Music Go Music: everything but the kitsch in sync

9 February 2010
Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

You have to just roll with it, to some extent, when watching M Go M, or else risk overload trying to level out all the references, nods and winks they bring into play. From their appearance - Vanilla Ice on keys? Keith Moon on drums? Rhys Ifans, or is it Tom Petty, on guitar? - to all the seemingly familiar-sounding phrases and riffs that pepper their songs, it is like an endless game of Name That Tune.

I have seen husband and wife David and Meredith Metcalf play the same venue before, as their other band Bodies of Water, and then, as on this occasion, was blown away by their ability to deliver a demanding set in immaculate fashion. This time it took until the third song before the lead vocal was correctly mixed, but once it was, we were away. Unfortunately keys and backing vox struggled for parity, which was a shame.

Catching flavours of, amongst others, The Sweet, Lynyrd Skynrd, Blondie, Roy Wood and Radiohead at different times, the bulk of the set could have been based on making a song by combining Knights of Cydonia with Summer Night City into a rollicking up-tempo dance-y rock romp, and then layering something extra on top. That aspect was actually in danger of getting a bit boring - and then one of the really good songs would surface, and you could see what it was all about.

The best songs usually had a bit more Abba, and a bit less Muse, and also had a stronger single direction - country, or disco - than the others, and were damn near disco-pop (or country-rock) perfection. Imagine how great they could be if they took it seriously - but that would defeat the object....

I left smiling, and very impressed.


N.B. - while writing this, I went here, for double-checking purposes, and discovered that Muse have reached levels of kitsch that Music Go Music can but dream of.