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Shields
London, Cargo
26/10/12
Colourful Newcastle synth pop 5 piece get the punters dancing at London venue Cargo. Andy Tillett has more.
Shields play bouncy electro pop, which they force into being indie at the same time. This is best exemplified by the array of instruments they bring to the stage, with five members straddling three guitars, two keyboards, laptop, drums, bass, even a conga drum (a big long bongo type thing), and – as everybody knows – anybody that packs a conga is obviously ready for a party!
The group have a very modern, clean cut indie dance sound – which comes across well on the Cargo sound system – which they top off with the kind of lush, effortless harmonies those from the north do so well. On ‘Mezzanine’ they even manage to sneak some slap bass in without it ever getting cheesy.
Tracks ‘Silhouette’ and ‘Miserly’ from the forthcoming ‘Kaleidoscope’ EP come across great, and had the band taken to the stage after 9pm rather than before (and maybe in a city other than London), I’m sure they would have had a few more people dancing to their top notch cover of SBTRKT’s ‘Pharaohs’, a truly inspired move. The fact Shields’ own material stands up so well against such a tune shows real promise.
If there is one criticism, it’s that they’re better when they err on the side of dance over indie rock thing, but that’s no biggie. Let’s hope they’re headlining venues this size soon.
More info on Shields available from their official website, Facebook and Twitter.
All words by Andy Tillett.
