Caught Live: High Places, Gentle Friendly

Tonight the Lexington’s door staff are turning customers away before the supports act’s even tuned up and last night things got a little crazy one Northern Line stop away at the Old Blue Last. It seems London get and want the primal, swirling electronics of High Places. The band’s self-prognosis that they are significantly louder live than on record may be dampened a little by the venue’s limitations but they still give a schooling on how to transfer pure earphone music onto stage.

As per EVERY Upset The Rhythm-promoted show, the supporting cast is worth rushing your dinner for. Banjo Or Freakout – essentially Turin-born, London-based Alessio Natalizia – has garnered a greater reputation for his take on other people’s work than his own and disappointingly tonight it shows. While there’s not much wrong with the organic take on homemade beats and loops, it holds nothing to his work on Burial's ‘Archangel’ or Vampire Weekend's ‘Cape Cod Kwassa’ and rather plods along. Next up however, Gentle Friendly do anything but plod. Sharing Natalizia’s and just about any other interesting band’s love for Animal Collective, the Peckham duo add a heavy dash of No Age-like D.I.Y noise and yes, the results - particularly on ‘Ride Symbols’ - are as thrilling as they sound.

It’s less of a barrage from High Places but the Brooklyn pair are no less engaging. In fact you could happily spend three-quarters of an hour trying to figure out what’s going on with Rob Barber’s intricate looping and percussion set up, were you not being hypotised by the subtleties of ‘A Field Guide’ or ‘From Stardust to Sentience’. While the latter shone from the band’s slow-burner of a debut album, the early seven inch singles of ‘Sandy Feat’ and ‘Head Spins’ remain the live highlights. And sure, it’s a pity Mary Pearson’s sweetly reverbed vocals aren’t a bit louder but it takes nothing away from ensuring High Places become a band to go see every time they’re in town.