Outfit – Electrowerkz, London 12/09/13

London’s Electrowerkz is a dark and, at times, claustrophobic venue; its industrial interior is cagey and warehouse-like. The perfect surroundings then for these five Liverpudlians to delve into their catalogue of tracks inspired by life penned-in amongst the hedonistic revelry of a creative Merseyside mansion, known as ‘The Lodge’.

The title of Outfit’s (would be Mercury-nominated) debut full-length Performance hints at the comfort they feel in a live setting – one that becomes immediately apparent as the quintet appear on stage. Not only are they immaculately tight, but their on-stage chatter (highlighting their adoption of a double-frontman approach), provides the perfect respite from the intensity of their songwriting.

They produce an often unsettling but brilliantly infectious sound; the monotonous vocal-round refrain to ‘House On Fire’ and the dark, almost subliminal chorus of ‘I Want What’s Best’ provide the main exponents of the aforementioned qualities.

Electronic samples and their typical intuitive rhythms and key changes do sit the band alongside the likes of Hot Chip and Dutch Uncles, but crunching guitar solos and the gentle ambience of ‘Thank God I Was Dreaming’ – a gorgeous highlight – set them apart somewhat from these comparisons.

‘Elephant Days’ stands-out as a catchy, more ‘poppy’ track with its soulful, funky bass-line, and it is one of the most well-received numbers of the evening. The same is true of ‘Two Islands’; “I don’t know anyone else/I don’t know anyone else in here” is screamed out in another example of thematic lyrics all-too-easy to relate to.

Nostalgic explanations of an X-Files inspired riff and classic “We do actually have another song to play” encore jokes continue the rapport with the packed room in a performance that is as assured as it is enjoyable; one of 2013′s stand-out UK albums translates to the live stage effortlessly.

Photograph by Andrew Ellis