It’s not always easy to make electronic music an enjoyable live experience. Once you get to the stage of Daft Punk, you can make up for a robotic stage presence with the greatest pyramid of production you’ve ever seen. If you’re Flume, you get away with it just because the music is so, ridiculously fucking popular. But then there’s the side of electronic music – from the Cut Copys to the Miike Snows – who have made their music work in the live setting by being just that – LIVE.
US indie electro pop duo Capital Cities, who perform as a four piece (soon to be five, as they told us in this interview), are the latest band to fit into this mould. With catchy singles like “Safe and Sound” (which snuck onto X-Factor earlier this week) and “Kangaroo Court” evoking a ‘I totally know this song!’ sentiment, they far from rest on their laurels. Capital Cities have created an engaging, entertaining and tongue and cheek live show, with a sound that sits them closer to their French contemporaries, rather than those also coming out of LA.
The set up sees the two leads behind the project doing most of the work, jumping between vocals, guitars, keys, computers and synths – oh and then there’s the synchronized dancing. Their two backing men sit on the bass guitar and the trumpet, the latter of which holds a huge presence throughout the set. They work together well, though the live drums they promise later this year will certainly add another layer to it all. And that in itself kind of sums up the band in a nutshell. They remain a relatively young live project and it would be safe to assume that their live show will only get better as they get more popular and have more budget to swing around. As fun as it is, it definitely needs an extra ingredient to really tighten it all up.
The set focused on their debut album In a Tidal Wave of Mystery, which was released in the US earlier this year, though will receive an official release here soon. It’s a set – and an album – that has its highs more often than not, and sets a grounded medium for the rest of the show. Even when at its least interesting, their music is fun to listen to and surely gets the feet tapping. But it’s those highs that really get things moving, such as “Farrah Fawcett Hair”, with a breakdown that could have easily made its way onto the Great Gatsby Soundtrack. They snuck in a few covers, too, like Madonna’s “Holiday”, which went down the treat, as did their own single “Safe and Sound”, which was played twice – once as a band and then again as a remix when they’d finished up to get everyone dancing, throwing their shirts in the air. I didn’t realise we’d come to party rock… but alas, there you go. Good times? Good times.
Oh and their retro jackets complete with Capital Cities branding? Nice touch. These guys are definitely going to be a band to look out for as they continue to make waves on the world stage. It was a pleasure getting to experience their unique take on the world of electronic music in such an intimate setting. Next time they’ll likely be upgrading their presence substantially…
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