The Duke Spirit

• Posted: Wed 23 Feb 2011
• By: nats

Paul Knight

Some things just work... jeans and t-shirts... fish and chips. They’re not hugely imaginative, but they’re a proven success, even if they fail to scream and shout to grab your attention.

You might wonder where I’m going with this (and I am beginning to have my doubts myself), all I’m trying to voice is that tonight’s gig was good, I really enjoyed it. However, what it probably won’t do is attract any new Duke Spirit fans, or make a big impact on an already saturated indie scene.

Unfortunately, for support band Tape the Radio this also seemed the case. Tape the Radio have a good strong sound - a little formulaic for my liking - their soaring vocals drove their very commercial-sounding indie anthems, but for me their songs failed to really go anywhere, in the sense that you were waiting for something else to be added. They seemed a little samey, but perhaps this a harsh criticism seeing as I only managed to catch 4 songs from their set.

So, would The Duke Spirit come on stage and wow me out of my subdued state? Umm they did wake me up a little.

Actually that’s really unfair as Leila Moss always manages to grab my attention... I just want to be her. Her bewitching stage presence didn’t falter during any moment of their performance, even when her lush vocals got a little drowned by the guitar and bass. The new songs that they did showcase – Red Weather, Northbound and Hello to the Floor − were intermingled between tracks from both previous albums, and didn’t seem that far removed from their already winning formula.

Cuts Across the Land and Neptune have already asked, ‘Why are this band not more successful?’ and I’m not sure if yet another example of their hypnotic, bluesy indie sound will attract further attention.