Love Shack Baby!
Outside the temperature is freezing, but inside the Shacklewell is warm. Not because somebody is desperately burning anything that’s flammable like those kids trapped in the library in The Day After Tomorrow, but because on stage, The Proper Ornaments are cavorting through blissful psychedelia so neatly that everyone is half convinced that they’re skipping through meadows like a fully-paid up member of the Summer of Love rather than shivering in the back room of a Dalston pub.
One of London’s best kept secrets, The Proper Ornaments have been brewing away under the surface of the capital’s indie scene for a couple of years now. I first saw them playing the Stag’s Head back when everyone was in the middle of the surf-rock craze. A duo made up of Max Clapps and James Hoare who are sort of like a modern day Jan and Dean, I remember hearing the jangly, quintessentially British guitar pop, complete with snare drum covered with what looked like a granny scarf, and thinking ‘wow, these guys get it’.
Well, it looks like the world has finally cottoned on. Always a bit sporadic in their output, mainly due to the fact that James is also in Veronica Falls, they released a five-track self-titled EP back at the tail end of last year, and everybody has been nuts for them ever since. Now a proper Hackney supergroup with Jerry Tropicano on bass and Let’s Wrestle frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzales, their high-wire trapeze act between Syd Barret-esque psych-rock and REM-style indie rock has been getting plenty of people both here, on the internet, and in the proper media properly bloody excited.
If I’m being pedantic, while the band’s ‘60s influenced guitar pop is completely faultless, you get a feeling that they haven’t quite practiced as much as they’d have liked to tonight. Throughout the set, they have to remind others how the songs go, cues are missed and songs sort of peter out as someone forgets how the outro goes.
On any normal night, this would be a complete disaster, but showing off the professionalism that comes with having five talented and experienced musicians in your band, the Ornament’s refuse to panic and plough through it regardless. With their easy charm and lovely sounding music, it’s easy to forgive the odd hiccup when the results are so spectacular.
As the band’s last song comes crashing to an end, I get the impression that I’ve just witnessed something very special. Yeah, it was a little rough round the edges here and there, but with their combination of gentle pop, sighing guitar melodies and clever percussion, The Proper Ornaments are a group that just suck you in with sheer aura alone. I honestly can’t wait to hear more!
The Proper Ornament's self titled EP is out now on No Pain In Pop
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