Live Review: Narration

Sep 05 2008 6:00 pm,

4.0

Each time Narration play London, there are more people in the crowd. There are more people who know the words. There are more girls swooning over the quartet. There are more people who understand where this band are coming from.

And they themselves are more confident, more comfortable, more controlled. Tonight’s gig is the best they’ve been in front of these eyes and ears – turning up the volume a notch from previous occasions, stepping into a dark and desperate world where nothing’s quite right and there’s no such thing as balance. Which, paradoxically, is achieved by a near perfect musical balance onstage – as vocals melt into a lulling sea of quiet confession and lilting keys before the waves then form and crash desperately onto the shore, white noise for black hearts. If you want it less abstract than that, suffice to say that these four boys are crafting sounds from influences as diverse as Jimmy Eat World, latter day Brand New and the good bits of Coldplay.

The result, especially tonight, is an earnest set of songs that are both timid and courageous, epic and understated. Message To The King and Miracle are both perfect examples of their distorted pop sensibilities, easy to sing along to yet reaching far deeper than your average throwaway pop song. And as performers, they have it nailed down like Jesus – not only do their songs take over the room, they possess the band. Sure, it’s just a dingy back room of a pub in Camden, but it’s a legendary pub on the music scene and great bands have started their careers here before going on to rule the world. Narration could well be next in line.

 

Words: Mischa Pearlman    

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