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Gig Review

Speedmarket Avenue/ The School
London, Wilmington Arms

Article written by Ged M - Mar 29, 2009

Speedmarket Avenue

Transport for London couldn’t keep me away tonight (and, believe me, they tried). Even the weird choice of warm up music in the Willy (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye) wasn’t too off-putting since Speedmarket Avenue play great, melodic indiepop. It’s like every fifth Swede is born with a trumpet and none of them ever grow out of singing “ba-ba-ba” in harmony. Speedmarket Avenue have been around since 2001 and they’ve polished their warm and contagious pop sound until its sparkles. Singer Isak Klasson tells us that Sweden is no longer a Socialist paradise (they’ve elected a right-wing government and “they’re all jerks” he tells us) but if politics changes, indiepop continues to bring people together. Speedmarket Avenue manage to do epic without being pompous on ‘Sirens’ and might as well inject you directly with adrenaline on the dizzying ‘Way Better Now’ for the way your heart races afterwards. Sibille Attar is a drama in herself; while the boys in the band are your regular reticent indie souls, she throws her arms open expansively as she sings and dances in the crowd when Isak is soloing. It’s disappointing that more people aren’t present to see them (though better than the previous night when they played in Glasgow to an audience of one) but the band is highly entertaining and is bound to be a huge hit at Indietracks in July.

It’s a truism but the more The School play - and they’re frequent visitors to London since signing to Elefant - the better they get. They’ve developed a tougher sound, influenced by garage rock and 60s girl-groups, right down to spoken word intros, and a more muscular sort of sunshine pop. It’s still full of dreamy melodies but no longer has the taint of “twee”. ‘All I Wanna Do’ has evolved from a teary plea for a date to a clear expectation of skin-on-skin action. They remind me more and more of labelmates-until-recently Camera Obscura, from their slightly fey beginnings to big 60s pop sound, and they’re certainly good enough to follow a similar trajectory.

Links:
http://www.speedmarketavenue.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theschoolband