David Emery Online

Launched

14 September 2007

So, the aforementioned Too Pure Singles Club Launch night was unsurprisingly a massive success. A good time, as they say, was had by all. It was certainly an eclectic lineup, but I think that was the strength of the night more then anything else – you very rarely find such varied acts all sharing a bill.

First up was Vera November, otherwise known as Verity from indie funsters Electrelane. I was pleasantly surprised, I have to admit, as I’m not the biggest fan of Electrelane – they’re good when they rock out, but I’m not big on their more vocal-led songs, and Verity is the lead vocalist. However, Vera November is really nothing like Electrelane, being much more electronic and loop based – to very good effect, I may add. It also got a bit jazz halfway through with the addition of a saxophone into the surge of loops, which isn’t a bad thing in my book.

Slight aside – I can no longer think or say “saxophone”, I always end up with “saxo-ma-phone”. God darn Simpsons…

Next up was It Hugs Back. Now, I’ll be honest, they really aren’t my cup of tea – they straddle that particular form of indie which I would probably term “sappy” along with people like Bright Eyes and Wilco – but they obviously do what they do very well. The guitars and drumming were both a highlight, but personally I can’t get past the vocals which are really quite dull. A lot of people I know really like them though, so it’s entirely possible I’m completely wrong…

Much better – but seemingly less hyped – was Lone Lady who was up next. Fierce guitars with a strong female vocal is always a combination I enjoy, and Lone Lady had both in spades. Comparisons with people like Sleater Kinney, PJ Harvey and the like would be appropriate, I think – I’m very interested to hear what they sound like on record.

Of course, the best was saved until last in the form of Future Of The Left. Their new album Curses is quite possibly the best debut album I’ve heard this year – it’s amazingly good – and live they’re even better. All the songs are perfect rock songs and all of them deserve playing really, really loud – which they did with aplomb. In fact, I think I now may be slightly deaf in my right ear, but it was worth it. Go and see them now – they’re playing plenty of places.