Audio, 4th April
Is there a more under-rated band in British indie music than The Duke Spirit? On the evidence of this performance, the answer is probably not. Various problems with record labels and bad timing stymied their first coming in 2005, but they have returned with classy new album ‘Neptune’ and the intent to right some wrongs. What remains the same is that they have, in Liela Moss, just about the best front woman of her generation. Every rock band needs a Liela Moss.
It’s not just that smoky voice. Arriving on stage in a gold dress, there’s something thrilling about the way she peers out from under her fringe with a mischievous feline swagger. She seems to be invested with the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll cool from down the generations, sexy Blondie-isms rubbing shoulders with Jim Morrison swagger. Inevitably, she is the absolute focal point of the band, simply because she is magnetically impossible not to watch. Make no mistake though, none of it would work if she wasn’t fronting a band that is so relaxed and assured that they could be playing in their lounge.
Opener ‘Send A Little Love Token’ serves as a perfect introduction to the band – a stomping rocker driven along by waves of fuzzed-out guitar and a pulsing bassline while Moss’s vocal slinks around the melody. It’s noticeable how much the band seem to be enjoying themselves, how comfortable they seem in their own skin, Moss taking the opportunity to both apologise for not visiting Brighton enough and berate an audience member for pronouncing her name wrong. “It’s Leeee-la!” she shouts. There’s no doubt about it, being told off by Liela Moss is no picnic.
Most of their current album gets a run out, highlights including recent single ‘The Step And The Walk’, a grooved-up slice of spaced-out, mood music, and the sixties pop-inflected ‘My Sunken Treasure’, a hit single in a parallel world where reward matches merit. As the band sign off with old favourite ‘Cuts Across The Land’ you have to hope that, in their own words, this ship was indeed built to last.
Words by Joe owen
Photos courtesy of Darling Uk
