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Friday 21 May 2010

Wolverhampton Review

Review: Delphic at Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
May 21 2010 By Andy Turner



WIDELY held as one of the coolest new bands around, Delphic claim to be reinvigorating the spirit of late 80s rave by putting dance music back on the map.

The trouble is you never quite know where you are with the four-piece Manchester outfit whose mish-mash of indie-electro-rock-rave-pop appears to be pushing the boundaries of genre meddling to their very limits.

A play of their easy listening debut album, Acolyte, complete with understated harmonies and dance beats and they definitely err on the side of pop. But put them on stage in front of a boisterous audience and they become a completely different, rave-like animal.

Opening with Clarion Call with its soft siren intro and dreamy vocals, the synthesisers and drums soon kick in as it builds a head of steam, reaching a fast flowing climax with single hands pointing out the beat in a whipped-up crowd as the first wave of beer flies through the air.

An abrupt end, short pause for breath and straight into Doubt, which just about summed up my feelings about going to the gig in the first place as sticky liquid ran down the back of my neck and soaked into my T-shirt.

But with a rockier feel led by lead guitar and drums, the band’s heavily influenced New Order sound came bursting through as the track progressed and calm was restored, for the time being at least.

Red Lights saw more flirting with catchy but ultimately light-weight pop before Submission – arguably the standout mainstream track on the album and reminiscent of Duran Duran complete with sound-a-like Simon Le Bon vocals and Nick Rhodes keyboards.

This Momentary saw more soft harmonies morph into a thumping and unmistakable dance track, but the sparkling synths and infectious beats all got a bit samey in the end.

Rating * * *

Taken from the Coventry Telegraph

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