar driven music to lose yourself in. Most of the allure stems from Stebbing’s relaxed, almost crooned vocals, one part Morrissey to one part Brian Wilson. Flowing melodic lines are elegantly accented with tight harmonies and a surprisingly good falsetto.

The songwriting is bulletproof in places and echoes the economy of Vampire Weekend and early Strokes with a nod to The Beatles never far below the surface. A relatively short set includes recently re-released single, ‘Caught Wheel’ and crowd favourite ‘Gold’ before closing with the extraordinarily catchy ‘Billionaires’. Their performance is endearing; Stebbing appears a little nervous and cringes as he fluffs a keyboard line, but rather than detracting from the set, as you’d imagine, it is refreshing to see a distinct lack of posturing.

Admittedly, this is not their best gig, more job like, with Metronomy’s Joseph Mount deputising on the drums. They are also missing a keyboard player since the last time I saw them, most noticeably absent during the chorus of ‘Caught Wheel’. It remains to be seen whether Stebbing can balance his two bands and devote the time required to get Your Twenties firmly in to the public domain. The songs certainly deserve it.

Following the crowd favourites was always going to be a hard task, but German six-piece, Kamerakino, took to the task with aplomb. One of the most individual bands in recent years, they create rousing, violin-led gypsy punk with disco bass lines. Lead singer Pico-B staggers around the stage, spitting his lyrics into the microphone and looking the crowd directly in the eyes. He’s an absorbing performer and seems to be the perfect frontman for the brilliant lunacy that surrounds him. The heavily pregnant bassist holds down a contagious groove, whilst the keyboard player seems content dancing as if no one’s looking almost throughout the duration of the set.

Kamerakino operate completely in their own world and that’s what makes them so charming. They’re not pandering to a record company or a particular audience, they’re simply making the music they want to make. It’s an attitude that has certainly won them fans, including Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy, who played bass on their debut ‘Paradiso’.

The thought of a corporate clothes shop sponsoring gigs may leave a slightly nasty taste in your mouth, but if the first event is anything to go by they could soon create a devoted following of their own. The success of the Topman CTRL events will depend almost entirely on the quality of the curators and their connections with upcoming bands sitting just below the radar.

Cherbourg - The Last Chapter Of Dreaming

Keeping company with quality acts, such as Mumford And Sons, Jay Jay Pistolet and Laura Marling has done Cherbourg’s pedigree no harm, but does their brand of bittersweet, acoustic, folk-balladry deliver?

The debut EP, The Last Chapter Of Dreaming, from the London-based four-piece is pleasant enough, melodically strong, intimate and anthemic, reflective and optimistic. If it were a colour, it would be a brooding, rich blue, with hints of both darker and lighter shades gliding just below the surface.

The songs (about lost love, lost battles and lost friends) are all acoustic-led ballads, peppered with pretty violin figures, solid backbeats and four-part vocal harmonies. However, for all of the band’s melodic skill and gusto performances, I can’t help feeling I’ve heard this sort of thing several times before.

It struck me that Cherbourg sound a little something like Snow Patrol would sound if their lead singer were to find himself on a pirate ship for several months, having fled his friends and family in a last ditch attempt to mend a broken heart.

On his hypothetical journey, it seems as though he recruited a band of suitably hairy, folk inspired musicians/pirates, to sing along with his sea salt flavoured shanties. The fresh air, deck scrubbing and mast climbing, may have turned his voice from a tenor into a slightly deeper baritone, but it’s essentially music coming from the same place, only packaged rather differently.

Cherbourg cite Arcade Fire, Elliott Smith, Iron And Wine and Tom Waits as influences. While there are elements of all these artists in their sound, this debut EP doesn’t reach anywhere near the same levels of passion, poignancy and insight that their heroes are capable of.

The Last Chapter Of Dreaming is a solid debut and new song ‘Man’ (inexplicably omitted from the EP), which you can hear on their Myspace, demonstrates there’s plenty more songsmithery to come from this band yet.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Let me start by admitting that (other than his Murder Ballads collaborations with Kylie and P J Harvey in 1996) Nick Cave’s music has never grabbed me enough to make me listen without lazy ears. So, when I first heard the singles from his most recent record coming from my DAB, I was surprised to find myself immediately attached to these rich, dark and beautiful songs.

This album is the sound of a once glamorous film noir. It’s cold, threatening and always on the brink of violence. The hypnotic rhythmic grind that runs throughout the record from the very first beat has the perfect frontman in Cave. His is a salt of the earth voice, which has clearly seen a lot of fast living and its dark, inevitable fallout.

Consisting of stories of men and women falling from grace, the album paints a bleak picture. It’s acutely aware of the harsh realities of human existence and the dark places that having too much desire can lead you to. The songs are cinematic in their descriptions of characters with opening song ‘Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!’ telling the story of Larry, who builds his life on ‘high hopes and thin air.’ It charts his rise and inevitable downfall, a theme that runs throughout the album and is indicative of its title.

In the Bible, Jesus resurrected Lazarus. Cave seems to suggest that modern life beckons all of us from our own ‘tombs’ and offers us unrealistic promises: ‘He never asked to be raised up from the tomb, I mean, no one ever actually asked him to forsake his dreams.’

Lonely narrators can be found in practically every one of the album’s 11 tracks. ‘Moonland’ finds a man aimlessly driving in his car, painfully aware of his own loneliness with the cold night setting in. He has no direction, no advice and no answers.

The album’s climax, ‘More News From Nowhere’, finds the narrator stumbling around a brothel, blaming every one of the girls for his sorry state. He desperately tries to interact with all of them before finally admitting that it’s time to let go: ‘Don’t it make you feel so sad, don’t the blood rush to your feet, to think that everything you do today, tomorrow is obsolete.’ It’s a classic case of domesticity calling the rebel home, something the broken narrator acknowledges, but can’t bare the thought of: ‘Well I gotta say goodbye.’

The sound of the record is based on a traditional bluesy pub rock band, tilted ever-so-slightly off centre in order to give it a fresh perspective. The backbone consists of fairly standard instrumentation, but the inclusion of unexpected sounds, like steel drums or a hugely distorted violin give it a truly unique flavour. Several songs are punctuated by filthy, distorted, blues-inspired riffs, covered in sweat, dirt and spit, a sound which marries the vocal delivery and lyrical content wonderfully well.

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! ebbs and flows as every good album should and offers the right mix of instant gratification and personal discoveries that only reveal themselves on repeated listening. For anyone, like myself, who is not overly familiar with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, I suggest that this album’s a great place to start. This is classy music in every sense of the word, which reaches levels that the likes of White Lies or Lily Allen could only ever dream of.

The Joy Formidable

Originating from North Wales, The Joy Formidable are a London based three-piece comprising of girlfriend – boyfriend lead duo, Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd, and drummer Justin Stahley.

The band produce a heady combination of perfectly constructed indie-pop and abject, distortion-drenched feedback, demonstrated on their near perfect debut single ‘Austere’ (released on Another Music = Another Kitchen in August).

Their sound has a sense of purpose and drive that so many new bands lack with hidden depths in both their lyrics and artwork.

The website features a video for ‘Austere’, banned by Youtube, which appears to show a series of people, filmed from the chest up, masturbating or receiving oral sex.

Their artwork also adds a sense of mystery and intrigue to the music, depicting upside-down umbrellas falling from the sky, oversized lamps with eyes and a woman being swept off her feet.

All of these designs are finished in a graphic-style with a deep blue, black and white colour scheme, which distances and attracts the viewer in equal measure.

The same, however, cannot be said for the band’s sound, which has been receiving rave reviews over the past 12 months.

A busy year for The Joy Formidable included appearances at Latitude, Reading and Leeds Festival, running their own remix label and a club night in Kilburn called ‘Joie De Vivre’, touring with White Lies and featuring in the soundtrack to the trailers for Channel 4’s ‘Skins’.

The Joy Formidable look set to make an even bigger impact in 2009 with live Radio 1 and 6 Music sessions and a performance at the NME Awards Show coming either side of the release of their second single ‘Cradles’, which is out on the 2nd February.

Slow Club

December 1st, 2008

Most people walking along Upper Street in Islington are oblivious to the fact that they pass one of London’s most unique and wonderfully atmospheric venues on a daily basis.

Careful selection of performers and the recent ‘Little Noise’ gigs, which included the likes of The Killers and Glasvegas, have helped raise the profile of the Union Chapel, one of London’s best kept secrets.

Tonight, the mood is an intimate, cosy and festive one with a range of support acts, including Jay Jay Pistolet, Adem, Lisa Milberg (of The Concretes) and stewards handing out free tea and coffee. The mood was set for what proved to be a vibrant performance by Charles and Rebecca, the two-piece, folk inspired duo who trade under the name Slow Club.

The band, aided at times by a cross-pollination of the support artists, created a range of textures in a set, which was beautifully shambolic and elegant in equal measures. Highlights included a specialist saw player and Jay Jay Pistolet’s drummer playing the drums, accordian and a shaker all at once.

With Rebecca standing to play the drums and percussion, including a bruised and battered chair, and Charles taking centre stage armed with an acoustic guitar, the two are capable of creating an incredible range of dynamics given their limited use of instrumentation. Their songs play with the male-female discussions about relationships they are able to comment upon with their use of duel vocals.

Playing all of the songs from their recently released EP, ‘Let’s Fall Back In Love’, although inexplicably, leaving out the sublime ‘Come On Youth’, Slow Club call a group of friends on to the stage to help sing the title track. It was at this point that Rebecca urged the audience to stand, which they did for the remainder of the set. This spontaneous act helped the night to end on a rather poetic and poignant note as it gave the impression of a congregation standing to witness a couple marrying.

With Charles dressed in white and Rebecca in black, the two took to the front of the stage to sing their encore, ‘When I Go’, without any amplification. The song tells the tale of two close friends, promising to marry one another when they are twenty, thirty, forty or sixty, should they both be unable to find a partner. As the song climaxes with the harmonised voices singing, ‘will you hold my hand when I go?’, it is a truly spine-tingling moment.

The warmth between the childhood friends from Sheffield is evident throughout the evening; however, tonight I left with the impression that Union Chapel on a cold December evening is the setting that Slow Club, and their music, were meant for.