Owl Parliament – Union Chapel, London 21/02/09

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There’s worse things in the world than spending a sunny afternoon in Islington’s beautiful Union Chapel, especially when you’ve got a succession of supremely talented folkies to serenade you. True, the hard wooden pews may have got a little testing after a while (woe be upon those who forgot to bring a cushion!) but the superb line-up ensured that the show itself remained enchanting for the vast majority of its nine hour duration.

Stars of Sunday League eased us gently into proceedings, with Euan Robinson’s lilting Scottish burr and understated strings giving his acoustic folk some added flavour, before eight-piece We Aeronauts delivered a manic, albeit slight disjointed multi-instrumental assault on the senses. One gets the sense they’re a band bursting at the seams with ideas, but haven’t worked out how best to employ them- they often seemed like they were trying to ram three songs into one. But they certainly showed promise, and the marvelous unplugged performance atop of a pew was one of the day’s most memorable moments. Planet Earth’s humdrum fare sadly failed to leave much of an impact, coming across as a heavily diluted version of Jeff Lewis but Mechanical Bride was something of a revelation- the delightful Lauren Doss is blessed with a voice that can effortlessly silence a room, and the brass players that supported her gave her tunes a faintly Yann Tiersen-ish edge. Peggy Sue and the Pirates were even more impressive, making full use of the sublime acoustics at Union Chapel to submerge the church with their stunning harmonies- for a band I wasn’t expecting much from, they ultimately proved to be the best act of the first half.

After a well-needed break to stretch ones legs and regain some feeling in one‘s buttocks, Owl Parliament felt ready to unleash the big hitters. Johnny Flynn quietly impressed me with his unostentatious folk; one-man acoustic troubadours rarely impress me but his sheer talent and moments of restrained passion won me over – which is more than I can say for Laura Marling. Her music, whilst elegantly well crafted has never really clicked with me, her voice is nothing to write home about and as a performer she comes across as curiously aloof. There’s no doubt that she’s talented, but there’s just something about her that leaves me cold. Thankfully, the same can’t be said of singer-songwriter/cartoonist/all round top bloke Jeffrey Lewis, who provided the evening’s most impressive performance. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to see his live shows, Jeff intersperses his set with ‘films,’ more accurately described as flipcharts of cartoons expertly doodled by the man himself, to which live narration and musical backing is added. Tonight’s pick was “The History of Communism: Part 5,” a rhyming documentary of sorts about North Korea which was both entertaining and educational- how many bands can you say that about? His musical pursuits may not be quite as creative, but his anti-folk has an endearing lo-fi charm that’s well served by the rock stylings of his backing band and the Crass covers never fail to impress. And although Herman Dune could only seem to be an anti-climax in comparison (David Herman-Dune‘s wheedling voice and occasional lyrical clumsiness can be off-putting), their upbeat melodies and endearingly eccentric mannerisms ensured a fittingly cheery end to the evening. Truly this was that rarest of things- a parliament that lives up to its promise.