Golden Silvers are playing the ICA tonight, and the place is crawling with skinny jeans and wedge haircuts. There is no more versatile venue as the ICA, as it is used to cater for so many forms of art and the air is heavy with the ghosts of inspirations past. As soon as you walk into the theatre – where the stage has been prepared for tonight’s intriguing line-up – you can’t help but surrender yourself to whatever may ensue.
To support the Silvers, The Pipettes and exlovers (lowercase, mind) are putting in their best efforts. The Pipettes are on first, and their high energy glampop is infectious. They have a stage dance routine that is cutesy and flawless and - although the three women don’t seem at ease with each other at all, which may hint at backstage issues - they are determined to ‘do a show’. Their songs are a mix of 50s themes and harmonies with a wink at the traditions of The Vandellas or The Chiffons – complete with a male backing band, 70s disco beats and 80s dress style and energy. A sure recipe for the next Eurovision hit band they certainly are, and it would be a waste not to apply.
exlovers are a five-piece from London, they have not yet been signed, but have recently released a double EP with the label Young and Lost Club, featuring their singles Photobooth and Weightless. They have also previously released their single Just Like a Silhouette with Chess Club Records, so there is clearly keen confidence in their abilities out there.
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There’s really absolutely nothing wrong with exlovers per se. They’re a band of good, solid musicians. Their songs are solid bubblegum indie, and they perform them well, with beautifully intertwining melancholic backing vocals, executed by willowy Peter Laurel Brooke and Chris Danny. They carry a definite resemblance to The Lemonheads, and perhaps even echoes of Prefab Sprout. But with one big difference – they are totally humourless. A million straight lines and no punch line, as they say. Like hot cross buns, they smell good and seem like a good safe idea, but they taste a bit bland and disappointing. If shoe-gazing is the idea here, it’s not quite it, if good indie pop – it misses the mark by inches. And all the time you’re wondering – and?
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