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Gig Review
Headlights / The Postcards / Dave House London, Brixton Windmill
Article written by
Paul M - Nov 1, 2008
It's a cold night in south London but things look a lot hotter north of the river as the Windmill's telly relays the Arsenal v Spurs 4-4 thriller. I manage to tear myself away from the footy to catch snippets of Dave House, a man who's normally a cog in a larger machine, but is here tonight, alone and relatively unplugged. This House music is relatively subdued and inoffensive, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe the songs lacked what they'd been written for; a full band.
Local lads, The Postcards, are so keen to proclaim their influences that they named themselves after their greatest, the Postcard label. And fittingly Orange Juice and Aztec Camera spring to mind with the fringes and striped Ts providing the appropriate looks, and the Gretch and Gibson guitars the bright and breezy jangly 80s indie pop. Pleasant rather than substantial, only one song in their set is truly memorable and, unfortunately, that's a cover; Orange Juice's Consolation Prize.
Polyvinyl labelmates with Of Montreal, headliners Headlights are from Champaign, USA, and produce appropriately bubbly and delightful dreampop. A five piece with more effects pedals than band members, the wall of sound thankfully just about fails to completely smother the subtlety of their terrific tunes. With the sweet airy vocals and shimmering keys of Erin Fein, and the driving rhythm of the rest of the band, it's a hypnotic sonic groove that we find ourselves transfixed by. Sadly, this was the last date of their UK tour so no more "egg and bean combos" for the band but the Some Racing, Some Stopping album is a highly recommended purchase for those of you who missed them.