Music Review

22 November 2008 05:22 BST

Pivot and White Denim at Cargo, July 3rd

inthenews.co.uk's James Cooper witnesses ambient experimentals and garage rock in east London.

You can generally count on Cargo to get it right with bands. Whether it is getting Radioactive Man to play a rare DJ set or convincing some Brazilian bossa nova outfit much-loved by Gilles Peterson to play their only UK appearance, the Shoreditch bar/restaurant/club has its finger firmly on the pulse of what people will be listening to in six months time.

But tonight's gig is pretty special event even by Cargo's standard. Pivot are newly signed to Warp - that Sheffield stalwart of the electronic music scene that has put out the hallowed likes of Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Jamie Lidell - and White Denim created such a buzz at South By Southwest that it must have been hard for them to sit comfortably on their flight over from the States, what with all the music journalists hoping to lick their, admittedly very pert, behinds.

So hats off to Cargo for putting together a gig that combines the most cutting edge ambient indie noodling and the most talked about garage rock on the same bill. The only problem was that the fans of the two are pretty much mutually exclusive, with the tightly-denimed rock fans resolutely handing out outside in the bar while the bespectacled Pivot crowd (all men in black T-shirts, as they always are at these sorts of gigs) appreciatively gawp at the Australian trio.

The rock fans were certainly missing a trick. Pivot make the sort of music that critics and the aforementioned fans love but no else ever even knows exists. Too experimental to get picked up for a car ad, the irregular time signatures and muted wordless wails that pass as vocals will probably leave 98 per cent of the world decidedly cold. The other two per cent are here tonight and are treated to a very tight ambient performance, completed with off-kilter clapping, distortion and one of the geekiest synth-come-front men ever to grace a stage. A short set was probably inevitable - what them being new and all and the fact that their songs are pretty much the definition of hard work.

Highlights of the 35-minute assault include some wordless wailing, an irregular clap that is distorted to the point where it became the rhythm of the next song and a bit where the drummer emerged from behind his kit to bash some very vintage looking synths.

All too quickly it was time for the Australian trio to take their leave and let the lads from Austin approach the stage. Despite being one of the most hotly-tipped bands of South by South-West (thought to be fair last year that accolade went to Tapes and Tapes and look where that got them - they'd probably be grateful for any job as a roadie at the moment) the threepiece are still expected to set up their kit, which they did with great aplomb. Then they started performing, also with a high level of aplomb. In fact, the whole problem with White Denim was their polishedness.

They just sounded a bit too clean and practiced.

Here were a band who were supposed to sum up the skuzzy raw sound of rock and ended up sounding like Stillwater from Almost Famous. The vocalist's voice was undoubtedly impressive, but then lots of people can sing really well. What the White Stripes instinctively knew and White Denim need to learn pretty sharpish is that real garage bands have flaws and that's why people like them.

All in, I'll take some electronic experimentation over some overly-rehearsed rock outfit any day of the week. They might not have delivered it tonight, but there's always a chance with the likes of Pivot that you're going to get something genius. With White Denim, you got the sense that their performance will be the same three year's down the line, regardless of whether their buzz actually leads somewhere.

James Cooper

Check out the video for White Denim's All You Really Have To Do below: