Electrelane - London Scala - 9/5/07
5/5
By: Dan Monsell
As we enter to the droning shoegaze soundscapes of support band The Early Years, we get a little taken back by a slightly melodramatic sense of belonging. Perhaps people here, like this rockfeedback writer, have had Electrelane records virtually on repeat all year too. Maybe they've also been literally counting down the days until they see this band make those beautiful sounds on a stage in front of them. Either way, this crowd must be totally elated to see a band as good as this really coming into their own, and making a constant stream of records that just sound so fantastically important. And the quality of these records hasn't gone unnoticed, recently even leading to one of the defining bands of our generation, Arcade Fire, handpicking them to tour America with them in the coming weeks. This show has exciting, special and memorable written all over it. Bottom line, even before they play, we're pumped.
The chiming piano of 'Bells' kicks us in, and a lush smile replaces our juvenile excitement as we begin to nicely settle into the prospect of an hour of these kinds of blissful sounds. The new songs sound every bit as good as the old, mixing things up with the addition of more vocals from all the members of the band. The set predictably focuses on the more vocally-led and slightly more song based material from new album 'No Shouts No Calls', but luckily the new songs fit nicely against some of the extended instrumental tracks from older albums like 'Axes', giving the whole set a complete and more interestingly varied feel about it.
The almost other worldly, ethereal element to the band is present throughout. At moments this is the music to play to a child as they enter the world, in an effort to show them the possibilities of human goodness. Similar to touring buddies Arcade Fire, we can close our eyes, zone in, smile and hear the word 'salvation' repeated like a mantra in our heads over and over again. At other times the power of the post-rock workouts and straight up rock and roll swells to colossal heights. Yes, some say it can be samey with its repetitive melodic droning, but such people are simply wrong. The repetitive beat is essential to create those carefully crafted atmospheres and driving melodic brilliance, and Verity Susman is the proud owner of perhaps one of the most distinctive and interesting vocals in the world of alternative rock.
Have we got this far into a review on Electrelane, and still not mentioned that we've got here four females playing the sort of music that is so dominated by men? It must of course be mentioned, and this feature makes the whole thing a particularly interesting sight. The sheer power of Mia Clarke's guitar is a revelation. To see such talented and fierce guitar work from someone lacking in a Y chromosome is unfortunately a rare sight, and is for that reason nicely refreshing. As a unit the band are incredible. The ease with which they change tempo or move from section to section seems almost impossible at times. Where as we are used to seeing this sort of sophisticated head-scratching intelligent rock changes from skinny men in chequered shirts and maybe a beard or two, this not only shows girls can do this stuff, but that maybe at times (say it quietly) they can do it better. So there you have it, without a doubt one of the best shows of 2007. This is a proud demonstration of the power of the female in rock music, whilst never compromising their music through sex or a major label. It was memorable, special, and everything we wanted it to be.
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