Death From Above 1979 & Turbowolf – Brixton Academy, London 25/02/15

02 March 2015, 14:35 | Written by Peter Wise

(Live)

(Death From Above 1979) (Turbowolf)

Death From Above 1979 were greeted with hysteria when they made their UK return at the Kentish Town Forum back in 2011. After the band’s acrimonious five-year hiatus, fans who had largely given up hope of a reunion greeted the return of their heroes with near-disbelieving joy in a hell-for leather, discography-spanning love-in. Nearly four years and one beauty of a comeback album down the line, can the Death From Above of 2015 create a comparable experience?

We’ll get back to that. First up tonight at the Brixton Academy are cosmic-myth-peddling rockers Turbowolf, who emerged in the late Noughties as one of the most exciting groups to turn their hand to synth-laced alternative rock since our headliners. Their well-oiled, high-powered and endearingly theatrical set traded largely on the glories of their fantastic eponymous debut LP, but the highlight came in the form of new track “Solid Gold” – the first single from forthcoming album Two Hands has it all: ominous, technical riffing of the ‘Daft Punk pressing self-destruct’ variety, a catchy call-and-response chorus and one stand-out melody based around a psychedelic, pitch-shifted sample that reintroduces itself like some scrambled cyber-descant as the song reaches its climax.

Turbowolf exit stage left. Ears ring. Somewhere in the crowd a teenager is all-but shrieking “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me!” A roar of voices builds around the Brixton Academy and rises to a crescendo as Death From Above 1979 take to the stage, before a menacing piano sample starts to loop and takes a few thousand people right back to the first time they hit play on their stereos and basked in the feral and immaculate sonic barrage that is “Turn It Out”, track #1 on 2004’s You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine.

To your correspondent’s ruined ears the bass sounded a little too low in the mix at this point, but the song still packed a mighty punch, teeing up a mass sing-along to the excellent “Right On, Frankenstein”, an evident fan favourite from last year’s comeback album The Physical World. DFA1979 certainly still sound the part - Grainger’s hypnotically rhythmic drum beats kick up a maelstrom of limbs while Jesse F. Keeler’s unmistakable bass guitar stylings still sound fierce and sublimely melodic – and the new songs gel remarkably well with the old in a set that turns into something of a masterclass.

While tonight may lack the sheer emotional release of that great Kentish Town comeback, it’s undoubtedly a superb gig from the Toronto duo. Epic disco-punk ballad ‘White is Red’ is proof that they can retain their unique sound whilst veering off on a stylistic tangent and creating something fresh, whilst “Trainwreck 1979” hammers home a point of its own – namely that this band doesn’t necessarily lose its cutting edge when you ramp up the production values. The set was capped off excellently with an outrageously strong three-song encore featuring “Pull Out”, “Romantic Rights” and their second album’s melodramatic title track.

Was this gig as exhilarating as that heady reunion date back in 2011? No. But it was certainly a treat to see one of the 21st century’s greatest alt-rock acts well and truly back in the swing of being an exceptional touring band. Roll on album #3...