The Electric Soft Parade
A Fistful Of Fandango:
Electric Soft Parade, Misty's Big Adventure, The Kissaway Trail, Absentee, Eugene McGuinness, Tim Ten Yen
229 Club, London
Saturday 8th September 2007
by Jenna Gold
The stage at the 229 Club for tonight's A Fistful OF Fandango contained nothing but a karaoke machine, and when Tim Ten Yen emerged to a chorus of bird sounds I was ready to dismiss the act and head to the bar. Dressed in a business suit and looking vaguely like my old media teacher, Tim Ten Yen is proof that appearances can be deceiving. With the energy and crazed dance moves of a sugar-packed child on a bouncy castle, he is nothing but entertaining. Singing his original songs to a backing track and with lyrics like 'Out in the forest there's a bear, he's the bear that doesn't care, right there...' - how can you possibly resist?
Danish indie rock band The Kissaway Trail have all the makings of something big; the skinny jeans and hoodie combo, the slight vocal reminiscence of Sigur Ros' Jonsi, and clear musical talent. The band write songs of epic proportions but somehow lack the intensity you hope for. Give them time and they could be great, but for now be prepared for nothing more than an easy listen.
The hidden treasure of the night was Eugene McGuinness and his infallible voice. His quirky Londoner lyrics and mix of sweet indie and original pop ensure that you will leave his set with a smile and a spring in your step. Opposing this was London band Absentee, who are like The Dandy Warhols minus the innovation and catchiness...I will resist making any puns about their name.
The biggest act of the night was Misty's Big Adventure - not referring to the fact that there are eight members (one of which is an unsettling dancing monster - imagine Bez with large foam hands stitched to his clothing...) Misty boast a highly inventive catalogue of songs and combine a huge range of genres from big band, to hip-hop and jazz, and end up sounding something like satirical nursery rhymes for the disturbed. There is no set way to describe this one-of-a-kind act, but there is surely no way you could dislike them.
The Kissaway Trail
The headliners of the night were Brighton based indie rockers Electric Soft Parade, who first hit the big time with their debut album Holes In The Wall in 2002. In recent years the hype surrounding the band seems to have died down and so I was intrigued to see how the members and their music had evolved.
When the boys came on stage - led by the brothers White - my first thought was how at ease they appeared. Their humorous banter and quiet confidence left me with an excited anticipation of what was to follow. Surely a band that present such an impressive air would have the music and energy to back it up. However, the set consisted of what I can only presume was a mix of new material and lesser-known songs from their back catalogue. For a band that has released four albums and claim to be 'masters of reinvention' I sometimes found it difficult to separate the tracks from one another.
A major disappointment was that they chose not to play any of the crowd's favourites such as There's A Silence, Empty At The End and Silent To The Dark, thus ensuring that only their core fan base could take liberal enjoyment from their monotonous set. They also became increasingly agitated as the gig evolved and minor sound problems showed them to be impatient and bitter about their lack of commercial success, which I found tainted my enjoyment of the music.
The band did, of course, have their redeeming moments. As well as playing a tight set and being musically faultless, an impromptu rendition of the title music for BBC One's Doctors, showed a spark of spontaneity and a sense of fun that unfortunately decreased as the night progressed.
Electric Soft Parade did nothing wrong in particular and are still an entertaining and professional act, but going by this performance I would regretfully no longer call them headline material.
Electric Soft Parade played as part of A Fistful OF Fandango, a series of gigs to celebrate six years of Club Fandango. See www.clubfandango.co.uk for more details.
