Friday 18/12/09 Bombay Bicycle Club @ Koko, Camden

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Though their faces betray the fact, Bombay Bicycle Club stride out on to Koko’s well-trodden stage as though they have been doing this for decades- in fact they are younger than the majority of the people who have come out to see them tonight.

Over 2009 Bombay Bicycle Club have subtly integrated themselves into a tired indie scene and looked every bit the classic male four-piece. However on closer listen there is a lot that differentiates them. Quietly but surely, this band stands out, and it is evident from the atmosphere at Koko that BBC have caused quite a stir.

Sticking for the most part to their admirable debut album, 'I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose' BBC have the kind of appeal that speaks with equal force to the 16-year old kids in the mosh pit, lapping up their first delicious taste of live music and to the late-20-somethings swaying with slightly less vigour at the back. 

In the B-side 'Open House', there is something of the Libertines but without the bullshit, while the achingly lovely 'Dust on the Ground' leans towards the epic sounds of Arcade Fire, without the pretentiousness. This band is straightforward, wise beyond its years, and endearingly gawky all at the same time. 

The first few bass-heavy beats of 'Lamplight' set the scene for a thoroughly brilliant succession of hits. 'Always Like This' gets the audience stomping, jumping and punching the air, the bands music reminding us that indie bands can still be great.

Maybe it’s the way lead singer Jack Steadman curls his spine-tingling vocals around straight-talking lyrics – ‘Now it’s decision time, which one will stay, which one will say goodbye?’ (Magnet) — or perhaps it’s the way the four of them seem to fit together comfortably yet charismatically, like the fingers of a intricately knitted glove, never a stitch out of line. Whatever it is, this band has a rare something to share with us. This beauty is made clear when the venue is hushed into submission by a solo of Steadman’s beautiful baritone as he tackles Loudon Wainwright III’s Motel Blues. 

Unlike some, Bombay Bicycle Club don’t need to dress themselves up in drama, plaster their faces across the tabloids or fling themselves into the crowd in order to get noticed. Their music and their demeanour speaks for itself – this band is going places.