Unfinished Business

White Lies
HMV Oxford, January 20

White Lies in-store tonight in Oxford Circus. Such a lovely experience after the interminable and unprofessional Pete gig; the band came on at precisely 6, there were no frightening/shrieking/lengthy openers, no insane half hour break, no deranged woman with a glass of wine, and no ceiling that dripped on me. The band played an incredibly short set, about six songs, since it was just an instore, then did a signing (I got a signed vinyl of their new single).


We were much closer than these pictures suggest.

Set list:
To Lose My Life
Fifty on our Foreheads
Death
The Price of Love
Unfinished Business
E.S.T.

For such a young band (all 19 or 20), they put on a great show. Really tight playing, although it's slightly confusing that they have a fourth member who only plays live. Also one of the universally best looking bands I've seen in a while, not that you can really tell from the pictures. We were actually pretty close, just at a weird angle. Set highlights were a speedy version of death Death (the closer), To Lose My Life, and a synthy take on Unfinished Business, but all the songs sounded great. They're actually slightly more energetic live, which improves some of the tracks that come across a little slow on the album.

The hype around the band is understandable, they're incredibly polished live, down to their all-black clothes. Nick Cave and Mark Ronson have checked out their gigs recently, and magazines are hyping them up with comparisons to Echo and the Bunnymen, Interpol, Editors and (of course, given Harry McVeigh's flat, cynical voice) Joy Division. Their lyrics lean more toward Echo than the claustrophobically personal/unintelligible sort of stuff Interpol puts out, with McVeigh intoning epic lines like "Let's grow old together/and die at the same time." I'd call them a slightly happier Interpol, with shades of The Killers, especially in the practically Brandon Flowers-tribute stage presence of the lead singer.

Basically, the hype is deserved and To Lose My Life is a great album, so go download it if you like gloomy, epic synth rock.




Not mine obviously, just a decent one of the singer that isn't weirdly grainy.

Music today: To Lose My Life- White Lies