Esben and the Witch, Grasscut

Madame Jojo's
4 January 2010

The most interesting thing about this show was the event itself, featuring an increasingly widely tipped band in one of the first potentially noteworthy gigs after the inevitable seasonal lull. Well attended by fashionable young things - some of whom were Quite Tall - and most of whom seemed quite interested in the music, including, possibly, a Geldof, but clearly I need to pay more attention to Heat magazine, as even after several minutes occasional squinting from arm's length I couldn't tell if the late-arriving but early-departing blonde person was Pixel (or Trixel).

The main event, E&TW, didn't really seem to capture the sound of their EP 33, which I am quite enjoying, and which is available for free download here. Rachel's lead vocal was rather forward in the live mix, which didn't do it any favours, as there did seem to be certain issues with her, um, pitch control; overall it seemed a bit too much, on the night, for the trio to capture the textures of the recordings, and it all felt a bit ponderous.Where Siouxsie, Liz Fraser and even Florence would be better reference points for swooping vocal goth-y drama, instead I was mentally making comparisons to Sian Alice Group, who are a decent band but not exactly heading my itunes play count.

Support from Grasscut's cultured electro-pop (in a non La Roux sense) was promising, and would be improved greatly by adding a proper singer, but they are definitely one to investigate in more depth.