Django Django - I raced to the club from my previous engagement arriving just in time to see this hot little London-based band with ties to Edinburgh. There are four of them on guitar, bass, synthesizers, and drums and they all add a little extra percussion now and then as they keep a mighty powerhouse dance beat through their entire set. They have just a little bit of psychedelic flourish at times and personally I would have loved to hear more of this. But they compensated for that with consistently excellent hooks and harmonies. The vocals remind me of Ride atop a powerful 80s synth band. They have enough power just as Gary Numan and early Ultravox were able to pull me in to dancier forms of punk/new wave music back in the day. Maybe it is as if Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark were covering the Hives or Bow Wow Wow? Whatever their roots, they have plenty of energy and were able to get much of a fairly cautious sold out room dancing or at least swaying tonight. And kudos to them for touring coming over for their first tour of North America in March and avoiding Austin. I did not think that was done. Bravo.
Quote of the Night: After the groans of sadness announcing their last number... "Hey, we only have one album out, but we'll be back with some new songs soon". They did play a solid hour long set before encore, so no one felt cheated I would think. And my apologies to Night Moves for missing their set.
2 comments:
This was their first DC show, but definitely not their first time in the US - they may have even been as SXSW last year. "Default", with a really great, clever video (and I say that as one who detests most videos) were on BrooklynVegan over a year ago, maybe even in late 2011.
Compared to what I heard before, I could have used a little more guitar Saturday, though I did like that sort of surf-rock song toward the end. Overall, though, they seemed like their music was mostly synth, drums, and vocals, though they did vary it nicely with those odd touches of percussion on various percussive things. Maybe Saturday night is just dance night for the young 'uns.
I guess Austin is a Meccaesque requirement... They have been around longer than I thought for one album, one tour, etc. Thanks for the details. And you got me thinking... I am not sure I have ever wanted less guitar, maybe better guitar, better balance, etc., but it is far more often that bands need more guitar to my mind as well.
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