Beach House – Barfly, Cambridge, 10/07/07

A Saturday night line-up of Fuzzy Lights, Beach House and The Resistance enticed my first visit to the Barfly, previously the Loft, since the venue changed hands. Few impressions remain of anything that marked this proprietary shift. Any new licks of paint have been blurred in memory through an ill-paced four pints. The formless black and white Barfly logo, painted in front of the beer pumps, seemed to be the only decorative indication of new ownership.

A few posters indicated that a new level of attractions – and ticket prices – might be coming to the Chesterton Road venue in the future. £5 for these three performances represented good value. The presence of two local bands, together with the flitter and chatter as people passed between stage and audience, was a warm reminder that Cambridge does have its own peculiar mixture of bands, enthusiasts and bystanders. Fuzzy Lights were enthusiastically received. Now a five piece and appropriately international for a band from Cambridge, their instrumentals were pitched between ambience and melodic drama. The swell of the violins and frenetic guitars built up to sweeping effect; one song featured Xavier’s vocals. They also looked like they were having a great time and I was left wanting to see them perform a longer set.

The Resistance, headlining, were a completely different stage proposition. Frequently hailed as the best band in Cambridge, I’ve seen them twice and can’t quite get a grip on what the fuss is all about. The flyer promised the same singular aesthetic despite the change in personnel. The EP features songs that make reference to Nico and Velimir Khlebnikov. However any radicalism seems more at the level of posture rather than a slap in the face of public taste, despite the real sense of urgency that the combination of electronics and guitar can build.

Beach House, a duo from Baltimore playing warm keyboards and slide guitar, created intriguing languid songs that occasionally stopped abruptly. Despite problems with the sound – a strange buzzing caused by the electronics in the mid-stage pillar – their set achieved an intimacy that was perfect for a small venue like this, or for the season now the nights are drawing in. Something in the waking-dream pace of the set and the woozy fragments of the lyrics (“Jack of all trades / Master of none“) was unusual and affecting.

In all, an encouraging and worthwhile evening and I hope that many lie ahead in the Barfly.