- Independent UK Promoting

COG Review - 5/9/09 (Underground Railroad/Work)

Club Night Review

Saturday 5^th September at the Lexington

Bands: Underground Railroad, Work

As watching the infamous ‘2 girls 1 cup’ video will prove, shit happens. In the case of Club COG’s September club night, the doodoo took the form of two imaginatively named bands: Sharks and Le Shark. No, they don’t tour together. No, they don’t go into Chinese restaurants together and order an ‘Us-fin soup’ then giggle like imbeciles. They do, however, cancel gigs at the last minute together, proving that sometimes the shit doesn’t happen. They were probably double-booked for the Most Pretentious Student Band awards, with both being nominated for the top prize before losing out to the Indelicates.

However, never has a cancellation lead to such a positive outcome. They were replaced by an extra long set from no less than Work. The simply dressed, understated and incredibly classy foursome were long overdue a return to the COG stage. For the uninitiated, they’re like old-school Coldplay – if Coldplay were driving, pounding, sincere and incredibly talented.

The general concern after having seen an exceptionally promising band play five song sets over the course of a year is that they went through a creative blitz but their new material doesn’t reach the same level. With Work, those fears were smothered with a pillow, shot, then laid to rest during 45 minutes of future hit after future hit. Some recognised Work staples like ‘Puzzle Pieces’ and ‘Aim to Please’ sandwiched a number of new tracks. The blend, like the weave on Elton John’s bonce, was seamless.

Indeed, Work’s new songs merely underline their quite extraordinary knack for finding the missing hooky tune everyone else seems to miss. They make you wonder how the Script managed to wow industry insiders while they are still under the radar – but only for a few seconds of course, before you conclude that industry insiders are to good music what Sky News is to facts, and that the average person’s ability to absorb crap music is so large that ‘Now That’s What I Call Music!’ is still a profitable compilation.

The four Work members appear as if they were born to play together. There’s a natural tightness and synchronicity that comes with having musicians creating and performing with the same goals in mind, all capable of consistent excellence. If a band’s only as good as their weakest member, then Work are a formidable talent.

The headliners arrived with Work’s final song ‘Brave’ still running through the crowd’s minds. Underground Railroad are a French four-piece with two girls and, if your powers of deduction momentarily fail you, two boys. The first thing to hit you is the impressive noise generated by a band with a cellist. Their sound was epitomised by the song ‘Friends for Freaks’ - lo-fi, messy, organically progressive, and very beautiful. Despite voicing their influences as Velvet Underground and Pixies, elements of post-punk and grunge will draw comparisons with early Biffy Clyro, but for a better fit consider Arcade Fire stripped down to their bare bones then force-fed Sebadoh.

The cello is surprisingly the most stable instrument in Underground Railroad’s structure, anchoring the craziness and providing some semblance of harmony. But what consistent harmony it is. Whether they’re angry or contemplative, they’re always clever, and make full use of the most technically gifted cellist yet seen in an indie band.

And yet it wasn’t the cellist, or the incredibly energetic, screaming and screeching leather-jacketed female guitarist who stole the show. The drummer Raphael Mura is also the lead vocalist, and he gave a virtuoso performance. His pace never let-up, in what was a tremendous individual effort surrounded by bandmates who weren’t far off.

As a rule, experimental foreigners are more miss than hit - for every Antoine De Caunes there’s ten Peter Andres – but Underground Railroad are at the very top of the tree. Their live set was electrifying, and proved for once that a band can follow Work and come out with merit.

Despite only having two bands, this was, so far, one of the best COG nights of the year - proving that quality will outshine quantity every time. I’m off to see if COG can hire double-booked bands sporting trendy marine animal monikers for every show. Until next time,

Muhammad Odeh