It's Not Over Yet

concert review: Klaxons @ The Opera House (Toronto, Ontario), October 9, 2007



I have no doubt young London, UK's Klaxons are a talented band. Yes, they just won the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album "Myths of the Near Future" but that has entirely nothing to do with my opinion of the band. Upon listening to the album a few months ago(that which I posted about last month), I appreciated it for it's youthful energy, it's spiky pop tunes which are at once danceable/pogoable as well as hummable. So it's surprising a little that I didn't get that much into their show at The Opera House last Tuesday. The twenty-something MySpace contingent seemed to be at the show in full-force eating up everything the Klaxons threw at them. While I enjoyed the show for it's energy as much as the next person, I couldn't help feel how rushed the show felt as if the band were compelled to get through their set as fast as possible. Along the way, the band made efforts to bring the audience along for the ride(not that it was that hard to do) such as vocalist/keyboardist James Righton as he got the crowd to clap along on several songs. But that rushed quality seemed to manifest itself in an overall sloppy performance(or maybe it was just bad sound), with vocals and melodies that seemed to get buried in the sonic stew of guitars, keyboards and drums. A commenter over at Brooklyn Vegan said about the band's show in New York City recently, "....just wait a year or two and people will be embarassed to admit they were into these people. Pure hype-machine baloney..." I'd no sooner surrender to those opinions but the fact is any band that can produce wonderful pop moments like "Golden Skans", and "It's Not Over Yet"[check out the links below for terrific acoustic rendtions of these songs the band performed for MPR's The Current] can't be a fluke.

Openers Glasgow, Scotland's Shitdisco cancelled from what I read but in their place were I believe a local three-piece who were purveyors of a somewhat similar disco-electro-punk aesthetic. I didn't pick up on their name, but maybe that's just all for the better since it wasn't my cup of tea.

Some photos from the show over at my Flickr.

Video: Klaxons - "Golden Skans" (live on MPR's The Current)
Video: Klaxons - "It's Not Over Yet" (live on MPR's The Current)
MySpace: Klaxons

Golden Skans

UK band The Klaxons have won Britain's Mercury Music Prize for their debut album 'Myths Of The Near Future'[via Chartattack]. I'd caught a video of theirs on The Wedge a month or two ago, motivating me to pick up their album. For one reason or another, I haven't been terribly excited about the UK music scene over the last several years but I must admit that "Myths..." is a surprisingly enjoyable album. The songs vary from infectious pop songs akin to Tahiti 80, to dancier elements[hence the nu-rave tag they've gotten although I've read they hate it], and slight nods to the spiky post-punk rhythms of bands like The Futureheads and Maximo Park. I'd been sitting on purchasing a ticket to their show at The Opera House on October 10 but finally made the decision to get a ticket today before it's eventual sell-out. I just want to mention that about the time I actually started listening to The Klaxons about a month ago it was around the time that Factory Records founder Tony Wilson had passed away. Somewhat ironic that these two events coincided considering that a band like The Klaxons might have not existed without the influence of Factory Records.

YouTube: The Klaxons - "Golden Skans" (music video)
YouTube: The Klaxons - "It's Not Over Yet" (music video)
MySpace: The Klaxons
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Misra Records' Mobius Band are at the Horseshoe on November 7 with Tigercity. Mobius Band's new album "Heaven" is out October 2 through Misra Records. Check out one of the tracks below[I haven't checked out the track below yet, but the tracks at their MySpace(surprisingly organic-sounding electro-pop) have piqued my interest.] The upcoming show at the Horseshoe is definitely on my 'maybe' list:

MP3: Mobius Band - "Hallie"
MySpace: Mobius Band

The Airfields have an upcoming Toronto show at The Smiling Buddha Bar on September 26.

Laura Barrett takes part in Ladyfest Toronto and will perform a set at Tranzac on September 27. Check out the full Ladyfest schedule over at Stille Post. Laura will also take part in another female-friendly event, Hysteria: a Festival of Women and will be at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre on Halloween[Oct 31].

Elvis Perkins will be at the Horseshoe Tavern on November 28.

Bradleys Almanac has a review as well as mp3's for download of Kevin Drew's recent MySpace Secret Show[check this link for photos from the show] set in Cambridge, MA at TT the Bears on August 28.