I’d like to preface my first review for this site with a disclaimer: I am not a thoroughly miserable person! Underneath the gripes and reservations that follow, my feeling is that Above us the Waves is a good, strong band who are beginning to understand their sound, and with time and work will be better and stronger. But back to it…
The opening number of this set saw a tentative violin leading the band in cautiously, before a burst of sudden whole-band percussive smashing seemed to wake the previously somnolent musicians up just as much as it did the audience. As time went on the drumming became a little confused and the violin got somewhat lost, but the band pretty much held it together for the rest of the song, whose ending was as wobbly as its beginning. They improved with ‘John’s Song’ which ambled along in a similar fashion, but with more solidity than before and was only ruined by another non-event of an ending, neither unwinding gradually nor making a clean break.
Next came some rather forced banter about how pretentious they wished they were, as a means of introducing ‘Five Put On their Rubber-Soled Shoes’, a mix of messy guitar parts, booming low frequencies and rhythms which sounded either lost or confused.
The penultimate number of the night, whose title I missed, was actually my favourite. The violin-led intro was followed by some careful, sympathetic drumming and even the previously slovenly guitar-work was right on the mark – it seemed the band had finally awoken from their group slumber and got it together, only to be let down by vocalist Joe Harrison, who seemed to be flagging a bit; I don’t want to be too rough on him as previously he had been the sole source of activity onstage, dragging his comatose bandmates through the set as they stared into nothingness. Where the keyboards had previously been a great complement to the band’s guitar-heavy post-rock sound, they seemed a little uncertain on this one, though not enough to detract from the rather majestic sound the band managed to create. Instrumentally they were at their strongest here, and an impressive ending added to their most memorable song of the night.
The final moments of closer ‘Let’s Lunch Alfresco’ was accompanied by a bizarre ritual in which the entire band sat down very slowly (even the drummer retreated from his stool). Whether or not this was some iconic symbol of disappearance under The Waves, or just a weird way of saying “thank you, goodnight”, it washed straight over the crowd and while intrigued, I was not alone in being left a little clueless.
Overall, it was an average set from a band whom I suspect will do better in future, but they need to decide whether they are showmen or shoegazers. Harrison did a good job in engaging with the crowd while his bandmates simply looked apathetic; they need to wake up and make it more of a team effort rather than letting it all fall to the frontman. For most of the set, Jack Leahy’s keyboards were a real asset to the band’s sound, giving otherwise fairly nondescript songs a symphonic, epic dimension, and though this set was uneven, I’m convinced there is an unlit match of potential here – all they need do is strike it.