Lawrence Arabia & Liam Finn – Rough Trade East, London 23/07/08

24 July 2008, 09:44 | Written by Andrew Dowdall

(Live)

The inflation-beating i.e. free fun continued at Rough Trade East with a double bill of Kiwi talent now based in the UK. New to me, Lawrence Arabia is James Milne with a variable selection of helpers, while Liam Finn was feeling ‘naked’ as he put it, even more solo than usual without the accompanying vocals of Eliza-Jane Barnes. But wire up some loop pedals and he proved he’s ready to rock.

Lawrence Arabia started with ‘Half The Right Side’ – a piece of electro-pop that had me thinking that my turning up extra early for Liam Finn was going to be a horrible ‘Klaxons tribute band’ mistake. Sorry, just don’t like electro-pop. I blame the 12 inch version of Tainted Love – used to go on for ever. Or too much Human League at Christmas discos as a kid. Anyway, at the end of said track it transformed into a frenetic guitar wig-out that at least got my attention back. From then on things got distinctly more jaunty. I kept being led back to comparisons with Ray Davies and the Kinks. The slightly strained delivery; the whimsical folky-pop song harmonies with lyrics drawing attention to the minor details of life; the variety of structure within a song; a touch of music hall; a sense of humour. One song about sex and bomb-disposal all occurring on a beach being a case in point. Listen (on MySpace if necessary) to the whistling on ‘Bloody Shins’ and the gorgeous sunny sing-a-long melody of ‘The Beautiful Young Crew’. This is someone I need to investigate more and I’d recommend you doing likewise. Milne himself has an extremely likeable stage presence, and was once touring bass player for Okkervil River – which might perk a few ears up around these parts.

With the feelgood factor of an unexpected new discovery and with Lawrence Arabia having ended on another fierce guitar workout, I was wondering if the anticipated soft melodies of Liam Finn were going to be, well, nice but a bit flat in comparison. I was also wondering if I would find his loop pedal effects one man show a bit distracting if he was to be scampering about trying to get all of the depth of sound of debut release I’ll Be Lightning into his live performance. Boy was I wrong.

First off. It’s certainly not nepotism that’s seen him touring as a guitarist with Crowded House recently. He can certainly play. Picture him in short trousers and without the beard (OK – work with me) and you’ve got what he sounded like – more like Angus Young from AC/DC. None of the overtly ‘pretty’ tunes from the album were attempted. Instead, anything with a pulse was ramped up several gears and extended with rocking jams. ‘Wise Man’ and ‘Better To Be’ were just wild. This might all be part of the plan to hold his own when supporting Eddie Veder across America throughout August. I think he will.

Apart from a solitary dabble with a theremin during ‘Lead Balloon’, Finn was seemlessly layering three guitar parts (simulating bass on the same guitar as rhythn and lead) with his loop pedals and occassionally switching to rock out on drums. It did all flow very well, as did his perspiration. A good effort on this sweltering evening, especially at a comparatively insignificant event. Finn was joined by a drummer for a couple of songs – one being an instrumental jam, before the final cataclismic delivery of ‘Lead Balloon’. James Milne added cowbell and screaming chorus too. Then, suddenly, it was all quiet again amongst the CD shelves of the store. The magic and musical carnage was over.