Capsule reviews #10

Her Name is Calla/ worriedaboutsatan/ The Monroe Transfer @ The Lexington Don't you just love it when, without having any real expectations, you just happen to run into something magical? Okay, so worriedaboutsatan's album Arrivals ended up in my top ten of last year's best albums (third revision, and so far final version) so I did have at least some expectations about this night, but still, always nice to see them being lived up to, or in this case, outdone.

It all starts with The Monroe Transfer, a string quartet supported by guitars and drums. Their set exists of what appears to be one long jam, apart from the fact that each and every member of the seven piece knows exactly what they're doing. Especially during the slightly more aggressive bits of their instrumental post-rock the cellist seems to be really into the performance as she dramatically works her instrument. Some might think it's a bit overdone, but I feel it flows perfectly with the music.

Next up are the aforementioned worriedaboutsatan, a two piece from Leeds if I'm correct, who last year delivered their début album Arrivals to critical acclaim (well, mine at least). As The Monroe Transfer, worriedaboutsatan - whom my spell checker keeps insisting on calling pre-privatisation for some reason -mainly rely on instrumentation, though they have chosen the electronic route. Call it ambient, call it idm, call it whatever you will (anyone else fancy some Wolf Parade?), I am most intrigued by it. My only worry with this kind of music is how it will work out live, but the guys from worriedaboutsatan don't appear to have any problems with that, as opposed to the camcorder they were planning on using during the gig. As early as during the intro the thing starts to falter, and though early attempts to get this bit of technical equipment with an apparent mind of its own working again seem to succeed, it's not long before the whole idea of shooting some footage of how their music is actually created is abandoned completely. Not that it really matters, the absence of moving pictures to look it appears to be the perfect justification to enjoy the music with once's eyes closed.

Last to enter the stage are Her Name is Calla, who have been receiving quite some love from the Drowned in Sound community, and after seeing them live, you can't help but to agree. At times, they sound rather like Elbow, and that can only be a good thing. Her Name is Calla put more emphasis on the instrumentation though, which they've got quite a wide array of as a six-piece. They've got a new album coming out, probably June this year, and have just released an EP which is allowing them to tour both through the UK and Europe (though it mainly appears to be Germany for reasons unknown).

Plugs/My Tiger My Timing @ the Lexington Yes, second time I've been to the Lexington in a week, and second time I managed to not find the bus stop that's right across the street from the venue on my way home.  Sense of direction is something I still appear to be greatly lacking in the general areas of Angel and Soho.

Though the gig is advertised on the venue's website as headlined by My Tiger My Timing, they appear to be the support act upon arrival. As with Her Name is Calla, My Tiger My Timing is one of those bands who have been getting some love in the blogosphere lately, so I thought it time to check them out myself. Their songs 'I am the Sound' (which appeared on Kitsuné  Maison Compilation 8)  and 'This Is Not The Fire' are the highlights of their set: catchy and very danceable indie/electro tracks that are played just a bit to early in the evening to get the small crowd moving.

Plugs have better luck with that part, though their music seems just a bit more bland than that of their support act. Yes, they've got the beat right, but other than that it just doesn't seem to be working for me. But maybe that's got something to do with the band being the brainchild of Morgan Quaintance of Does It Offend You, Yeah?, a band that I've also never found particularly 'thrilling'.