The Answering Machine - Borderline, London - 26/11/07
4/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
When we first saw The Answering Machine, they were a three piece playing in a shop window (don't ask). Now a four piece with songs we go even crazier for than when they were a trio, on stage their frontman immediately Martin falls into guitarist Patrick permitting them somehow to look like a happier version of Peter and Carl, that limelight-born closeness which made people fall in love with The Libertines years ago, their sincerity and love betraying fortifications of façade.
The set list was dazzling at The Borderline, and as the venue packed to distension it was tunes like 'Oklahoma' and 'Silent Hotels' which brought the house down, new single 'Lightbulbs' kept in storage until the right elevated moment came to allow it to run riot. Martins' voice is more fantastic than ever, it has a quaint similitude to the Subways' Billy Lunn but not enough to make you think he's directly influenced by him, rather it's the same soft delivery with a power behind it which draws you into that rock 'n roll frame of thinking.
Having retired Mustafa Beats, their former drum machine and tour bus jokester, a flesh and blood complement in the shape of stick-wielder Ben helped bring their show to a level not realizable before, and with a thrust behind them from new label Regal, they are now looking like the kind of band who have one bitch of a career ahead of them. They have a set worth of songs which could easily become a well received album next year without question, their newer material evolving far beyond the uncomplicated guitar pop of their older tracks. They're a band with a knack for writing melodies and putting heartfelt words to them to create this grand scope of friendliness and integrity, which are surely assets to be championed.
We're not saying they're the UK's best live band; rather they're a superb, uncomplicated group who you can listen to, enjoy, watch and dance around to without worry of ever getting sick of their songs, Martins' harmonious voice or Gemma's charmingly deadpan stage presence. They're going to get a lot bigger, that's no question at this point, and as they grow you can see how their music will develop into albums of clean unadulterated youth splashed, pop fired collections of nothing but memorable tunes which might come to define your final stages of adolescence.
Artists in this article: The Answering Machine
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