Wednesday 28/05/08 Tapes n Tapes @ ULU, London

Tonight, in central London’s ULU,  Minneapolis quartet Tapes n Tapes appear no different than when they burst on to our limey stereos with 2004’s Tapes n’ Tapes EP. Hirsute frontman Josh Grier sports a shaggy college t-shirt and the gig already looks like a Monty Python convention with hoards of lumberjack-shirted aficionados. The fact that the band just last month released sophomore title 'Walk It Off 'creates a palpable itch of anticipation amongst the faithful, and even the stage is lit blue red and white as London is lent an hour-long slice of apple pie.

Walk It Off retains debut hit The Loon’s bluesier tones, with ballads like ‘Time of Songs’ and ‘Demon Apple’ nodding to Jeff Buckley and Creedence Clearwater Revival. For these slower tunes the band keep up the intensity which has leapfrogged them over contemporaries like Two Gallants and Fields.

However punkier numbers such as ‘Blunt’ and ‘The Dirty Dirty’- darker and more contemplative than earlier work- seem to drift by; the subdued, Cold War Kids-esque fretwork of Grier and bassist Erik Appelwick never quite get the crowd sweating in the emotive manner the album suggests. Thankfully Grier’s voice still allows his music leeway, radiating the vitriol of Grohl whilst preserving the fragility of Oberst. Notable highlight, the brilliantly soulful ‘Hang Them All’ draws a collective breath of expectation before old favourites like ‘Insistor’ and ‘Gallon Ascots’ are rolled out to howls of delight.

As the band slip offstage, no-one doubts they’ve had their money’s worth tonight. Let’s just hope that Tapes ‘n Tapes can hold on to the passion that has given us all a new American dream.