Metronomy (Live)

Here's another review i was asked to do by Brighton Calling.



Metronomy are an odd bunch, for starters they're not really a bunch, Joseph Mount wrote all of the music and the other three (including Lightspeed Champion's ex drummer) just play for the live set. They're odd in other ways too, the gig opens in the same vein as their latest album, lumbering forward like a rusty clockwork army to the straining synthesised brass and plucked guitar of battle march 'Nights Out' with three members of the band crowded around the same keyboard playing notes cross armed. The drummer disembarks to her kit and plays the intro to 'My Heart Rate Rapid' and from there on in the Concorde 2 becomes a mass of painfully cute teenagers jumping, dancing and shoulder shrugging in the most angular of fashions. If you were sixteen and trying to woo that indie girl from french this is where you'd take her (or at least try to) chances are you'd buy two tickets, convince your parents to drive you there and drop you off a good deal from the venue so as not to be seen with them only to have her turn you down and look confused because it's the first time you've ever spoken to her. Either way you'd still be able to appreciate the tender moments of human emotion wound up as tight as a spring and drenched in hormones coiling through the quirkiness of 'Heartbreaker' and 'A Thing For Me'. 'Nights Out' walks a very thin line between a dance album and experimental electronica, often peering over the edge into obscurity by toying with the sounds of clashing notes and detuned instruments. Tracks like 'Side 2' threaten to descend into chaos at any given moment but Metronomy tweak this balance for their live show making the whole affair more danceable and less challenging to listen to.



The majority of the evening is focused on their latest full length but 'Trick Or Treats' from the first album makes an appearance and is immediately well received although the highlight of the evening has to be 'Radio Ladio' especially when combined with their budget, tongue in cheek light show. The four band members prance around with circular lights affixed to their torsos blinking on and off in time to the beat and specific to the instruments playing at that time. It makes for a light-hearted visual accompaniment to their awkwardly feel good dance rhythms, the band finishes on 'You Could Easily Have Me' from 'Pip Paine' which turns the enthusiastic dancing that had been prevalent until that point into a full on mosh. Making sure that anybody who was thankful that a quarter of the sell out crowd hadn't bothered to turn up on such a warm night still left the venue a little on the sticky side. Metronomy make for a great live experience but it's evident that they'd be even better on stage at a festival, definitely worth trying to catch this summer.

Metronomy - Radio Ladio

Thanks to Chris for taking the cool photos

Related Posts:
Metronomy - Nights Out (Album)
Lightspeed Champion (Live)

Metronomy - Nights Out (Album)

More wonky pop for you and this time it's courtesy of Metronomy. These three fellow Brightonians have well and truly thrown the rule book out of the window for 'Nights Out'. The opening track being a sparse, slow building, out of tune death march instilling the listener with an unwarranted sense of dread for what quickly becomes an unlikely dance album. Bouncey rhythms, off kilter drums and children's instruments help to assure the listener that this is in fact a very playful album although the energy and youthfulness is pinned down by lyrics about love, lust and heartbreak whilst staccato guitars and elastic basslines remind the feet that whilst your brain is doing all this thinking other parts of your body really should be moving around. This isn't likely to be everyone's favourite album as i can see it being a little unaccessible to people who prefer their pop a lot less wonky but this only makes the album far more appealing to me. I appreciate the challenge 'Nights Out' presents and the oddity of writing a sickly-sweet sugar-pop melody and then setting some squealing woodwind or clashing guitars over the top. Just like Late Of The Pier and Architecture In Helsinki, they now what sounds good but they also know that's too easy, by definition wonky pop is a bit difficult to listen to and this is no exception.

In my own little world Metronomy top the charts with every single they release and i'm still not sick of them because they have an interesting muisc video that doesn't feature semi naked women airbrushed to an inch of their life popular only because they hint at lesbianism. Back in the real world i would heartily recommend 'A Thing For Me' as my fave although after listening to 'Heartbreaker', 'Radio Ladio' or 'My Heart Rate Rapid' you could be left with any number of catchy vocals vying for space in your tiny noggin, the safest option is to buy the album so that you have all of these available on demand.

Metronomy - A Thing For Me

Related Posts:
Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel (Album)
Late Of The Pier - Space And The Woods (Single)