@ Camden Barfly, London - Friday 02/05/03
The terrifying thought of a rock renaissance re-emerging around the dark depravity of Camden is fairly frightening a first glance, but the Monarch's slow mutation into a bastion for rockin' revilers from both sides of the Atlantic is a blueprint on how to create a scene.
The Barfly was once again Hipster HQ as London's principal purveyors of party perfection, The Queens of Noize, showed their now pre-eminent proficiency at merging that which embodies the energy of the present with that which will formulate a frenzied future. Tonight their foresight brought together one of the most entertaining enigmas in rock 'n' roll today, Har Mar Superstar, alongside the imminent heirs to London's rock royalty, Razorlight.
To be quite frank, it has been some time since a London based band has sincerely stirred this stars-and-stripes cynic, but tonight Razorlight doubled the darkness of the marquee moon with a fret filled fury of grated guitars adjacent to veering vocals that are uncomfortably close to something you'd expect from Television's Tom Verlaine - but, there is more on offer than an emulation of their favourite station. Although it would be hard to camouflage their correspondence to their late-70's compatriots, Razorlight possess the raw energy and naive aggression Television always lacked, an awkward adventurousness that consumes the crowd rather than walking them through a lesson in aural algorithms.
By Jason Baron :: jason.baron@gigwise.com
© gigwise.com 2003
