The latest Levi’s Ones To Watch show at east London’s hang-out du jour The Macbeth promised to be a bouncy, booty-shaking affair but fell somewhere short to these jaded earholes.

Newport’s The Binary Kids (left) were watched from the bar by similarly be-hatted chum Lady Sovereign, but their shriek-rap and pre-programmed beats just sounded like vaguely danceable teenage tantrums. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW - Basement Jaxx like them and are putting them on their new album, so unless they’re blood relatives the Jaxx must hear something in them.

Next up were synth-rock sorts Me My Head, who, on the basis of their best song “Damage Is Done”, might be better off ditching the sonic new romanticisms. That song is pleasingly riffworthy, but too many of the other numbers wear their influnces on their sleeve - and those influences seem to start with “The” and end with “Killers”.

Heartbreak’s influences, as I mentioned in my squizz at nu-disco recently, are of the European disco variety, specifically italo-disco. Having enjoyed their splendid remixes of the likes of La Roux and The Presets, plus the rumbling disco sinisterisms of their own stuff, I was looking forward to catching their much-praised live show as much as I’m looking forward to my dinner tonight. I’m really hungry.

Alas, something didn’t quite translate in this setting. Maybe it wasn’t dark enough. I envision Heartbreak’s stuff being lit by lazer streams and strobes and all manner of eye-tickling nonsense. Such tricks worked a treat when Filthy Dukes pulsated this very joint a few months back, but they were absent here.

Frankly the mind boggles at the thought of the likes of the disco-defiant “We’re Back” in a large field with a killer soundsystem and some headache-inducing lights. In a wee pub with no bells or whistles, Heartbreak’s material doesn’t have anything like the effect you want.

So we were left looking at a bloke behind a bank of technology and a frontman who had some pleasingly histrionic body swerves, a funny accent, and a spivvy ‘tache (above right), but little else to generate a connection with the audience. And don’t you dare tell me live performance is just about the music, maaan.

Possibly related:

1. Can You Gig It?: Iglu & Hartly and Micachu @ The Macbeth, Hoxton, London

2. Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak could come to be seen as his masterpiece

3. New Kids On The Block’s “Summertime” video illustrates that they do indeed think they’re still kids

4. Black Kids’ “Look At Me (When I Rock Witchoo)” video is a nostalgic adultescent

5. Black Kids’ drummer felt the LA earthquake; that’s enough for Gigwise to deem it a “lucky escape”

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Monday April 27th, 2009 at 5:37 pm