Mates of State - London KCLSU - 23/10/06
4/5
By: Chris Pratt
About four songs into Mates of State's set, Kori Gardner amiably asks their devoted audience, "How does it sound out there?" Amongst a few positive whoops and cheers, an unexpected cry of "Terrible!" is bellowed stage-ward by the backpack-wielding fellow standing on my immediate right. Curiously this same lad has not only been singing along to every single word, but also flawlessly air-drumming along to every one of Jason Hammel's beats. Boos quickly mount from an assembled cardigan-and-converse mafia clearly in the mood for nothing but unadulterated hero-worship, but luckily are just as swiftly forgotten as Mates leap into yet another of their patented, sun-kissed pop epics.
I only mention this somewhat minor incident because the wave of ill-feeling toward said heckler (who was actually trying to alert the band that their vocal levels were rather low) is so at odds with the general atmosphere of a Mates of State gig. Watching other bands I frequently catch myself sporting a permanent scowl, due to the seven-foot giant standing directly in front of me maybe, or perhaps because of the long-haired, sweaty bloke who insists on invading my personal space. Watching Mates is completely different - if you're not grinning like an idiot after the first huge chorus then you should probably seek treatment for depression.
For the uninitiated, MoS consist of keyboard player Kori Gardner and her drumming husband Jason Hammel. They're in town to promote the recent release of 'Bring It Back,' their fourth full-length and their first to get a full-on UK release, thanks to those precocious peeps at Moshi Moshi (their previous efforts were all put out by the frankly awesome US indie Polyvinyl). Although I haven't had the chance to purchase this latest offering (I don't even have the funds to get an internet connection to sneakily download the thing), tonight's selections from it suggest that long-term Mates fans and newbies alike won't be disappointed. In terms of new directions, the only thing that's changed is Kori's regular use of a gloriously tacky vocoder-esque sound from the shiny modern synthesizer that now sits atop her trademark '70s Yamaha organ. Apart from that it's business as usual - soaring yet cosy boy-girl vocal parts, lyrics packed with sing-a-long surrealism and the best organ sound in indie rock.
Their mastery of such a minimal selection of musical tools serves to confirm the over-indulgence of tonight's support act Tiny Dancers, who cram the stage and their songs with pointless props and gimmicks but clean forget to bring along anything approaching a melody. Luckily Mates have tunes enough for a hundred bands, as they gleefully dip into previous records like they were treasured, old photo albums. Much shape-throwing is incited amongst the enraptured crowd as Kori and Jason rattle off fan-favourites such as 'Fluke' and 'Proofs,' offering each other a quick smile whenever they hit an instrumental section. The biggest cheers are reserved for new material such as their falsetto-tastic latest single 'Like U Crazy' (which I saw on E4 the other day!), into which they drop a cheeky snatch of a similarly titled Gnarls Barkley smash. A call for requests then leads to a splendidly ramshackle cover of 'Starman' which Kori practically begs not to have to play - sure enough, she fluffs the words to the chorus every time but the pair have no trouble in seeing the funny side. The crowd laughs and smiles too, because that's what this music is perfect for. All around me people grab their best friends with one hand and zealously punch the air with the other as they sing out at the top of their voices - when lo-fi pop is this flawless it seems silly not to do the same.
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