Timing is everything. I'd not really paid much attention to the fact Everything Everything were playing Stereo in York. Then at lunchtime on the day of he gig, I received a text from a mate asking if I fancied going. I agreed. If he'd contacted me any later, I would have made other plans.
On arrival at the venue, I was genuinely surprised to see just how busy it was. There were people - lots of people, especially for such a tiny place - with tickets, waiting for the doors to open. I got a pint and waited for my mates in the front bar and was beginning to get fidgety, but they arrived and we paid and minutes later the sold-out sign was on the door. Again, great timing!
The Shadracks turned in a lively and entertaining set of extremely proficient upbeat and intelligently structured indie pop. Welded tightly together by some seriously impressive drumming (and an extremely dedicated bassist, who didn't miss a note despite gouts of blood from an open wound in his hand smearing his fretboard), they succeeded in getting the crowd going, and were good fun.
By the time Everything Everything took the stage, there was barely room to breathe, let alone move, and the air of expectation was tangible. From the few tracks I had heard on their MySpace page before leaving, it was immediately apparent that their live sound is much denser, more solid, than that created in the studio. It was also immediately apparent that this is a band with a captivating stage presence.
The bassist, Jeremy, may have gurned and winced his way through the set with an array of pained expressions approximating someone with constipation struggling to take a dump, but it's Jonathan's wildly eccentric vocals that demand all the attention from the off. Yes, the material's good, but his incredible delivery, and breathtaking vocal control, which sees him shift from a baritone to a falsetto in the click of a high-hat (I have to keep looking to see that the drummer is human: Mike has the precision of a machine, with the added bonus of intuition and texture). I can't recall having ever witnessed such vocal acrobatics , although the closest comparison I can think of is the late, great Billy Mackenzie of The Associates, purveyors of a similarly off-the-wall brand of electro-pop.
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The new single, the re-released 'My KZ, YR BF' is absolutely brilliant, a shiny pop gem but as quirky as hell as the same time. Herein lies the reason Everything Everything are destined for stratospheric success: not only have they got the backing of Geffen and the support of Radio 1, but they have a wealth of material that's laden with hooks and has truly massive commercial appeal, while also being highly distinctive, and of a rare quality. Ordinarily, a band like this wouldn't be my thing (by which I mean a quicrky pop act: there is no other band quite loike this), but I'd have to be deaf not to find the appeal here, and they efficiently and effortlessly dispatch a set that is nothing short of stunning.
The three-way harmonies are astounding, and Everything Everything blended not only their voices but manifold elements of electro, indie and pop with unswerving confidence from start to finish.
Having been shortlisted at the end of 2009 by the BBC as one of the fifteen bands who would encapsulate the 'sound of 2010,' their time is now. Riding on the crest of the 80s electro revival, they couldn't have timed it better, but more than this, Everything Everything bring something new and entirely fresh to the retro-themed party.
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