Liverpool Academy, 16 October 2007

A few months back I received an album to review by a Swedish band called Loney, Dear. For want of a better description, it’s an indie pop-rock album, with the emphasis on pop. The album contained some of the most mesmerising melodies and vocal harmonies I’ve heard, while at times it proved to be quite moving. So, inevitably, I just had to catch a live performance by the band, if for nothing else but to see if the band could reproduce their studio sound on stage. On this occasion the band was supporting Athlete, a band I first saw play right here in Wrexham about four years ago when the guys were toilet-touring. The band has just released its third album which I found quite disappointing, and a little confusing especially coming after the last release which I thought was exceptional.

But first up was a band I can only describe as a karaoke pub band whose name deserts me (unsurprisingly). Dull as dish water, the crowd seemed to like them. But I also found the performance quite funny, especially when the lead guy/vocalist/drummer thanked all and sundry including parents, roadies, soundmen… and Athlete ‘for inviting them along’ – seriously!

Emil Svanängen started out recording his own songs at home, and this new album contains his several of his older songs with band members added. When the tall and slightly rotund Emil arrived on stage, he looked more like a university lecturer than a pop musician. His drummer, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and bassist looked more like students. So, an odd looking bunch, and for the first few songs they sounded like an odd sounding bunch. But then the album opener, ‘Sinister In A State Of Mind’, rang out and everything seemed to click into place. It was fabulous and for anyone yet to buy the album (LONEY NOIR) just one reason to buy it. The band’s sound is quite unique – it’s sort of Bee Gees meets Elliott Smith meets Beach Boys meets Sparklehorse meets Flaming Lips meets Grandaddy… ‘I Am John (from the album) was also performed, accompanied by some of the most acutely accurate set of vocal harmonies I’ve heard, and by this time the audience were onside and enthusiastic in their acclaim. Another highlight was the beautiful ‘Carrying A Stone’ with its relentless pace and stupendous melody.

The final song, ‘Saturday Waits’, (also from the album) was dramatically changed for the show in that ‘nan na na’ harmonies replaced the lyrics proper, and it turned out to be the most epic set closer. I was blown away by a performance that was not helped by the Liverpool Academy’s rather suspect acoustics. The band had reprised as many of the songs from the album that they could squeeze into a short thirty-minute set, and as a result I suspect many would have assaulted the merch stand to grab a copy of it.

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I remember seeing Athlete perform several years ago at our local, humble live venue, and thinking that there was something about the band that distinguished them from the rest. But, for me, it was by the second album TOURIST that the band’s qualities really started to shine through. The band’s third album, BEYOND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, has just been released and has failed to impress. Now whether it was the venue’s lousy sound quality or the band being somewhat off-song I don’t know but I have to report that Athlete were not at their best, in fact far from it. Lead man/vocalist Joel Pott sounded awfully off-key as he launched into ‘Hurricane’, ‘Tokyo’ from the new album, and ‘Tourist’. At which point I retreated to the back of the venue to see if the sound would improve. Well it did but only marginally.

More new album tracks were unleashed in ‘Airport Disco’ and ‘Hurricane’ which underlined for me that the new album is just too pedestrian to generate creative waves. Next came an older favourite in ‘Yesterday Threw Everything At Me’ before lapsing into new song ‘This Is What I sound Like’ – old focusing attention on the weakness of the new… ‘Half Light’ from TOURIST gave way to ‘Westside’ from the second album and generated another roof-lifting vocal effort from the sell-out audience. Next came ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ and a more contemplative ‘The Outsiders’ from the new album, followed by a favourite from TOURIST in the lovely ‘Wires.’ Shake Those Windows’ ended the set to another round of massive applause and of course, demands for an encore.

After a short instrumental intro, and sounding a lot better, the band launched into arguably the best song off the new album, ‘Second Hand Stores’, reinforced by older favourites ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Twenty-Four Hours.’ There can be no arguing that the band enjoys a substantial, older fan base and they loved the show. But my stars for the night were Loney, Dear who surprised and delighted a largely unsuspecting audience.