NME Radar Tour: Darwin Deez W/ The Underdogs - 53 Degrees, Preston
Hurts and Everything Everything may have occupied most of the column inches in the publicity surrounding this year’s now coveted NME Radar Tour, but it is always worth getting down early in the hope of discovering a hidden musical gem.
Much like the NME Awards Tour that takes place in the New Year, previous tours have seen the high profile acts of today playing to small audiences at the start of the night, with both White Lies and Blood Red Shoes being notable examples.
This year’s tour has changed from the usual four bands playing each night to three, plus one local band from the area of that night’s performance. Tonight this accolade goes to The Underdogs.
Their ‘MySpace Manifesto’ ™ is straight out of the mouth of other such bands who attract ‘beer boys’ and the yobbish mentality that comes with them: “Life is all about Underdogs. The unsung heroes. Those who make things happen.” Change the fuckin’ record, lads!
Anyway, onto their music: it’s merely okay. Nothing more, nothing less.
They begin energetically, but their ‘indie by numbers’ does little to capture the imagination of ticket buyers who have specifically paid to see acts supposedly chosen for their originality and inventiveness with traditional musical constraints.
The second half of their set slips into low key, downbeat territory that makes for much clock watching between conservative rounds of applause. Frontman Philip Moss regrettably concentrates too much on his stage presence in front of a modest crowd; the majority of which appear to be the band’s friends. Clambering on top of speakers and staring into oblivion in faux poetic fashion does little to detract attention away from a band that clearly has nothing new to say.
Darwin Deez, by stark contrast, are a breath of fresh air; both in comparison to the opening act, and on their own merits within the music scene at the moment. Hailing from New York, they describe their live show as “indie rock with a side of calisthenics”, which only makes sense after tonight’s sadly short appearance on stage.
Aided by a backing band dressed in equally distasteful retro 80’s clothes (which look annoyingly good on them), Darwin leads a brief introductory dance display which is a perfectly synchronised introduction to their first track, ‘Up In The Clouds’. Such body poppin’ is a regular interlude throughout their six song set list, and is done with a knowing nod to its kitsch novelty value.
Recent singles ‘Constellations’ and ‘Radar Detector’ receive the strongest responses from the now increased crowd, with attractive melodies which cannot fail to make you smile.
The quirkiness of Darwin Deez may well become a short lived fad, but for now their idiosyncrasies will undoubtedly result in them being a festival favourite for this year, as well as a band to remedy the boredom of unimaginative acts such as those playing before them tonight.
Much like the NME Awards Tour that takes place in the New Year, previous tours have seen the high profile acts of today playing to small audiences at the start of the night, with both White Lies and Blood Red Shoes being notable examples.
This year’s tour has changed from the usual four bands playing each night to three, plus one local band from the area of that night’s performance. Tonight this accolade goes to The Underdogs.
Their ‘MySpace Manifesto’ ™ is straight out of the mouth of other such bands who attract ‘beer boys’ and the yobbish mentality that comes with them: “Life is all about Underdogs. The unsung heroes. Those who make things happen.” Change the fuckin’ record, lads!
Anyway, onto their music: it’s merely okay. Nothing more, nothing less.
They begin energetically, but their ‘indie by numbers’ does little to capture the imagination of ticket buyers who have specifically paid to see acts supposedly chosen for their originality and inventiveness with traditional musical constraints.
The second half of their set slips into low key, downbeat territory that makes for much clock watching between conservative rounds of applause. Frontman Philip Moss regrettably concentrates too much on his stage presence in front of a modest crowd; the majority of which appear to be the band’s friends. Clambering on top of speakers and staring into oblivion in faux poetic fashion does little to detract attention away from a band that clearly has nothing new to say.
Darwin Deez, by stark contrast, are a breath of fresh air; both in comparison to the opening act, and on their own merits within the music scene at the moment. Hailing from New York, they describe their live show as “indie rock with a side of calisthenics”, which only makes sense after tonight’s sadly short appearance on stage.
Aided by a backing band dressed in equally distasteful retro 80’s clothes (which look annoyingly good on them), Darwin leads a brief introductory dance display which is a perfectly synchronised introduction to their first track, ‘Up In The Clouds’. Such body poppin’ is a regular interlude throughout their six song set list, and is done with a knowing nod to its kitsch novelty value.
Recent singles ‘Constellations’ and ‘Radar Detector’ receive the strongest responses from the now increased crowd, with attractive melodies which cannot fail to make you smile.
The quirkiness of Darwin Deez may well become a short lived fad, but for now their idiosyncrasies will undoubtedly result in them being a festival favourite for this year, as well as a band to remedy the boredom of unimaginative acts such as those playing before them tonight.
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