SHEARWATER (London Garage, 24/11/12)


Not seen Shearwater live for almost four years, so it was good to see them again – even if they’re not quite the band they used to be. The soaring richness of Jonathan Meiburg’s voice and the power of their songs remain undiminished, but they’ve sacrificed some of their nuance for volume and although the new drummer is fine, well, he’s just not Thor. That said, if you’ve got a thing for topless ornithologists, tonight would have pressed all the appropriate buttons.

FANFARLO (London Union Chapel, 22/11/12)


Can’t go wrong with a show at the majestic Union Chapel, and Fanfarlo’s pleasant indie-folk stylings was the perfect fit for its candlelit beauty. New material sounded promising, and although I’m not nearly as much as a mega-fan as the *really* enthusiastic guy sitting on the front pew, can’t deny they’re a talented bunch.

DESTROYER (London Village Underground, 13/11/12)


A certain friend may have derisively described them as “Bob Dylan fronting Simply Red,”, but man, I love Destroyer. Dan Bejar is an atypical frontman, not providing much in the way of banter or dynamicism, but his intensity and stream-of-consciousness delivery makes him a curiously hypnotic presence; and his band, although perhaps a tad overreliant on the saxophone, really know how to produce a glorious barrage of sound. Plus, they performed “Rubies” which is objectively one of the best songs of the last ten years. Still, no denying he does sound a bit like Dylan…

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE (London HMV Forum, 31/10/12)


If this had taken place at any venue but the Destroyer of Gigs, this would have been a show-of-the-year contender. Alas, due to the Forum’s soundsystem magical ability to make even the most powerful music sound like it’s emitting from the speaker of a Nokia 3310, this was merely really bloody good. True, the Rocky Horror Picture Show half fell a bit flat, Time Warp excepted, but the traditional Spree extravaganza was an absolutely joyous, all-killer no-filler hour of big old choruses, orchestral flourishes and of course, an fuckload of confetti. Hope to see them back in the UK soon- albeit at a less shit venue.

EFTERKLANG (London Barbican, 30/10/12)

I can’t deny missing the Efterklang shows of old, before orchestral formality superseded lo-fi, ramshackle charm, but damn, this was a beautiful musical experience. What I love about Efterklang is that despite exponentially growing in popularity between the first time I saw them at Bush Hall and now, they still retain that earnest goofiness and genuine pleasure at performing that would make them easy to love, even if their music wasn’t an intricate, ethereal mass of wonderfulness.

(Photo: Kafka Joubert)

FIGHT LIKE APES (London Lexington, 29/10/12)

They didn’t play “Something Global”, but May Kay and her hyperactive Irish synth-poppers nonetheless ensured this quickly descended into one big sweaty mess of a gig. As her countrymen might say, “savage.”