Tunng - 229, London - 17/10/07
4/5
By: Chris O'Toole
According to legend - as well as the internet - the core duo of Tunng, Sam Genders and Mike Lindsay, began their recoding career composing scores for soft core pornography. Since this inauspicious start they have augmented the band a further with a guitarist, a female vocalist, a lap-top FX specialist and a multi-instrumentalist/percussionist, all of whom perform tonight. They have released three albums under the moniker, culminating in this years fine 'Good Arrows', and are on the cusp of mainstream recognition.
Their sound is a mixture of whatever appears to be at hand. At the centre of their work are intricate guitar melodies and ramshackle vocal harmonies, which combine to give the group an air of musical ability, if not organisation. However, the basics are constantly enhanced with flourishes of computer produced noise, children's toys and anything else the group can find to hit and make a noise as they seek to embellish and expand their sound.
Tonight Tunng play their last gig in the UK before heading off on a mini-tour of America and take to the 229 stage just before ten o'clock. The location is a strange mix of sports hall, boxing ring, students union and live gig venue - with the latter certainly added as an afterthought. The cavernous space eats sound on sight, absorbing it into walls and nullifying any attempt to enliven the atmosphere. The place has a damp fell to it, undermining any recklessness. As Tunng are such a spontaneous, exciting band this is truly detrimental to their sound and hinders the performance tonight. The delicacy and variety that informs their recoded work is absent from the bludgeoned sound produced on the stage.
It takes the crowd a few numbers to even realise the group have started playing. Only with 'Jenny Again' - taken from the groups second album 'Comments of the Inner Chorus' - do the crowd begin to bob a little on their heels. The light, programmed beats provide the backbone of the set, a sound which is then augmented with Spanish guitar and a number of seashells. The single word instrumental, 'Soup', is another favourite later on. There seems to be little variety in the performance however, certainly the band are willing the crowd to enjoy it, but their enthusiasm rarely reaches past the first few rows.
Tunng close their set with 'Bullets', perhaps the most recognisable track from their latest album and an anthem in some small quarters. The track is a Stasi-influenced eastern European jaunt, and finally the ageing men that compose the majority of the crowd start to move, a relief after what seemed like years of waiting. It is a triumphant close to what has been rather a lacklustre event, a shame. This is a excellent band in an amateurish environment, and despite their best efforts they are undermined by the poor sound and yawning venue.
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