Rogues
Lexington, London
24/11/2009

Rogues are a new band who play indie music on guitars… because of that, on paper it’s hard to get excited about them. On paper that is. But live, playing at the Lexington in celebration of their new ‘Widows’ EP, they’re far from stale.

Their guitars open on a Haircut 100 vibe, the angles of their quirky, smoky pop met by well harmonised pop melodies and the gloss of Spandau Ballet. There’s a lot of the modern in their first few tracks with some salutes to that stylish, oddball pop noise of 2009 and bands like the Golden Silvers. Then there’s the unmistakable peculiarity in their arrangements akin to Talking Heads, and even the odd precision-delivered riff that lends some attitude from The Cure or Japan, if almost accidently.

A newer song falls with the self-possessed ambition of Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’. It doesn’t sound anything like ‘I’m On Fire’, but it does have that same sense of it being an epic song kept under lock and key; the slow, steady but weighty feel of it seemingly wanting to tremble free, and delivered with such restraint it instantly has the warmth of a classic.

Rogues look and sound harmonious together, not least on key track ‘MerryGoRound’, blowing their perfectly formed grunge haircuts behind the sweat stains of their t-shirts, they take a stand against the polluted tail-end to a post-Strokes indie cycle, pulling their guitar music back to a few very recognisable and very charming reference points. On record their material has flair, and with a slightly more scruffy approach live, it’s the balance of a great band and could be the start of good things to come in 2010.

Alex Lee Thomson