Seth Whippet - 13/07/07
With a name like Battle Royale, you expect the competition at a gig like this to be fairly fierce, and so it is tonight. Even though O Fracas, hailed by many as Leeds' best 'unknown' band, pull out at the eleventh hour, there's still plenty of other talent on offer.
Hitherto Britpoppers Duels turn in a convincing set, showcasing a heavier and less overtly commercial direction, and Mother Vulpine (whom we enjoyed greatly at Nasty Fest) again underline why they've set local tongues wagging.
But it's to another brace of Leeds bands we focus our attention, because tonight the outstanding performances come from Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames and Sky Larkin. We've witnessed both in action before, but in this set-up, with each band playing for thirty minutes, it's easier to compare and contrast. Musically, these two are like chalk and cheese but their respective performances leave equally wide smiles on our faces.
The last, and first, time we saw Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames, the vigour and energy of their performance took us by complete surprise and left little room for much reflection about what they actually sounded like. Noise-rockers ?Forward Russia! were (and are) an obvious local touchstone, but since then Foals have emerged and it's their tight disco rhythms combined with intricate, stabbing guitars that SYEAYBIF remind us of most. Throw in a bit of The Rapture, also, and that's their sound pretty much pinned down. It's all about the live show, though, and for our money SYEAYBIF just about edge it over either.
With Sky Larkin, on the other hand, it's the tunes that make them such an exciting proposition. Though they're undeniably a tight live act (and improving all the time), guitarist, singer and songwriter Kate Harkin has seemingly nailed the art of writing anthemic indie-pop at the tender age of 20 - take 'Summit' or 'One Of Two', both obvious hits-in-waiting. Her strong vocal presence characterises their sound - one strongly rooted in female-fronted American indie bands from Throwing Muses to Rilo Kiley, but with a classic English pop twist. At the moment, it seems, Leeds is leading the way in unearthing great new music.
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