MR HEAVENLY (London Cargo, 12/12/11)



In summary: Honus Honus hollered and hammered his keyboard like a badass. Nick Thorburn shredded on guitar and said weird things. The guy from Modest Mouse looked like Jamie Summers of ATP fame. Michael Cera was Michael Cera. Fun was had by all.

I BREAK HORSES (London Cargo, 05/12/11)



The main thing that strikes you about I Break Horses’ live show is how accomplished it all is. Tonight’s London performance is their third ever, but there’s a notable lack of amateurishness; the band are tight, the visuals are striking and the arrangements, although lacking in brevity, recreate the shoegaze-y atmospherics of the album well. Sure, the mix isn’t always favourable and there’s too much aimless filler, but when they hit their stride, you just know that in a few months time they're going to be something really special.

(Photo: Marc Lindsay-Scott)

STARFUCKER (London Madame JoJo’s, 29/11/11)



Their name may change every other day (STRFCKR? Pyramid? PYRAMIDDD?), but at least the tunes are consistent in their awesomeness. Tonight their glam-tinged electro-pop was ill-served by a series of technical hitches, but, man, they still deliver grade-A technicolour disco-camp like few others.