Engine Rooms, 30th January 2009

One of Ireland’s best kept secrets paid their first ever visit to Brighton and an intrepid group of eager attendees witnessed a powerful display of upbeat and inventive instrumental music. Well known in underground circles for their passionate live performances and intelligent use of visuals, it was with a definite sense of excitement that I headed down to Preston Street.

Support band Autumn Colours pair the warbling vocal style of Beiruit with some sparse Caspian/Explosions In the Sky-influenced melodies to produce a nicely balanced sound. Whether these arrangements are clearly defined songs or just random sequences stuck together does play on the mind though.

God Is An Astronaut write driving, spacious music, and while taking their cues from well established influences, manage to create a sound very much their own. It’s always refreshing to see a drummer who is as quick with his hands as his mind and in Niels, they have a bass player who can actually play his instrument and doesn’t just stick to root notes. With guitarist Torsten adding synth and vocal effects to his array of pedal wizardry, the band also use backing tracks to flesh out their songs. Drummer Lloyd Hanney, with his headphones tightly clamped to his head, was obviously playing to a click and while some swear by it, for me this can sometimes displace that all important human element that allows people to connect with the music on a deeper level.

The variety of interesting imagery projected alongside the music added a whole other dimension to the performance, and provided a fascinating focal point that can sometimes be lacking with instrumental groups. Back in 2005, the celebrated “All Is Violent, All is Bright” cemented the reputation of a band distinctly lacking the clichéd pretence of a number of post-rock bands. Clearly pleasing many present, they played most of that album, as well as a number of tunes from their more recent releases. What’s great is that they’re clearly just normal guys who love what they do. It just so happens that what they do, they do really rather well. Playing their hearts out for a solid hour and a half, they stomped and headbanged their way through some fantastically loud groove-based rock, hair and sweat flying all directions. Despite looking absolutely knackered they even managed to squeeze in a couple more before departing. They let the music do the talking and that’s really the way it should be.

Words by Jody White

Photography by Sam Hiscox