Photo: Press
Headlining a show as part of this year’s NME Awards shows is no everyday occurrence but for Happyness, they look so in their element, it might as well be. They're taking the future in their stride. A little over half a year since the release of their debut album, tonight they’re playing to full house at Birthdays in Dalston, an audience who, although seemingly a little lethargic, are expectant nonetheless.
Remarkably chilled-out in their stage presence, Happyness intertwine their dreamy indie rock melodies and witty lyrics with strange anecdotes about their day, every now and again humbly remind the audience of their gratitude with a mumbled “thank you, peace and love”.
The band hail from South London, but Happyness owe their sound to the US slacker rock of the 90s blended in with their own brand of 21st Century humour. In 'Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same', they proclaim “the more I talk to you, the more I like my dog, so I’ll take him out”, whereas upbeat crowd-pleaser ‘It’s On You’ says “remember when we broke into the park and you got laid and I watched and you said that was fine.”
There are moments of paired-back reflection too – on the minimalist ballad ‘Lofts’, second vocalist Benji Compston tells of how “There’s something in you, that must be heaven-sent, I was a hell-bent believer until you showed up”.
They finish with the slow shuffle of 'Montreal Rock Band Somewhere', extending it into a crescendo of instrumental frenzy. Although their transitions between songs are a little rough and strange with their murmured and odd quips – at one point singer Johnny Allan begins a story with “earlier today I felt my hair through my t-shirt, like one of those kids’ felt books…” and trails off, leaving us to wonder what could possibly be the punchline of that joke – they’re on their way to becoming a truly solid live act, and the future could well be theirs. Rest assured that indie rock is alive and well.
