Leah Sinead perfoming at Under The Radar - Photo by A Quick Flash
Opening proceedings in the clammy upstairs room was Leah Sinead and her incredibly soothing brand of folk. With many of the crowd having already taken their places on the floor, creating a homely gathering for the sets duration, Sinead confidently showcases her unique and powerful voice atop the gentle finger picking of her somber guitar. After a magnificently delivered cover of Elliot Smith’s Between The Bars, Sinead rounds off her set with Falling From Grace, an incredible piece that showcases the extraordinary range of this performers voice.
Next up came the jangly, upbeat tones of Three Girl Rhumba, a three piece with a much thicker sound than a good majority of small orchestras. Armed with an array of belters mixing jazz-funk Jaco Pastorious-esq style basslines with guitar melodies reminiscent of indie-pop misfits The Mystery Jets, the band power through a short set of infectiously catchy should-be hits. The soulful range of Tom Thurgood’s lead vocal is complemented perfectly by three way harmonies and intertwining lines, provided by the small, but powerful rhythm section. With their debut E.P set to drop next month, expect a lot of attention to be paid to this incredibly likeable trio.
The only word to describe the evenings next act, OneGirlOneBoy, is simply “wow.” Their haunting brand of up-tempo noise-pop crossed with the melancholy pace of trip-hop has the ability to make tonight’s audience switch from hyperactive to contemplative in a matter of seconds. This is perfectly measured, thought provoking pop music at its very finest, and vocalist Natasha’s presence and intensity could very easily make her an icon in years to come. Just go and see them.
Standing out aesthetically as this evenings bunch of misfits, Huskies look almost too laid back to stand up for their half hour slot. Gladly, all pre-judgements change as they burst into a set of surfy and serene numbers delivered surprisingly energetically to the eager onlookers. By this point in the evening, the room has almost reached capacity – hardly a surprising notion considering the amount of chat that this fivesome has generated in the city over the past year. The singer awkwardly staggers around the stage, paying a clear homage to the likes of Jarvis Cocker, but with intertwining double lead guitar lines throughout and even an impromptu spoken word section, recited magnificently by an audience member, Huskies remain to be a band that are seemingly hard to place. Full marks though as the crowd lap up every moment.
With easily the most diverse headgear of the night on display, Cheshire & The Cat take to the stage with the cool confidence you’d expect of a band combining a brass duo with a smooth, chilled-out rhythm section. Joint vocalists Jack and Sally respond excellently to each other to deliver a set of swing-jazz indie numbers, at times bearing subtle resemblance to the likes of Crystal Fighters and even Santana. Having established themselves as a crowd pleaser at Nottingham’s Acoustic Rooms, ‘The Cat’ will surely be looking to take their posi-vibe sound to sunnier pastures. A sure fire booking for The Big Chill, should it ever return…
There’s been plenty said about April Towers in recent months, but judging on tonight’s performance, the hype that they’ve received has been completely justified. Standing behind a wall of keys and synths, duo Alex Noble and Charlie Burley create a lush, full-bodied pop sound that has large sections of the revelers passionately shouting the lyrics back at them. Obvious crowd favourite Tel Aviv has the punters dancing wildly, pushing the shaky foundations of The Chameleon to the limit. Had it been released a little further along the bands timeline, this chart-friendly but technically brilliant tune would surely find its place remixed in house clubs across the country. However, this seems to be merely the foundations for perhaps the most promising act on tonight’s roster. Watch this space.
Under The Radar Festival was at The Chameleon on Sunday 8 June 2014.
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