Tapes N Tapes - London KCLSU - 8/11/06
4/5
By: Charlie Potter
It's a bit packed tonight in King's College Student Union. But then, we are all at this pretty special occasion.
Tapes N Tapes show a compassion for their audience and an enjoyment of their own songs that makes all the difference between them and run of the mill American alt-indie-whatever acts. This is a band with music interesting enough to back that stance up. A lot, if not all, of their songs will feature specific sections that are just so instantly rewarding and dabbed with quirky instrumentation that it's impossible not to be snared by their work, yet you begin to realise that these extravagancies, whilst welcome, are unnecessary, as the songs would be just fine without it all. Still, it shows they care.
They're enjoying it. The keyboarder's dancing around like quite The Loon (pun totally indented), even pulling out a tuba whilst the fella on bass seems to be revelling in wailing out his backing vocals - the kind of singing where you have to physically move yourself away from the microphone so your shouts can reach the notes. One of the high points was always going to be 'Insistor', the single that has bravely but not unfairly been compared to Pixies classic 'Nimrod's Son', though to me it really sounds so much more like 'Vamos' that it's ridiculous to make any other comparison. The drummer owns it - he's a master of building tension and knows exactly when to really let her rip, confidently moving through various styles throughout the set.
It all ends excellently with a massive riff played out for an age, oddly comforting in its way. You know, just like the way your mum used to play 'em when you were a little boy.
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