The Kissaway Trail
Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
11/03/2010
The Kissaway Trail
Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
11/03/2010
The Kissaway Trail are almost too perfect: the crescendos, the carefully clipped hair, the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a freshly signed young band. Co-front men Søren B. Corneliussen and Thomas Fagerlund look as though they might burst into tears any moment as they strain to draw every drop of emotion. Has there ever been a band more suited to their label? Alt-independent Bella Union picked up these talented Danes following the success of their debut, and the follow-up is an even more ambitious widescreen recording full of big harmonies and infectious melodies.
Tonight, following the most inauspicious of entries, the five boys (six if you include the hairy cameraman slash cymbal smasher who breaks the seriousness at regular intervals) set about proving they are a band on the rise. The reviews for ‘Sleep Mountain’ haven’t exactly been gushing, but as each beautiful track washes over us some of the accusations of contemporary indie rip offs, the obligatory Arcade Fire and ridiculous Coldplay, U2, and Snow Patrol comparisons become meaningless. You’re either affected or you’re not.
Mid-set is a three song barrage of strength as a ‘Smother + Evil = Hurt’ (still their finest) sing-along is followed by their Neil Young cover ‘Philadelphia’, and then the song-most-likely-to-be-played-on-Radio 1 – ‘SDP’. If you want proof that these chaps mean it just ask drummer Hasse to lower his shirt and you’ll find him wearing a ‘61’ tattoo on his chest; talking of tragic terminal illness the defiant chorus of “We can! We’re strong! We’ll beat it” may not be Morrissey, but it’s full of feeling here. The positive certainly does outweigh the sadness on Kissaway records.
At times it feels dreamlike, unreal, as though the polished album is being siphoned in while projected images of the band float upfront. A distant Hoxton crowd clearly feels the same. Though, with their brilliant soundman helping to produce an immaculate noise The Kissaway Trail have rarely sounded better.
Ben Rimmer
