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Fresh back from a month long tour of the States, Electrelane step out at London’s 100 Club, legendary jazz’n’punk venue-turned showcase for today’s young rock generation.
After a quick blast of estrogen fuelled powder-punk from special guests Valery, the female foursome (now there’s a phrase) Electrelane take to the stage, drawing an immediate reaction from the previously docile crowd. On record, Electrelane’s sound is a mild fusion of space-age organ, chugging guitar riffs and clean, unaffected vocals. On stage, they are powerful, dynamic and in complete control of their sound.
After an attention-grabbing, keyboard-driven rendition of new single ‘This Deed’, the band’s set pounds along at a rate of knots, each track building to its own climax, laced with jangling guitar that eases its way from Chuck Berry licks through punky-blues, on to Velvets-esque rhythms; rarely resorting to distortion, excessive volume or any other cheap trick used to disguise frail playing or blast the audience into submission.
Verity Susman’s vocals rise and fall above and below the sound, standing out against the punchy basslines of Rachel Dalley and the relentlessly tight drumming of Emma Gaze to create a collective voice far stronger than the individual elements of the band.
Throughout, Electrelane wear their influences on their sleeves. The band say The Velvet Underground and My Bloody Valentine, but more obvious and easier comparisons can be made with Stereolab, the Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan and the newer set of young Rockers dominating the airwaves – The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and Meg White in particular.
Fiery performances are propelled forth of ‘Blue Straggler’, ‘This Deed’, ‘On Parade’ and ‘Only One Thing Is Needed’, tunes that span space-age spooky to out and out kinky.
Couple this with smoking cover versions of Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This’ and a decidedly-cooler-than-original treatment of Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’, and all the hallmarks of a great gig are there.
The band, as they say, deliver.
Leaving the stage to the melody of Salt ‘n’ Peppa’s ‘Push It’, let’s hope Electrelane can do the same in the coming months - and build something truly unique.
Photo by Luis DeCamps
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