Beach Fossils – Deaf Institute, Manchester 25/10/10

It’s fitting that Beach Fossils‘ first UK headline show should be in Manchester’s Deaf Institute – the Brooklyn based buzz-band taking the stage in the North’s home away from home for hype bands. The half empty venue, however, tells another story, especially compared to the long-since sold out Warpaint who trod the same boards less than 24 hours beforehand.

Having travelled across the Atlantic for their European tour, the four-piece take 40 minutes to storm through a comprehensive set, in the truest sense of the word. When the small crowd beg for more, the quartet deliberate in the corner of the stage before declaring they will play one more – and thus, play every track they have in their arsenal.

Throughout the meat of the set, however, they look like an act deserving of all the praise that lead to their lukewarm debut earlier this year. It might not be a particularly innovative approach, but the band’s more gallant take on lo-fi surf pop pay dividends when they play live. They seem to take team meetings between songs, their huddling together only emphasising the skinniness of their jeans and quite how much all of them could do with a decent meal. In full flight, however, they’re laws unto themselves, mercilessly moving back and forth, the intertwining of their riffs dramatised by the several near misses between band members and flailing guitars.

There is undoubtedly talent in Beach Fossils, which their standout track ‘Daydream’ shows to it’s fullest. With a more driven approach than their peers, yet with more influence taken from shoegaze and dream pop, they manage to whip up an atmosphere even on a cold Monday evening. The feeling still persists, however, that this isn’t an act quite fulfilling it’s potential. Too many songs sound similar, and even less are truly memorable. There’s a lot to love in their swinging, hazy efforts, but not too much to hold on to.