More from Liverpool Sound City, Saturday the 22nd.

MORNING PARADE
O2 Academy 2

MORNING PARADE; a band of growing reputation, of an understated indie charm and a perhaps worrying, passing likeness to latter day Coldplay. They were also at the O2 Academy on a balmy Saturday night, entertaining a modest but appreciative crowd, in support of Sunshine Underground. They line-up as a 5-piece in the traditional sense, encompassing a keyboardist within the ranks and together play rock of a gentle nature. Their sound, though not likely to provoke a mosh-pit any time soon, is decidedly more upbeat than the aura of the band would suggest. Aesthetically, there is nothing remarkable about them; all jacket and jean-clad lads and it's fair to extend this to say that this isn't a show that will immediately grab the attention. What they do have though in songs such as Headlights are signs of potential. A slow-burner it may be but this one doesn't seem to dawdle like some of the others and within it the band seem to have found a formula for letting the subtleties of their ideas through. Accidents and Emergencies is another that evokes interest, simply through being a nice tune with a lovely sweeping chorus, giving further reason to believe that Morning Parade may be one worth further investigation. The problem they have though is that at times they do sound somewhat sparse and when this happens the melody suffers, as if they somehow don't quite make enough of the tools at their disposal.