Younger Brother, XOYO, London
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Your support makes all the difference.It's always going to be difficult when a band decides to change musical direction. And how do you please everyone when you play live? Well, if you're looking for a lesson in how to keep old and new fans happy in equal measure, then look no further than Younger Brother.
Tonight, their tight set in the basement of XOYO showcases new album, Vaccine, alongside crowd-pleasing highlights from The Last Days of Gravity, the band's previous long player.
Kicking off with the gloriously haunting notes of "Happy Pills", opening track off the latter, a song that defines the old, instrumental, warped yet uplifting psychedelia, Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan (the two psy-trance producers behind this offshoot live band) have us eating out of their hands from the offset. When the (live) drums kick in the crowd lap it up, beaming smiles and throwing shapes. This is what we've come to see.
It's a perfect introduction. Win over the old guard before introducing their new, vocal-orientated, more radio-friendly incarnation with second single off Vaccine, "Shine". The sound's a little muddy at first but Ruu Campbell's impassioned vocals add another seductive layer to the glorious aural soundscape that the two producers weave together. Mix in live bass and guitar and the package is complete.
The new songs off Vaccine are warmly received by the intimate crowd, but there's no escaping the fact that the older beat-driven tracks are the stand out numbers, in particular "All I Want" and the encore "Psychic Gibbon". Of the new material "Train" and "Night Lead Me Astray" elicit the best response.
Vaccine should introduce a whole new audience to Posford's genius and that's no bad thing. Just as long as Younger Brother don't completely give up on their glorious back catalogue.
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