O Children at XOYO

O Children at XOYO

24 March, 2011
by: Uckfield99

Image isn't everything, oh wait...

Taking their name from a Nick Cave song, O Children are clearly fans of all things edgy and noir. They're also very much part of the East London hipster new wave. That they rather resemble a Topman advert only adds to the suggestion that, amid the tight-ass jeans and gawping stares, there's not much divergence from the norm going on here. Apart from their extremely tall frontman, that is...

Anyway, commencing the night at XOYO are synth-laden noir-pop types, John and Jen. Alice Glass comparisons are inevitable, but seeing this young lady (who I assume is Jen) cavort on stage with the same erratic and angular spasms as the Crystal Castles frontlady, they're hard to avoid. The band regularly swap instruments and vocal priorities, which is all very well, but doesn't always work out perfectly.

From here it's on to The Chapman Family, and the words of frontman Kingsley Chapman – “this is a song about murdering babies” – before they dive headlong into eruptive waves of psychedelic peaks. This morbid, blubbering Stockton on Tees band show hints of rousing potential, primarily when their hazardous noise reaches strobe-coated crests of psych-core insanity.

As a band who only released their debut album a couple of weeks ago, things have been picking up for the Chapman lads. Their blending of slumbering gloom-rock, fused with traces of ebullient post-punk, gives them an added push, like a Chapel Club with balls. Upon closing their set, Kingsley mock-hangs himself with the mic chord, and the reverb disintegrates until O Children appear and things get even moodier.

The concrete posture of these half-arsed goths is part and parcel of this Bunnymen-Joy Division class of Shoreditch. Since early last year the likes of S.C.U.M, Chapel Club, Red Drapes and ROMANCE crept from under the market stalls like migrating sons of Curtis, crooning moodily over static guitars and haunting synths. But most have failed to snap with the jaws of conviction, leaving us content that Faris Badwan’s throne is still untouched.

But O Children have a secret weapon: frontman, Tobi O’Kandi, who towers over his bandmates by a good foot. He’s a big dude with a voice to match. During the throb of ‘Malo’ his immersed drone is so monotonously lengthy that it beings to echo in its own depth, before ‘Dead Disco Dancer’ continues down the alley of dark deeds.

At points I feel like maybe I’m missing something vital. All this dark-tinged Noughties post-punk just feels a little humdrum. So while O Children pulsate through shadows with the ringing of ‘The Killing Moon’ still bouncing around their heads, O’Kandi’s almost-captivating presence does at least elevate them towards the more excitable spectrum of this scene.

Click here to see all London live music
Click here for London gigs
Click here for things to do in London

Uckfield99