Alvvays + Moon King @ Hare and Hounds, 27th January 2015
During their set Alvvays’ Molly Rankin took the time to praise the Birmingham crowd for resisting the “gross” habit of watching a gig through their mobile phones, as well as praising the “legendary jukebox” at The Kerryman in Digbeth. These Canadians eh?; coming over here, paying compliments to people and places, regaling us with their talent and their excellent tunes; whilst interrupting the slow, reality TV-induced zombification of the British public. How very dare they! And to put a lid on it there were two sets of the blighters on show tonight.
I feel that to some degree the team at Brumlive have to share at least an iota of responsibility as we have covered more than our fair share of bands from Canada. The Besnard Lakes, The High Dials, and The Barr Brothers have all graced these pages very recently, all playing gigs to high acclaim. In a way Alvvays and Moon King had a bit to live up to. Not that Alvvays need to worry. The Hare and Hounds, like every gig on this tour, was sold out ages ago, and although this was by no means their first visit to the UK they are now well on their way.
To a person of my tender years the Festive 50, now run by Dandelion Radio, is still a benchmark for what people who like the kind of stuff that I like, listen to. 2014 was the tenth anniversary of the death of John Peel and so the coveted number one was easy to predict with The Cuban Boys’ remixed The Nation Needs You filling that slot; but number 2? Well that was a tune called Archie, Marry Me by tonight’s headliners. Surprising? I don’t know about that, but I suspect it goes some way to explaining the whole range of ages from kids to silver surfers that were packed into the venue already by the time that Moon King arrived on stage.
I’m a big believer in support bands, particularly when they are as good as this lot. They had me hooked; I even bought a CD and I’ve since been roped into reviewing the next one! Their style is a pretty eclectic one featuring androgynous and ethereal vocals underpinned by driving beats and guitars.
As with a lot of young Canadian bands there is something eerily familiar about them as if they have taken a lot from this side of the Atlantic but repackaged it and delivered it back with a fresh approach. Two songs from their forthcoming album, Impossible and their last tune Roswell, typified this as they overcame a couple of pedal-based technical gremlins; Daniel Benjamin’s swift application of a size ten work-boot to the equipment solving the problem.
Alvvays were excellent. I knew they would be from their eponymous album. What I didn’t know was that they would sound different live. The album and the accompanying promos are pure indie-pop complete with some of the twee aspects that go with the territory of that particular pigeonhole. In a live setting their sound has much more in common with the ‘90s Indie bands, somewhat heavier and angular but with Molly’s distinctive vocals at the forefront.
I have one note of dissent. They need more tunes. I know covers are common place but I would like to hear more of the writing talents from Alvvays rather than Deerhunter, and was I just imagining a world-weary end to Archie, Marry Me? Then again perhaps Molly had quite enough of the loved up couple right in front of her who seemed obsessed with talking loudly and probing one another’s nostrils throughout. I think it’s high time we re-launched the “Want to talk? Go to the bar” t-shirts.
Following the usual “shall we dance” with the audience encore routine that makes the Hare and Hounds the special place that it is, Molly thanked Moon King and advised us all to get close to them while we had the opportunity as they were destined “to explode”. I hope they do because I like them a lot already. Alvvays may have already done so. This sell-out tour ends shortly but building on their success of the last year they will be back to play a second headline gig at The Shepherds Bush Empire in October. Perhaps playing Sheryl Crow tunes on the jukebox in The Kerryman will have to be a thing of the past.
Set list (I think)
Your Type
Next of kin
The Agency Group
Ones Who Love You
Archie
Underneath Us
Nosebleed (Deerhunter cover)
Dives
Atop a cake
Party Police
Adult Diversion
+ encores
Review: Ian Gelling
Photographs: Stephanie Colledge