math: WAS + LC = Damn Good
GOING OUT TONIGHT
Two Acts You Gotta See!
by Nick Parker
by Nick Parker
Tonight at The Middle East
It’s a little surprising to realize that We Are Scientists have been around for a decade. Their buoyant sound seems very contemporary to a scene they share with bands like The Wombats and Art Brut. In a year dominated by releases from dour acts like The National (a great band, of course, but they can hardly be called carousing), WAS are fighting for our right to hold a wide grin on our faces as we listen to music. Their new album Barbara carries you along on a bright wave. The hilarious video for second single “Nice Guy” sums up well why this band is worth seeing when they play tonight.
WAS is supported by an equally exciting solo act from London. Lightspeed Champion’s new and debut albums made my best of the year list this year and last.
Tonight at The Middle East
Lightspeed is the stage name of Dev Hynes’s, a singer-songwriter whose hard-core album with Test Icicles some years ago was really seminal. Dev really threw me for a loop though when he released the first Lightspeed record a couple of years ago – a collection of emotionally charged but delicately orchestrated ballads that really got under my skin. The new album which this tour supports, “Life is Sweet, Nice to Meet You” is similarly eccentric and moving in turns. Dev is one of the best young British song-writers out there at the moment, and seeing him alone at this gig is worth the price of admission.
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