Yeasayer – Heaven, London, 23/02/2010

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Yeasayer have always been a band with an identity crisis. As good as All Hour Cymbals was, it wasn’t the most coherent of works. Whilst the Eastern and African inspired elements were constant throughout, they never seemed sure whether they wanted you to dance, or stroke your chin in a moderately cerebral fashion. New album Odd Blood furrows a similarly schizophrenic path, flitting between ultra-distorted experimentalism and undiluted upbeat pop. But, overall, its charms are more immediate than its predecessor. This move toward the mainstream was always bound to split critical opinion, and certainly the album has attracted both ardent praise and vicious scorn in equal measure.

But as concerns the live show, the new direction has been a masterstroke. Even before you get to the music, it’s instantly noticeable that the band have loosened up over the last couple of the years. Previously, their gigs were restrained by their sense of Brooklyn scenester cool, but there’s a sense they’re actually enjoying themselves this time round, and that’s reflected in the audience’s response. At their ICA show a couple of years back, the band received a generally warm (if subdued) reception, but there was no clamour for an encore, no sense of occasion. Tonight, it’s an entirely different story. People were dancing, singing along, really engaging with the material. They’ve put a lot more effort into their stage design too, whilst it may appear to have been stolen wholesale from an episode of Top of The Pops, circa 1984, the multi-coloured screens and prism-shaped keyboard stands fit their new image perfectly.

Of course, none of the extra pizzazz would matter if the music wasn’t much cop, but they didn’t disappoint in that respect either. It’s telling Yeasayer have gone on record to say ‘Rome’ was added at the last minute because it was “great to play live”. Its shamelessly bouncy big band swing with undertones of Lou Bega may sound incongruous on record, but it’s perfect in a sweaty little club like Heaven. ‘Ambling Alp’ has already achieved cult anthemic status, judging by the crowd’s jubilant response and even the older material was tweaked to fit the new vibe, sounding better than ever before. Some songs lean a bit too much towards pure cheese though. I’ve never been able to get along with ‘Madder Red’, whilst some of the later Odd Blood tracks suffer from chronic averageness. However, it’s not enough to seriously impact on an otherwise high quality performance. And whilst their biggest hit ’2080′ had been excised from previous dates on the tour, it made an welcome appearance in London, rounding off the show in suitably sublime fashion. Yes, it’s easy to see why people would be disgruntled with latter-day Yeasayer: they’ve sacrificed some of the sophistication of old for directness and fun. But if that means they’re always this enjoyable, then that’s sure as hell fine by me.