Japandroids @ ICA, 23/02/2010
This week Canadian noise punk duo Japandroids continued their mammoth hoping tour in support of 2009’s excellent LP ‘Post Nothing’ with a sold out gig at London’s ICA.
Japandroids took to the stage amid huge measures of sonic distortion and crowd anticipation then tore through their album ‘Post Nothing’ at break neck speed. They thrashed out the life affirming ‘Wet Hair’, ‘The Boys are Leaving Town’, and ‘Rockers East Vancouver’ with the same level of sweaty enthusiasm they receive from the crowd. New material was also aired, notably ‘Body Bag’, a song we are told may be new to us – but is old for the band.
Brian King (guitars / vocals) and David Prowse (drums / vocals) make an incredibly dense, melodic and above all choke-holdingly loud sound for only two people. They also took obvious pleasure in playing the show. Brian banters with the crowd between each tune, at one point telling us, he doesn’t know what time curfew is but Japandroids will play until they are thrown out. An ill advised heckler is met with an invitation to take to the stage only to be made to dive off and then be held aloft for an entire song - with encouragement for the London crowd to beat Montreal’s record of 4 mins of forced crowd surfing.
Japnadroids are a wake up call to any band that wants to attempt to cause a ripple of energy and excitement when connecting with a crowd. Quite simply they are one of the best live bands playing out as a new decade begins.
Words and pictures by David Sutheran.
