Friday 06/07/07 Shy Child @ Koko, London

Maxed out to capacity like an exhausted credit card, London’s Koko is swollen with a static buzz streaming from the eager eyes and ears of those waiting to jerk along to the beats of Shy Child, tonight. In fact, the sheer volume of people could be attributed to the New York duo’s recent stint on tour with the Klaxons, which could also explain the boys’ new renowned status after a couple of years treading water.
 
The first demonstrations of crazy shapes and hand gestures from the crowd arrive when singer, Pete Cafarella, spurts out his eerie staccato vocals in the hypnotic-synth driven, 'Drop The Phone'. At this point any Rapture comparisons the band previously experienced fade instantly as their stripped-back economy approach produces a ferocious sound. It’s soon clear that there’s no escaping the attack of hip-invading beats, courtesy of drummer Nate Smith.

While the pair have territorially scratched out their own niche away from their electronic contemporaries among the current scene, there is a repetitive element in their set tonight, as loops merge into a one-long sound, however, these are trivialised by the entertainment on stage.

The audience appear as voyeuristic participators to the band’s futuristic-muso orgy, with Pete’s keytar sounding out hooks like a mating call as he wields it above his head. Juttering his body underneath it, he shoots a sly grin across to Nate, who’s also smiling, and has been nodding his head for the entirety of their show.

The climatic point of the night, comes from the 'Noise Won’t Stop', taken from their recent album (of the same title), and when it eventually does, it’s clear that there are many among the crowd who wished it hadn’t.