Chimpomatic

Tapes 'n Tapes

King's College, London

Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes reminded us to keep them in contention for album of the year last night, with another top notch set at London's King's College. The packed out venue enthusiastically received the band, as they barnstormed their way through most of debut album The Loon, as well as a healthy portion of their earlier EP.

The band are gifted with a boundless enthusiasm that is hard to resist. Singer Josh Grier and bassist Erik Appelwick have a great rapport on stage, playing off each other and encouraging the mood to get messy. The sound was not always great, meaning some of keyboardist Matt Kretzmann's contributions (such as the child-friendly 'ooo-ooh's' on The Iliad) were a little lost in the mix, but things were back on track for the tuba infused Manitoba. Matt Kretzmann's contribution and boundless energy is substantial - whether it's on keyboards, vocals, tambourine, or even just somebody else's symbols. His antics are up there with Pavement's Gary Young when it comes to moving around the stage, and I'm thinking that Josh Grier probably needs rear-view-mirror's attaching to his mic stand to keep things in check.

The songs speak for themselves however, and the fleshed out sounds of The Illiad, Omaha (mp3), Manitoba, Cowbell (mp3) and more are unbeatable. Beach Boys (mp3)and Iceberg (mp3)from the early EP were also sounding great, with the level playing field of a live show letting them stand up with the later work.

Insistor (mp3) was the start of the end, reassuringly awesome as always and cut through with the bulletproof spine of Jeremy Hanson's military drumming - possibly the star of the show. It was Crazy Eights that finished it off though, elevating the track from potential album-filler to live-killer. A thundering instrumental break down, which brought the show to a fitting finale and reminded us to keep these boys on heavy rotation.