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The Joy Formidable may be a far cry from tonight’s headliners Passion Pit and their falsetto pop charm but they certainly share with them a certain obsession for sonic perfection evident from both bands’ sets this evening. Are we discounting too much the input of Koko’s huge soundsystem and their Darth Vader’s Bathroom mixing desk?

Perhaps but we’ll go with the bands this evening as it’s them we’re here to see. But well done Mr sound man/men! Not to be sexist in the previous choice of words but have you ever seen a female sound engineer at a gig? Anyway I digress.

The Joy Formidable are far from tour shy, they have been traipsing up and down the country with relentless momentum since and indeed before the release of their well received debut album ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’ earlier this year. And boy does it show!

Singles ‘Austere’ and ‘Cradle’ are heavy but euphoric as are a lot of their melancholic epics. While ‘The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade’ sees the band throw a little bit of synth into the equation too. Take that Passion Pit! Ok if they can’t win on the synth claims this evening then they certainly take the prize for the best drummer of the night in Matt Thomas while the bleach blonde Ritzy also gives Mr Angelakos a run for intensity albeit a far more wide eyed and sinister kind. She looks like she could see into your soul with those eyes. We wouldn’t lie to her!

The Joy Formidable create a sound that was made to be played over these kind of speakers and in these kind of venues. ‘Whirring’ closes their set with a glorious fit of ordered mayhem. One day they’ll be back to rule this roost.

For Fans Of: Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, School Of Seven Bells.

mp3: The Joy Formidable – Whirring

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