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A band frequently described as ‘noise pop’ Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts are far nearer to the swirling Hammond organ led indie of fellow NYC dwellers The Walkmen
JB Townsend, wielding a cricket bat style model preferred by Keith Levene of PiL weaved surf guitar melodies across the ‘Stilts set, providing the counterpoint to the keyboards.
An act closer to home the five piece also evoke are Clinic (who were DJing) in their mix of understated melodies and murky vocals.
Singer Brad Hargett was far from a rabble-rousing frontman, maintaining a low-key slightly awkward stance behind the mic throughout.
Keyboard player Kyle Forester entertained the crowd with chatter between tracks. ‘This football card I was handed earlier is of Rooney is great, I’m keeping it’ he told the audience cheerfully.
Despite the strength of recent LP In Love with Oblivion, the Stilts’ output didn’t translate to the stage as well as it comes across on disc.
Flying into the Sun, a great alt-pop song lost much of its nuance live, the guitar flourishes indistinct against the garage rock thud.
Prior to The ‘Stilts, Lucky Beaches played to a small but receptive crowd earlier in the evening.
Following the melodious indie-rock rampage of opening act The Thespians, the band launched without introduction into Jenny Mo.
Reworking the lo-fi Beck atmosphere of the studio version into something tougher, Luke Muscateli’s crew re-arranged much of the material from the band’s debut EP, the songs easily standing up to reinventions.
Group Hallucination, on record a distant cousin of Dylan gem The Mighty Quinn became a high volume rock tune with a bludgeoning riff, while retaining the melody of the original.
Circles in My Mind, led off by an extended drum intro showed off the interplay between the quartet, the four-piece drawing out the endings of several songs.
A surprise addition, Cavern classic Some Other Guy was paired off with She’s a Woman, the couple sounding strangely akin to Clash-style reggae as a result.
The previously solo Heavy Load came across as a fully-fledged Gram Parsons country lament replete with excellent finger-picked guitar solos.
Despite the sparse crowd, on tonight’s showing, Lucky Beaches are highly likely to be playing to increasing numbers as the remainder of their year unfolds.
Photos by Marie Hazlewood