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It’s not every artist that garners praise from Van Dyke Parks, best known for his collaborations with Brian Wilson. But then, it doesn’t take long to work out that Paul Steel and his backing band are just that little bit different. In an era where male solo artists are dominated by drippy young men with acoustic guitars, Steel is a delight. And bonkers to go with it. He, and his five piece backing band (which features alongside the traditional guitar bass and drums two female backing vocalists who also play kazoo and flute at some points) simply produce music that is like the entire 1960’s being merged into one fearsome creature.
At heart, Steel is still a pop artist though. With nearly every song being lifted from new album Moon Rock, the man’s talent is obvious. Opener ‘I’m In A Coma’ is blaring power pop that calls to mind the Polyphonic Spree, only without so many folk on stage, and ‘Oh No, Oh Yeah’ is equally addictive, a piece of glorious, soaring pop and dreamy harmonies. Although occasionally hampered by problems with the backing vocals, for the most part Steel and his crew are able to overcome this and produce tunes that seem to have been lifted from Phil Spector‘s studio, such is their vast wall of sound.
Certainly, Steel himself has all the makings of not just a pop artist but a cult figure too, firstly appearing with a large woolly hat covering most of his face before discarding it, letting his hair hang down over his face while he hums into the microphone. The concluding psyadelic freak out of ‘Ray Gun’ sees some 1950’s science fiction serial sound effects added to the mix, with the whole band wildly losing the plot, and Steel in particular twirling across the stage like someone has wound up a switch in his back and let go. It’s a manic end to a fine showcase.
While Paul Steel is full of youthful energy, the Electric Soft Parade have been around so long it’s easy to forget that they too are still only in their 20’s. It has been a tough road for brothers Alex and Tom White since 2004’s debut 'Holes In The Wall' thrust them upon the indie scene with its sumptuous arrangements and catchy pop. Follow-up An American Adventure bombed, and forced them into hiding, with the brothers side-project Brakes seemingly lapping their main job.
Tonight’s gig, the first of the tour, sees a few changes with both a new drummer and the band also now adding a projector behind them, which flashes various images up as they play. Rather inevitably, there’s a cock-up with it halfway through, forcing the band to finally speak and admit they were aiming to not utter a word throughout the gig. New album 'No Need To Be Downhearted' is played from beginning to end before a sprinkling of old favourites occurs in the encore, which has its good and bad moments.
‘Shore Song’ stands out, a brisk portion of wide screen pop, while ‘Cold World’ is a more destructive, grandiose post rock number that builds into a sensational torrent of noise. And ’Silent To The Dark’ still sounds as fresh and superb as always, even with a rockier feel to it live. Playing the whole album straight through does have its difficulties though, quashing any surprise at what might be coming up and leaving the crowd slightly deflated. Some of their loud, loud and then louder moments are too earnest, turning into waves of noise but lacking much in the way of a tune.
Luckily, the Electric Soft Parade just about have enough to get by and turn the gig into a success, with ‘Beating Heart’ showing just what they’re good at, melody, noise and quirkiness meshing together to create songs that are different yet also poppy. They may have been around for quite a while, but hopefully Electric Soft Parade aren’t anywhere near the end of the road yet.
