The Camden Crawl - an inthenews.co.uk preview
Tuesday, 15 Apr 2008 14:43
The Camden Crawl - two unmissable nights
For two nights in April, north London district Camden - hardly a stranger to regular gigs - will be overrun by skinny jeans on both sexes, men whose style debt to Noel Fielding practically screams from every stitch of their outfit, queues stretching around every corner of NW1 and, most importantly, some of the best up and coming bands in Britain as the Camden Crawl returns.
From big-hitters like the Fratellis and Enter Shikari - whose secret show was only just announced - to rising stars like Johnny Foreigner and Ida Maria, the Crawl sees 130 acts performing at 25 different Camden venues. Whether at legendary pubs such as the Good Mixer, Dingwalls and the Dublin Castle - alas, no Hawley Arms at this year's Crawl after the fire that dilapidated much of the district - to towering venues such as the Electric Ballroom and Koko, the Crawl promises to showcase acts who will flood 'ten acts to watch' lists in the coming months as well as providing rapturously-received shows from bands who made their name in north London's pubs and clubs.
inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley looks at some of the highlights of this year's lineup.
A former member of Test Icicles, Dev Hynes quit that awfully-named act for one with a… well, marginally better moniker, to form Lightspeed Champion. With country-infused melodies that whisk the listener away to the deep South, masking bitter, insecure lyricism, he can't be missed..
To read the inthenews.co.uk review of Lightspeed Champion's debut album, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, click here
UPDATE
Dev Hynes has since been forced to pull out of the Crawl after being hospitalised in Switzerland with a tooth infection that spread throughout his body.
Hailing from Toronto, electro duo Crystal Castles have already impacted on UK culture by soundtracking an emotional scene in the second series of Skins, while their undulating Air War has been used by enterprising YouTubers for a redux version of the Sony Bravia advert previously backed by Jose Gonzalez's Heartbeats. And after prolifically remixing the likes of Bloc Party and Klaxons, the pair are to release their self-titled debut on April 28th, packed full of innovative, electronic wonder.
Check out the video for their bewitching track Magic Spells below:
Reading upstarts Does It Offend You, Yeah? will unleash their raucous electro-rock (To read the inthenews.co.uk review of DIOYY's recent Manchester show, click here), while Norwegian chanteuse Ida Maria brings her icy indie to the fore - take a look at her fantastic single Oh My God below:
Johnny Foreigner are hugely promising Brummie youngsters, reminiscent of the Pixies and Sonic Youth, (To read the inthenews.co.uk review of Our Bipolar Friends, click here), and Los Campesinos! are a lot less exotic than their name suggests, being a Cardiff-based seven piece who sing with sugar-infused influence about adolescence - To read the inthenews.co.uk review of debut album Hold On Now Youngster, click here
The ridiculously-young Noah and the Whale will preview their new single Shape of My Heart with a set that promises impressive musical dexterity and possibly a Laura Marling.
To read the inthenews.co.uk review of the band's recent show at London's Koko, click here
Even more annoyingly youthful are One Night Only, who might find the judgemental Camden crowds unreceptive to their chart-friendly U2-flavoured indie (To read the inthenews.co.uk review of their debut Started A Fire, click here), while Antipodean charmers Operator Please have made the unlikely journey from triumph in a school talent contest to success in the US Billboard chart.
Royworld provide anthemic and complex piano rock while, having dented the charts, Sam Sparro brings his shockingly-cool, genre-spanning dance to northwest London.
Check out the video for Sam Sparro's recent smash hit Black and Gold below:
80s-influenced White Lies promise a mesh of Echo and the Bunnymen and Tears for Fears, Soko seems like Kate Nash armed with a pack of Gauloises and Parisian ennui and the Ghost Frequency are markedly more raucous and have loveably-lengthy song titles such as Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive That Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton. Catchy.
Finally, having been named alongside Adele, Duffy, MGMT and Santogold as ones the bands to watch in 2008, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong have a chance to live up to the hype. And even if they don't, audiences can at least enjoy watching a band fronted by Sophie's painfully-awkward brother from Peep Show.
Check out the Lonely Buoy video below:
And, in a brief selection of the best of the rest, keep an eye out for rising soul man Natty, dreamy French electro from M83, and chart-topping power pop from Robyn.
Lewis Bazley
Check out the lineup in full below
Both days:
Answering Machine
Bobby Cook
Boy Kill Boy
Cage The Elephant
Thecocknbullkid
Creepy Morons
Crystal Castles
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Elle s'appelle
Fanfarlo
Florence and the Machine
Future of the Left
Haunts
Ida Maria
Ipso Facto
Johnny Flynn
Johnny Foreigner
Ladyhawke
Lets Wrestle
Lo-Fi-Fnk
Los Campesinos!
Lovvers
Lykke Li
Make Model
Metronomy
Noah and the Whale
One Night Only
Operator Please
Royworld
Slow Club
Sam Isaac
Sam Sparro
Sky Larkin
Stricken City
Tellison
This City
Wave Pictures
We Are The Physics
Wild Beasts
Friday only:
Agaskodo Teliverek
Blackhole
Bombay Bicycle Club
Chik Budo
Cutting Pink with Knives
Eastern Conference Champion
Esser
Eugene McGuinness
Fratellis
Ghost Frequency
Hadouken!
Hatcham Social
In Case Of Fire
Jeremy Warmsley
JME
King Blues
Ladyhawke
Lowline
Lucy and the Caterpillar
Natty
Pete Molinari
Post War Years
Noisettes
Robyn
Rolo Tomassi
Rushes
S.C.U.M.
Sergeant
Shortwave Set
Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames
Simone White
SixNationState
Soko
Toddla T
Tronik Youth
Vinny Vinny
William
Yoav
Youthmovies
Saturday only:
Acoustic Ladyland
Bookhouse Boys
Brute Chorus
Cheap Hotel
Circulus
Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds
Damn Shames
Dead Kids
Dirty Feel
Duels
Effi Briest
Figure 5
Fox Cubs
Jim Gipson
Innerpartysystem
Invasion
Jay Jay Pistolet
Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
Kode 9
Lucy and the Caterpillar
M83
Nic Dawson Kelly
Official Secrets Act
Pacific!
Party Shank
Reuben
Robots In Disguise
Rosie Oddie and the Odd Squad
Screaming Tea Party
Skepta
Slagsmalsklubben
South Central
Team Waterpolo
White Lies