First up on the final night of Levis’s 5 Night Revue are Tubelord. They play complex indie-rock that should, for all its good intentions, sound rubbish, but is incredibly greater than the identifiable sum of its parts. The more grungy pop elements of their sound carry melody and purpose, balancing out every notch of needless volume and inane scream. New single ‘I Am Azerrad’ is a brilliant noise, with the underlying structure of a decent pop song; it’s the highlight of their set and should make sure they keep gaining fans and bookings. Beyond that, who knows?
Headliners Metronomy keep the crowd waiting until sufficient sweat is dripping down the walls for them to casually dim the lights and then – with a seemingly endless bank of new instruments/FX, choreographed dance moves, heart-shaking bass riffs and catchy melodies – involve the entire room in a dance off. They make their mark as bill-toppers from their very first computerised note.
The band have so many great melodies that once you have listened to their new album ‘Nights Out’ you could be forgiven for not having a clue which songs are the singles. From the opening bars of ‘My Heart Rate Rapid’ (probably their pinnacle thus far) through ‘Radio Ladio’, ‘Heartbreaker’ and into the bass-heavy groove of old-time anthem ‘You Could Easily Have Me’, momentum is maintained and smiles spread en masse. Mainman Joseph Mount is more vocally confident than ever before, aided in said respect since his project became a three piece, and gets the crowd moving with ease.
The results are just right. At times Metronomy manage to look and sound like some sort of Daft Punk video with a Gnarls Barkley pop twang, only all of this comes with a vibe more viable on the streets of Hoxton than Parisian vistas or NYC alleys. Essentially they have carved their London sound from Devon via Brighton and a lot of hard work, but tonight they sound both at home and at ease from the off, and kiss goodbye to the Levis’s 5 Night Revue series in a style entirely of their own.
