The Electric Soft Parade & Toys - Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, London – 9/11/11
4/5
By: Jonathan Falcone
The brothers White have been the core duo within The Electric Soft Parade for 10 years, ably partnered with permanent bassist Matthew Twaites. Having recently played their three full-length albums in Brighton over three weeks and then supported Noel Gallagher on his first UK tour with his High Flying Birds, The Soft Parade found themselves playing a sold out Hoxton Bar and Grill.
Opening act Toys gave a blisteringly loud mix of shoegaze and psychedelic Krautrock. Toy’s relentlessness impressed and highlighted ESP’s prog-rock approach to timing and pace. Ultimately Toys opening showed just how talented and different The Electric Soft Parade are, with more range across their individual songs than most bands have in a set/album/career.
With a set that crossed their releases, ‘Start Again’ injected a sense of rock’n’roll to the whole affair from the beginning. It was a greatest hits set from a band whose time in the limelight of recent may not compare with their debut album fanfare, but the brothers’ contribution to fine indie labels (Truck, Fat Cat, Rough Trade, Cooking Vinyl) is certainly significant.
It’s the sibling harmonies that really set the White brothers up on their own; a sound that resonates with unique tones across their singles ‘Empty At The End’, ‘Silent To The Dark’, Lose Yr Frown’, ‘Life Backseat’ and ‘Lilly”. There’s a pairing of rich, thick harmony and huge, uncontrollable distortion that is ESP and ESP alone. These are the traits that underpin an otherwise massively diverse set of songs. ‘Lilly’ has the warm radio sound of Big Star with single-strum chords and girl-group drums, yet it also has a two-minute keyboard and guitar solo that out-krautrocks Toys with ease. It’s a delight to see schizophrenia being carried performed with sincerity and ingenuity, key changes and tempo changes that shouldn’t work come across magnificently.
The band seems at ease. Following shows with Noel Gallagher the band have had time to oil the machine and it’s a flawless performance tonight. This helps highlight the eclectic swinging between styles. Carried out with any less aplomb this could feel shambolic, messy and indecisive. It’s a risk the band take in wanting one minute to sound as melancholy as Sparklehorse the next as ceremonial as King Crimson, but they do it, perfectly, creating a properly rounded musical experience.
Artists in this article: The Electric Soft Parade
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