Date: Friday 28 May 2010
Reviewed by: Abbas Ali
Yes, the world might be gripped by a second financial crisis, oil spills threatening environmental disaster, and the death of Arnold from Diff’rent Strokes. It’s a big scary place, so what you do if you’re a young, hopeless romantic?
Well, you could band together with another lost soul to take on the world in a folk duo and sing songs about it. And that’s exactly what we’re treated to tonight with Sheffield's Slow Club. The boy /girl combo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor begin the show unexpectedly by rushing the stage, running into the middle of the crowd, and playing their first song 'Wild Blue Milk' unplugged in our midst, as a sea of cameraphones and camcorders light up the gloom, appearing suddenly, capturing the moment. Such guerrilla gig style antics, which apparently they regularly pull, do a lot to endear them. To use a phrase that romantics will understand, they have us at “hello”.
When they hit the stage, their first number accompanied by a band rocks unexpectedly, building momentum, before the second number, ‘I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream’ restores normal service with the duo onstage accompanied only by Watson’s electric guitar. The song transforms halfway through, exploding as Taylor accompanies, standing up at the mic, as she plays on a humble drumming set-up consisting of a snare and bass drum, in this story of a failing, disappointing relationship.
And as they trade lines, you can’t help but wonder are they or aren’t they “boffing”? They certainly make a handsome couple. It appears not, from interviews and onstage banter, though they certainly play roles in their songs, drawing out male and female perspectives on love, in a way that is sweet, and endearing without ever quite being mawkish, sickly or just plain annoying.
Taylor and Watson have been compared to other such male /female duos as the White Stripes, Blood Red Shoes and The Kills, though they lack the angry machismo of the former, for example, and have a likeability and personal warmth about them. Sonically, their folk stylings are in tune with the current musical climate, even though this is more by accident than design.
Next up, it’s ‘When I Go’, and a couple of numbers later, ‘Because We’re Dead’, and Slow Club’s trump card, their defiant youthfulness, becomes apparent. For anyone under 25, they express perfectly those extremes of emotion and thought that comes with youth, when love really is love, and being grown up is as good as being dead.
When their band return briefly, it leads to one of their weaker numbers, before ‘Our Most Brilliant Friends’ captures the uncertainties of growing up, and finally, fittingly, they end with ‘Giving Up On Love’, a cheery, upbeat song about letting go of youthful idealism.
For an encore, they bring out support band Summer Camp for a cover of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons' ‘The Night’, a cheeky, cheesy 60s party anthem - the kind of number that puts a big, dumb smile on your face, and makes you want to shake your ass.
To misquote another romcom, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing about Slow Club is... I think I love them.
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