Issue #1 - Reviews

REVIEWS
THE VIOLETS
MONDAY CLUB
Playlouder Night @ The Old Blue Last

There are those who loathe The Old Blue Last and, with its reputation, it’s not difficult to understand why. Vice Magazine; Shoreditch trendies; er, well, that’s about it. Yes, the upstairs may well be small and really rather dingy but sometimes venues such as this lend a sense of atmosphere to music that thrives on it in order to create it.

Monday Club kick off the show in suitably atmospheric fashion. The introduction of the first song is delivered a capella by the singer/guitarist and bassist before the drums kick in and all hell, quite frankly, threatens to break loose.

Borrowing liberally from the back catalogues of bands such as Joy Division and Bauhaus (never a bad thing, even when pilfering the bossa nova beat from ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ wholesale for a few bars of one song) the group make a haunting racket, which acts as the perfect vehicle for the bluesy, smokey vocals. By the end of it, you realise that they have something of a knack for winning you over with their charm before bludgeoning your ears with their doom-laden tunes. A winner all round, then.

The Violets have been around for a fair few years now, but you wouldn’t know it from their fresh and vibrant live show. Immediately, and inevitably, images of S*ou*sie & the B*nsh**s spring straight to mind, but it’s the depth in their sound which grabs you, not to mention the arresting stage presence of singer Alexis. Melodic basslines and sharp, chiming guitar parts make up many of their songs and eventually live synths are used to give their sound that extra depth. The songs range from being soundtracks to the hidden corners of one’s imagination to dark and thundering electropop beasts.

With a repertoire and live show as good as is evidenced tonight, it should come as no shock that The Violets are one of the most exciting live propositions in London right now. Go and see them before they promptly leave the small environs (and atmospherics) of venues such as The Old Blue Last well and truly behind.