Morning Parade
Barfly, London
16/11/2010

There’s something strangely comforting about the experience of hearing a band live for the first time but feeling like their songs are strangely familiar. Now it could be a total disaster if the said-band was a lacklustre tribute act, but luckily Morning Parade are titillating in all the right ways tonight.

The five lads from Essex kick off their set in a busy Barfly with their single ‘Under The Stars’, which seems to nod to the sounds of Foals, Delphic and even Muse at times. The song sets the tone for the rest of the gig: indie guitar riffs and attitude combined with loud synth and dance-inspired rhythms. ‘Headlights’ also confirms their penchant for finding powerful melodies and choruses. As the gig continues, a pattern arises: Morning Parade go in for the kill with each of their tunes, and every song builds up to a massive chorus that’s fairly predictable but also very memorable. It’s technically great, clearly rehearsed and polished – so much so that they sometimes sound almost mechanical, as if they’d been on tour for years and had done tonight’s show a hundred times. And although their style might alienate indie rock purists, it is definitely a crowd-pleasing one.

Other highlights tonight include ‘Youth’, with a piano line reminiscent of Robert Miles’ 90s trance hit ‘Children’, and the Editors-sounding ‘A&E’. Their pop-flirting clean indie targets a very wide audience. And although it could do with more originality and mystery, it’s epic, anthemic, and likely to conquer a lot of hearts in 2011.

Christian Pambrun