If Public Service Broadcasting’s ploy was a visually arresting one, stacking the stage with columns of flickering black and white television screens, it would seem negligent to overlook the only sight of the night which eclipsed them.
Nordic Giants are a mysterious Brighton band with the cinematic feel of Massive Attack. And in a chief support slot underpinned by spooky animations of birds flapping mechanically into the ether, their wardrobe – comprised largely, apparently, of branches and leaves – was a theatrical precursor to the main show.
Their earthy drama and soaring strings owed much to British Sea Power and the main act are also indebted to the magnificent eccentricity of that band.
These broadcasters are a South London duo infatuated with wartime news reports, layering krautrock rhythms – with the unfortunate exception of a banjo – over visuals of stern-faced announcements, or samples of fearful citizens.
The air raid sirens of London Can Take It made for the kind of poignant, stirring intensity which has made their album one of this year’s most critically-acclaimed.
Their strength lies in cornering an audio-visual market. The question now is how they might evolve a concept which, over the course of a set, risked becoming repetitive.
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