Diamond Rings/Picture Book/Organ Freeman

DIAMOND RINGS
Picture Book – Organ Freeman
Mello Mello

Calling your band ORGAN FREEMAN does denote a certain sense of fun and perhaps a light-hearted outlook on the world of music. Unless of course this is pure coincidence and these boys haven't even heard of the Andy Dufresne and his pal 'Red', never mind watched a mid-nineties crime-thriller starring Brad Pitt. But no, it seems the former is more accurate as the band spend the ten minutes immediately preceding the show blowing up loads of those balloons that have lights inside them and glow, before dispersing them into the crowd. The all-male group then marched on, sans-instruments to form an inward-facing triangle in front of the stage. Honourable mention should also go a this stage to the fact that they were kitted-out in '80's Gary Lineker/Alan Partridge shorts, white sports socks and what can only be described as crop-tops. So as far as fun goes, they were setting the bar pretty high and what's remarkable is that this energy and exuberance actually carried over into the songs. And what's even more remarkable is that nobody got hurt. A novelty act they may be but what are live music shows all about if not to entertain? Entertain they certainly did.

Entering the stage next were PICTURE BOOK, a three-piece of unusual geographical origin, hailing from Liverpool, New York and in the case of lead singer Greta Svabo Bech, The Faroe Islands. Seeming a touch nervous to begin with, the band soon found themselves and moved through the gears of their homemade electro-pop repertoire. Like Organ Freeman before them, they were also about the visuals and almost managed to be as busy to look at as. Their brand of synth groove is fairly sedate in essence however, certainly containing more of the 'morning after' than the 'night before'. The likes of Love Lane and All The Way have a lot to offer by way of chill-out, sunshine pop and through some strong basslines combined with Bech's soothing vocals, they have found themselves a musical identity. Where they do come unstuck though is when it comes to a 'plan B'. There is a feeling of the songs bleeding into each other, particularly with the penultimate and final songs Sunshine and Explosions and this does leave the performance feeling a little flat. Talented musicians they undoubtedly are though and it may simply be that they are in need of direction, torn, as they seem at the moment between their individual, varied musical loves.

Finally, it was the turn of Toronto's DIAMOND RINGS to take to the stage. This is one man with a lot of energy and some very tight clothes. Describing his own music as 'melodramatic popular song', you can add 'self-aware' to this list of descriptors. With a musical education sitting slap bang in the 1980s, Diamond Rings offer bouncy and often joyous-sounding pop with a slightly darker undertone. Interestingly though, a couple of the tracks in the middle of the set brought to mind Room On Fire era The Strokes both vocally and in the lo-fi beats of John O's synthesiser. What Diamond Rings does lack though is the strong vocals to really carry the limited support said synthesiser offers. On top of this although, the was melodrama it came in the form throwaway, often flimsy choruses. If this sounds like it was made in a bedroom at three in the morning, its probably because it was. John O has ambition, charisma and to some degree talent but he is sadly lacking in musical scope.