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Peluché,
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The Windmill, Brixton
Good Friday, 14th April 2017
3pm till late

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Gig Review

Asobi Seksu / Creatures of Love / Worship
XOYO

Article written by Peter W - Apr 25, 2011

XOYO is like a swollen, more expensive version of CAMP Basement across the road – neither are the most welcoming of venues but certainly indicative of the tenor of contemporary Old Street.

Worship are up first with their electro pulses and doom-laden bombastics. It’s difficult to find any variation in amongst the racket; especially with the screechy keyboards and drums reducing everything else to mere murmurs and the occasional rumble. In hindsight, this wasn’t actually a bad thing as the moments of clarity reveal cliché-ridden lyrics and 80s-style bass lines draped with shoulder-padded cheese.

Creatures of Love are next and what looks like three urban monks conjuring up moody, chamber music. The hoods are swiftly down and the female vocalist is busy smothering the mic with a solemn ode. So far so very serious. Fair enough, but when the singer decides the audience needs to appreciate her ability to sing (i.e. shout) and when the music is designed to pander to this very travesty, it’s nothing but the worst kind of teen emo. It’s not all bad though, the band improve immeasurably when the vocals are restrained and accompanied by odd, menacing samples – then we get some very digestible, industrial goth; which is a far more satisfying offering than their Twilight soundtrack alternative.

Time for Asobi Seksu and immediately tonight’s first onstage smile – the cheerful Yuki Chikudate arrives and instantly gives proceedings a much-needed happy-slap; okay, she may resort to the most cliché of British conversations (the weather) but it’s still nice to hear something positive from the microphone after the previous seventy minutes of misery.

The welcome mood is followed by some welcome tunes, albeit at a deafening volume. The throbbing bass of ‘Strawberries’ is cranked up way over eleven and threatens to overwhelm Chikudate’s vocals, but thankfully she and the song’s hazy bliss survive - this scenario repeats itself the very next song - it seems no matter how ear-splitting the delivery, the sweetness of the hook is somehow always managing to negotiate a way through; they’re not to test their luck a third time however as the problem is resolved before an astounding performance of ‘New Years’.

As expected, tracks from the band’s latest LP, Flourescence, fill sizeable chunks of the setlist although tonight’s stand-out moment is perhaps surprisingly - the six minute-plus ‘Leave The Drummer Out There’; while feeling overlong and directionless on record, here the quieter, keyboard-led moments are more haunting, the meandering interlude more moving, and the final charge of military drums more triumphant; its spellbinding oddness ensures even the pop charms of latest single ‘Perfectly Crystal’ pale in comparison.

There isn’t a dull moment throughout and it all seems over in a flash. Five albums in the bag and a sizeable fan base in tow, this may be the first headline show in a while but it won’t be the last. Good thing too.

Links:
http://www.asobiseksu.com