It’s been quite a 12 months for the Southampton based Band Of Skulls. Back in November 2008, the 2-boy-one-girl trio were recording under the alias Fleeing New York as virtual unknowns. Veritable virgins of the music industry. Skip to October 2009, and things have changed. They have just released a brilliant, very complete and debut album – Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, are touring the country’s coolest venues and, rather more impressively; are featuring on the soundtrack of the Twilight movie franchise second serving New Moon. No mean feat by any standards.
It was quite a joy to catch a band on the brink of the big time, in one of London’s smaller and more intimate venues; The Barfly in Camden. A venue that revels in bloody great music; and this was something that the Band Of Skulls came heavily armed in. The trio opened their set with the excellent Light of the Morning, a perfect precedent for the night ahead. The track oozed sex, confidence and Americana. It tore through the crowd and forcibly took hold of the room by the scruff of its neck. And by the second offering, I Know What I Am, a former iTunes Single of the Week they had completely won the room over.
But it’s difficult to pin down one similar sound to compare. The band are clearly influenced from every angle. The constant flip between Russell Marsden’s Jet-like vocals into Emma Richardson’s soft, beautiful and tender purr, works skilfully to produce fresh and invigorating music. This is a band that knows their sound, know their strengths, and know how to play with an audience’s emotions. Cold Fame sucks you in like a vacuum; it is fantastic and wonderfully heartfelt. While Fires knocks your socks off. Marsden’s voice almost seduces the skinny jeans from your body like a rock’n’roll snake charmer. When the duet chorus howled “We are soldiers in the night” there is no other description for it but epic. It is a song big enough to shake the roof off an arena, and that’s probably why it’s their next single.
But without doubt the highlight of the night was the final track, Impossible. It is slick, uplifting and stunning; sounding brilliantly like a Because Of the Times era Kings Of Leon. Cleverly extended by the band for the night; the track grew and soared, only to tease and fade away into its gorgeous tune. It left the audience overwhelmed and biting at the bit for more.
The Band Of Skulls are a force to be reckoned with. Their wall of sound is built by amazing vocals, an eclectic sound and a promise to impress. Quite simply; they huffed and puffed on Tuesday 22nd, and blew the whole Barfly away.
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It’s been quite a 12 months for the Southampton based Band Of Skulls. Back in November 2008, the 2-boy-one-girl trio were recording under the alias Fleeing New York as virtual unknowns. Veritable virgins of the music industry. Skip to October 2009, and things have changed. They have just released a brilliant, very complete and debut album – Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, are touring the country’s coolest venues and, rather more impressively; are featuring on the soundtrack of the Twilight movie franchise second serving New Moon. No mean feat by any standards.
