Simian Mobile Disco @ Hoxton Bar & Grill, 6.20.07
Wednesday night’s Simian Mobile Disco gig was an invite-only affair spotlighting them as the only band on the bill and I’ll be honest, I generally have fairly low expectations for these promotional showcase-type events. I was still quite excited though, as the only other time I’ve seen SMD was at Studio B in March on what I can easily say was my drunkest night of 2007 to this point, and while I know they put on a ridiculously awesome show, I was looking forward to actually being able to remember it this time around. As expected, it was a considerably short set, barely 45 minutes, but they went all-out to make sure this wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill promo gig. The light show was one of the best I’ve ever seen, the sound was flawless and I’ll be damned if they didn’t have the crowd dancing for most of the set, which wasn’t exactly what I was expecting considering the typical audience at these things and the band’s early set time.
For two dudes who look like accountants, Mssrs. Ford and Shaw can certainly drop some bad-ass tracks. I never thought I could be so riveted by the sight of a lanky dude in glasses fiddling with a bunch of wires while his friend twiddles some knobs a few feet away from him, but I’m not gonna lie, I was into it. Sure, that had a lot to do with the completely overwhelming light show and the barrage of insanely hot jams coming at me from all directions, but the fact of the matter is that the SMD put on a GREAT show Wednesday night and are not to be fucked with as a live act.
The whole thing was set up to promote their just-released debut album, the awesomely-titled Attack Decay Sustain Release, so it was fitting that they opened with the album’s lead-in track, “Sleep Deprivation”. The three-minute instrumental steadily builds in momentum and intensity and provided the perfect intro to their set, before segueing flawlessly into the duo’s remix of the Go Team’s “Ladyflash”, the first of two remixes they’d drop in their set. Shortly thereafter came the back-to-back double threat of singles “It’s The Beat” and “Tits & Acid”, but it was absolutely GAME OVER when “Hustler”, perhaps the most bad-ass track of 2006, dropped and inspired the closest thing to an actual audience frenzy I saw all night. Another flawless transition led straight into SMD’s treatment of Klaxons’ “Magick”, their best remix to date, which elicited another hugely enthusiastic response from the audience.
Just as the crowd was getting really into it, though, the duo slowed things down and indicated that the next track would be their finale. I was about 95% sure I’d been standing next to ex-Simian vocalist and current Black Ghosts frontman Simon Lord all night, and that was only confirmed when the opening bars of current SMD single “I Believe” (which features Lord on guest vocals) rang out across the audience and Lord’s friends began to jump up and down and pat him on the back. “I Believe” is easily the most commercially viable track SMD’s put out to date and really gives “Hustler” and “It’s The Beat” a run for their money as the duo’s best track, and it certainly didn’t disappoint Wednesday night. The comparably-languorous pace of the track was a bit of a departure from the rest of their set, but a drawn-out, slow-building intro drew the crowd in perfectly before the beat exploded and introduced Lord’s vocals into the mix. A more up-tempo number might have provided a more fitting conclusion to their mostly high-octane set, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly impressed by their show as a whole. Attack Decay Sustain Release is out now and is one of the most complete debuts I’ve heard this year, maintaining a consistent standard of quality throughout and keeping you coming back for more with album tracks that hit every bit as hard as the shit-hot singles that accompany them on the record. Get on it.
MP3s:
“Hustler” - Simian Mobile Disco ((highly recommended))
“I Believe” - Simian Mobile Disco ((highly recommended))
“It’s The Beat” (Teenagers Remix) - Simian Mobile Disco
In other news, I’m writing this from a moving train right now because they have fucking high-speed wireless on trains here. I fucking love this country. Where am I off to? Well, all the cool kids are drowning at Glastonbury, but it’s all about motherfuckin’ NastyFest this weekend. Fuck paying £175 to toil in the swamp that Glasto is set to (if it hasn’t already) become after the weekend’s rains hit. Instead, I get to see pretty much every single band I’d wanted to see while I was here, but either missed or didn’t get a chance to see in London. The show is headlined by I Was A Cub Scout, iLiKETRAiNS and White Rabbits (three bands I’ve been aching to see for ages), but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Then there’s three of the best bands I missed at the Great Escape in Fear of Flying, Foals (not on the poster, but allegedly playing?) and the Dykeenies, plus the Teenagers, the Moths (YESSS), Video Nasties and brand new XL signee Laura Groves. Oh oh oh and did I mention Does It Offend You, Yeah? are playing too?! AWESOME.
On a side note, we are staying in a hotel called Roomzzz (three z’s!). I really can’t wait. Festivities kick off at 4 PM today and will go until 3 AM tonight, and you better believe I’ll be there for every minute of it. Expect at least mildly comprehensive coverage on Monday, for now here are two very choice tracks from headliners I Was A Cub Scout and White Rabbits. “The Plot” is really quite amazing.
MP3s:
“Pink Squares” - I Was A Cub Scout ((highly recommended))
“The Plot” - White Rabbits ((highly recommended)) [LINK FIXED]