First Fortnight: And So I Watch You From Afar, CODES, Dark Room Notes & Le Galaxie (Button Factory, Dublin) – January 15th 2011

Review by James Hendicott

Photos by Kieran Frost

At ten Euro a ticket, and with a selection of Ireland’s top up and coming talent on display, tonight’s ‘First Fortnight’ gig can offer far more enticement than simply being in support of Amnesty. While the charity no doubt did their part in the promo, it’s tonight’s top-end line up that’s really brought in the punters: it’s of a standard high enough that raucous disco-punks Le Galaxie find themselves perched bottom of the bill, with the last of the box office tickets already dispersed like the metaphorical hot cake.

Le Galaxie is an improving band, one that’s live development of the course of 2011 has been widely noted. While there are two or three tracks that sit an absolute class above the rest of their recorded material, it’s all lively and compelling on stage, and centered around a front man brimming with energy and strutting some truly ridiculous dance moves. In between lying on the front wedge and inviting members of the audience to pull shapes like euro-pop loving Russians during their last song, Le Galaxie are all about some truly euphoric electro beats, delivered with a voiceover of heavily morphed robot vocals.

Dark Room Notes, sadly, are the night’s let down. Having been nominated for the Choice Music Prize last year, it’s clear the mellow synth-pop starlets have plenty of class, but they suffer from the classic keyboard-band issue: their charisma never really sneaks out from behind their instruments, and the front few rows aside, they’re greeted with a notable indifference. A band for a mellower environment, perhaps: their swirling projection of a backdrop is nothing if not hypnotic, and their tunes do have something about them. It’s just not connecting tonight.

Joint headliners CODES have been laid low for the last few months, but with only a few days post-Christmas rehearsals behind them, they prove that their live show is still their greatest asset. Performing off the back of slightly overproduced debut ‘Trees Dream In Algebra’, singer Darragh’s in an unusually cheesy mood, but delivers his customary line in sublime vocal performance. CODES have developed an exceptional ability to build to whopping great crescendos during their live sets, soaring above the clashing guitars and twiddled undertones that dominate on CD to produce efforts like the emotionally jarring ‘This Is Goodbye’ and striking single ‘Cities’. In short, what’s not dissimilar to Keane on CD edges a little more towards Muse live. A new album can’t be too far over the horizon; carry this live show into that and they’ll be on to a big winner.

And So I Watch You From Afar are a band that are all but impossible for anyone to match when it comes to stage antics, though. The insertion of the Letters EP and new single ‘Straight Through The Sun’ into their set adds an almost dance-ish feel to proceedings: the three axe-grinders are still slamming their guitars in a way that’s in danger of giving them whiplash, but there’s a subtler undertone. Built into the depths of their thrashy instincts, the new material makes better use of the band’s timing, and brings their entire set to one beast of a climax that’s almost reminiscent of The Flaming Lips in its euphoric vibe.

To suggest ASWIYFA are anything but the most fiercely independent and energetic of rock bands is utter fallacy, of course: these boys can launch themselves around the place to the likes of ‘Set Guitars To Kill’ and ‘S Is For Salamander’ in a way that’s impossible not to love, even if just for the commitment. They’re all but unmatchable in their ability to thrash around manically and somehow meet in perfect unison to stop, start and bounce their way through a mammoth rhythm change entirely unaffected. Best of all, though, ASIWYFA have a stage presence that comes over even with minimal interaction. Tony’s on-stage recording of a message for his newborn nephew – complete with crowd shock factor – is touchingly sentimental, while the group is once again nudging the boundaries of their live limits into the utterly exceptional. It’s stirring, the lengths some people will go for charity…

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