Tom Vek - XOYO, London, 11/06/14

16 June 2014, 16:30 | Written by The Line of Best Fit

(Live)

(Tom Vek)

Is Tom Vek destined to be the perennial nearly man of indie rock? After an auspicious start with 2005’s disco-punk touchstone We Have Sound, Vek waited six years to produce a follow-up and another three to deliver his latest, Luck. Amidst such a stop-start career, is it now a case of onwards and upwards for our hero, or over and out?

Tonight, a wiry Vek emerges on stage in a billowy blue shirt and those trademark thick-rimmed glasses barely looking his 33 years. A few strident synth stabs acquaint us with energetic new single “Sherman (Animals in the Jungle)” and we’re off. The combination of booming dance-rock drone and Vek’s dead-eyed, sing-speak delivery swirls around the room to brilliant effect, as though a nihilistic clarion call for the apocalypse.

We move from apocalyptic omens to euphoria as Vek steers us straight into house territory with “Someone Loves You”, from underrated second LP Leisure Seizure. It’s a track that would ordinarily inspire an impromptu rave-up, but unfortunately probably crops up a bit too early here to get its dancing dues.

No matter. Tonight’s cherub-faced late-twenties crowd wouldn’t be out of place at a redbrick university sports social and they soon loosen up, for better or worse. “NICE SHIRT!” somebody yells. “Come on Tom!” another screams. Then somebody else. Soon it’s a chorus. “I’m going, I’m going!” Vek jokes but it’s not enough to stem the tide. “All right, that’s enough,” he chides, like a teacher who’s lost control of his class.

It’s an odd dynamic, albeit not an entirely unpredictable one. By releasing his debut a decade ago then vanishing into the ether, Vek stalled much of his nascent momentum. The result appears to be that the multi-instrumentalist exists in a sort of time warp, hanging on to a nostalgic grown-up student fan base in which “bants” still holds cultural currency. Lo and behold, the Class of 2005 are out in force tonight.

Back to the music and Vek’s set is heavy on new material. “Pushing Your Luck” works a treat, showcasing surprising vocal range on Vek’s part as he shimmies across the stage. The metallic “Broke” fares less well, exposed as the album track that it patently is. Quelle surprise, business picks up as that misfire segues into the slap bass of “Nothing But Green Lights”, one of Vek’s first danceable hits. Other early tracks, “Not Saying My Goodbyes” and “CC (You Set the Fire in Me)” also crop up, to equally rapturous receptions.

As the set builds to a climax, the university reunion contingent treads an increasingly fine line between good-natured boisterousness and outright taking the piss. “Come on Tom!” transmogrifies into “Come on Tim!” as the yelling becomes ever-more boorish. Vek just about manages to mask his irritation and recovers well with a closing one-two punch of the excellent “You’ll Stay” from the new LP, followed by “Aroused”. The pile-driving guitar outro of the former sounds particularly bombastic live, with Vek throwing himself about with joyous abandon. That said, on tonight’s evidence Vek has got his work cut out for him if he wants escape the long shadow of his former self.