London quintet THE DUKE SPIRIT come highly recommended. Their debut mini-album came out to serious critical acclaim last year (making the dear old NME'S Albums of The Year list among others), while in the interim the band have been gaining their sea legs live on blitzkreig attacks on the same bills as notables British Sea Power and The Vines.
That's the credentials vigouously polished up, then, but - at least on the basis of "Dark Is Light Enough" (your reviewer's first fix) - you can see what the fuss is about.
The byword is urgency here. "Dark Is Light Enough" clocks in at just on that magical three minutes and they waste not a jot of this precious time. Musically, The Duke Spirit are all economical, taut riffage, counterpoint twangy basslines and ( I think) immaculately intertwined, whining vocals from Liela Moss and Luke Ford, occasionally bringing to mind a more laconic Jeff Buckley. The lyrics suggest betrayal ("You think you push it, but you don't touch me at all, between you head is nothing at all") and that drawled "You're in my heart, yeah I know" chorus is spat out with a poisonous combination of distaste and nonchlance. Comparisons are probably odious at this stage, but a few glimpses (Sonic Youth circa "Dirty", early crucial Placebo) poke through.
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Very early days, then, but "Dark Is Light Enough" is good enough to have The Duke Spirit pinned as contenders. Observe with interest.
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