Leaves / The Fallout Trust - Night & Day Café - 07.10.05

Brisk sounding and earnest Bowie type vocals proffered by Joe Winter were powerfully ejected from the stage to grab the attention, as the Bristol born, violin featured indie/rock n roll of The Fallout Trust created a stir. Their sound that has evidently been polished by a trip to Berlin’s Hansa studios was noticeable for its compactness, standing out in ‘Before The Light Goes Out’. The septet certainly had understanding, with each musician being locked in their own performance, but the music the created would meet like old friends, with the throbbing percussion of Matt Watson seemingly guiding the way through a disco tainted set.

The cushioning and thoughtful instrumental heavy approach of Icelandic outfit; Leaves offered music to accompany the obvious conjecture of the gatherers, whose mind was churning over the issue of the fact that there was a guitarist missing. Drummer Noi Starn Einarsson commented at the end of the gig that this was merely a temporary arrangement. However, with the Leaves having playing the same venue a few months back, their new look provided a fresh aspect to their sound, illuminating the keyboard element and giving off an even more relaxed feel. This shone out in first album highlight ‘Breathe’, with the roving instrumentals echoing around the sound concealing café.

Of the newer numbers extracted from the ‘Angela Test’ album; ‘The Spell’ stood out, combining the yearning vocals of Arnar Gudjonsson to bring to mind Radiohead with an undercurrent of Sonic Youth. The wandering instrumentals produced in set ender; ‘Shakma’ demonstrates a bolder and more experimental approach to this temporary quartet, bravely sailing into the territory of The Fridge, Four Tet and to a lesser extent M83. This ensured that the band left to a rousing response and more importantly, when they return with a full strength squad they will be welcomed like as though it is return of the prodigal son.

David Adair

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