The Antlers – 229, London, 02/09/09

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I’m not sure what they put in the water in Brooklyn, but it must be good. Responsible for more decent bands per capita anywhere outside of Scandinavia, the New York borough has produced yet another wonderful export by the name of The Antlers, whose poised and passionate performance at the London 229 completely overshadowed the British acts they shared a stage with.

The pitiful double-whammy of Downdime (hamfisted genero-rock married to the whiniest vocals this side of Motion City Soundtrack) and Trail (sounding variously like a third-rate Doves and a third-rate RHCP) did not bode well for a memorable evening, but it didn’t take very long for Peter Silberman, Darcy Cicci and Michael Lerner to turn the show around.

Drawing entirely from their new album Hospice, a minor masterpiece that poetically recounts the tragic tale of a man watching his loved one succumb to bone cancer, they’re a band that marry beautifully dense, reverby arrangements with some of the most sublimely poignant lyrics since In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Silberman’s anguished falsetto may not be classically perfect, but its slight fragility gives the bleakness of the subject matter even more emotional resonance and his effect-heavy guitar work works well with both the set’s more subtle moments and the louder, post-rock crescendos.

As a whole, their live arrangements are rockier and more muscular than on album, and although there’s only time for six songs, there’s more highpoints in their succinct set than many bands manage to fit into 90 minutes. Cicci’s harmonising during ‘Bear’, the breathtaking intensity on album highlight ‘Sylvia’, the propulsive drumming on a reworked version of ‘Two’. Perhaps ‘Shiva’ was too indelicate and unpolished to have the same resonance as the recorded incarnation, but the only other criticisms can be sourced to the brevity of the show. The omission of the brilliant ‘Kettering’, and the lack of any of their twinklier ‘In The Attic of The Universe’ output (although on second thought, it might have clashed in tone with their newer material.) It’s not often a support act gets such a rapturous ovation as these unassuming fellows, but it was more than deserved. If there’s one band I’ve seen this year that deserves a Bon Iver-style breakthrough, it’s The Antlers.

Antlers Photos by Anikain Mottershaw at various London Venues between 2nd and 4th September