Traditionally a spell in limbo, the time between Christmas and New Year can be rather strange. Family members come and go, some folk take festive holidays while others try to recover from the self-inflicted excess. There are no rules for the most part, so it's a credit to De Barra's that they can slot such a quality double-header into the heart of such a transitional period.
Both IAN WHITTY & THE EXCHANGE and ARMOURED BEAR have weighed in with notable debut albums this year, so it's looking good from the off. W&H have been enthusing about Ian Whitty & The Exchange's 'The Lucky Caller No.9' of late and tonight they're keen to grasp the nettle and show us exactly why it continues to sound like one of the best Irish indie albums in recent years.
They open with a hungry and dramatic 'While The Drunken Jailor Sleeps' and immediately set the tone for the evening. The sound is rich and full and it's exhilarating to hear the band's snappy indie guitar sound augmented by Aisling Fitzpatrick's graceful cello and Luke Cosgrave's inventive violin. The Exchange are a fine, all-round unit these days, though, and in drummer Anthony Noonan and the Rahilly brothers Flor (guitar) and Paddy (bass), Ian Whitty has assembled a team fired up by intuition and verve. All make telling contributions – from Luke's finger-plucked violin heralding 'The Family Is Still Young' to Flor's E-bow guitar motif powering a terse 'Bought & Sold' – and between them are ensuring The Exchange are one of the most emotive and versatile bands out there right now.
They're a great vehicle for Whitty's resonant songs of love, hope and heartache. Often underscored by a burning desire to escape and threaded through with neat and poetic lyrical twists, Whitty's songs are resonant and personal and delivered with drama to spare by their charismatic creator. Some of them are keen to give in to temptation ('Houndstooth Shirt') while others, like the crestfallen 'The Family Is Still Young' (“a calculator could not count the steps this family has climbed”) are tinged with sadness and regret, but all are distinctive and memorable. Ian clearly has an ear for radio-friendly should-be-hits, too: witness the jaunty, handclap-friendly 'Not On Your Side' and the strident 'Houndstooth Shirt' which tonight segues cheekily into a breakneck version of The Smiths' 'Frankly, Mr. Shankly.' They bring it all together for the bittersweet pop punch of the closing 'City Friend' and leave us in no doubt that they are in this business for the long haul.
But while Ian Whitty & The Exchange is certainly a name to conjure with, so too is local boy Anthony Noonan. Tonight, he has a foot in both camps, as he swaps his drumsticks for guitar and the centre stage mic with ARMOURED BEAR and proceeds to make us marvel once more.
This writer must confess relative prior ignorance of the Bear, having only previously witnessed a few minutes of their music in a live setting. Very quickly, this proves to have been a grave error of judgement as opening tune 'Faster' quietly weaves a supple and joyful spell, with Anthony and Liam Ahern's guitar mesh owing as much as to the Bhundu Boys as any regulation modern indie outfit. As if to acknowledge this, Anthony slips a snatch of Paul Simon's 'Me & Julio Down By The School Yard' into the song's lyric before it winds down.
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It's a great start and again it introduces a nicely-weighted set full of welcome, melodic surprises. Armoured Bear are clearly comfortable in their skin and again display an intuitive streak which is a joy to behold. Anthony and Liam's guitars weave a subtle, layered web throughout, while bassist John Fitzgerald plays with the melodic versatility of a young Andy Rourke and perma-smiling drummer Laurie Hedger is another real find, playing a busy hi-hat and bringing a crisp, reggae-style sensibility to the band's approach.
Collectively, it ensures many of their songs swing by like a lovely, late summer breeze, with the likes of 'Sunburnt' and the waltz-style lullaby of 'Honeycomb Moons' sounding especially dreamy and seductive. This isn't to suggest Armoured Bear are afraid to show their teeth occasionally, though. With its' strategic vocal samples, the sardonic and boss-hating 'Devil In Me' and the determined assault of 'Fall' (with its' hypnotic “you must give it to me!” chorus to ram it home) are steely, quirky indie-pop at its' best and boast hooks which lodge in your brain long after the fact.
With camaraderie riding high, The Exchange pile onto the stage to join them for a spirited, if slightly ragged cover of Bob Marley's 'No Woman, No Cry' before the Bear wind it down with a sparse and bewitching new tune ending in Anthony fiddling with his FX and setting up a scree of feedback. It's a jarring surprise, yet somehow a fitting conclusion to a life-affirming evening which suggests that – at its' best - independent guitar music still has the backbone to survive these trying times if it holds its' head high and does its' own thing regardless. Let that be a lesson for 2009.
(http://www.ianwhitty.net )
(http://www.myspace.com/armouredbear )
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