Longwave - London Barfly @ Monarch - 28/8/02
4/5
By: Toby L
With plaudits arising over their debut-UK shows with The Strokes back in February and March of this year, not to mention their two Gordon Raphael and Dave Fridmann produced singles, Longwave's promise overseas away from their home-land of NYC seems strengthening with every additional utterance of their name.
And this is quite fitting, really. Hardly ones to stray the paths most choose to craft their dullard, unsophisticated guitar-pop music, Longwave's strengths arise in their ability to muster a sound so wholly dynamic, melodic and experimental that its immediacy to some will be just as appealing as its dark depth and tendency to hover into unbeknown territory. Yet, despite all this, refreshingly, their musical-achievements are delivered without as much as a hint of pretension.
Live, the whole ordeal is pulled off to unanimously successful effect. Even possessive of haircuts that the UK's own Gorky's Zygotic Mynci would swoon over (long, shaggy streaks of hair), their onstage persona is further exemplified by a noticeable necessity by the performers onstage to faithfully recreate every one of their compositions to its original, atmospheric finish. But, at a fear of playing it too tamely, there are the odd moments of exertion, with frontman Steve Schiltz' bellows of 'I ain't got the power anymore' seemingly contradicted towards the end of their set, where he proceeds to toss several of his band-mates into the on-stage instruments. Ouch.
Song-wise, there is enough here to fall in love with, too. From the brooding opener of 'Day Sleeper', the parallels of many greats can be drawn within their sound: the Smiths at their most chilling within 'Tidal Wave' and 'The Ghosts Around You'; Radiohead, during one of their most adventurous stages amidst the eerie heights of 'Exit'; and even The Strokes in current, infectious single, 'Pool Song'. And, preventing the band's headlock of sound on the audience from becoming too firm, Schiltz makes a blunder, beginning a cover of Big Star with an out-of-tune guitar. He stops the intro, peers around nervously and inquires to his fellow team, 'You guys still want to do that song?' Sadly, for Steve, he receives a full-on, vehement 'Yeah' in response.
With their album still a long way off (a good four months or so, it's safe to presume), the only way to experience Longwave for the time being is within an intimate concert-setting such as this - and, trust us, this is by no means a disappointing starting-point to being introduced to one of the year ahead's potential strongest, new hopes.
Artists in this article: Longwave
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