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

Part of 2008’s Levi’s OnesToWatch 5 Night Revue, which last year boasted such as-yet unknowns as Foals, The Wombats and Ida Maria, the acts on this particular bill couldn’t really have been much further apart stylistically.
The deal with Micachu is this. Micachu is a young lady who seems to record as Micachu. But Micachu also seems to be a band comprised of Micachu and a keyboardist and a drummer, who go by the name of The Shapes. So on the poster they’re called Micachu, but from the stage lead singer Mica (left - click image to enlarge) refers to them as Micachu and The Shapes. How very confusing it all is.
Anyway, whoever the hell Micachu is/are, it’s a fascinating spectacle to see them onstage. Mica uses a wee guitar, with what appears to be a shoelace as a guitar strap, and sings in that accented east London manner we’ve become used to over the last few years.
Keyboardist Raisa applies synthy flourishes but also joins in on percussion, banging away on a couple of upturned wine bottles. Drummer Marc, meanwhile, controls the bewildering changes of time signature while sprinkling helpings of cowbell and old tin cans over the whole confection.

Their songs contain tantalising glimpses of pop hooks before zig-zagging off into slightly more skronky territory. Recent single “Golden Phone” is probably the best hint at what their debut album could offer - it has a killer melody alongside their usual ramshackle instrumentation. You will now check it out at their MySpace, if you know what’s halfway good for you.
Micachu are pretty much unclassifiable, and great fun to witness in a small setting such as The Macbeth. Having chatted to them afterwards I can also confirm that they are Lovely Young People, and you can’t help but wish them the very best on their impending trip to New York’s CMJ Music Marathon.
Have you encountered Iglu & Hartly yet (right - click image to enlarge)? They’re quite popular this particular minute thanks to their Crazytown-do-MGMT smasheroonie “In This City”, the video for which is veritably Chippendales-esque in its chestacular detail. Yes, these bronzed Californians have certainly cottoned onto the fact that they are not entirely unbecoming to the eyes of young ladies, and the young ladies luh-hu-huv them for it.
To their credit the chaps almost made it to the end of their set fully-clothed on this particular night, and when the tops came off it was only a couple of them who obliged. That was enough to please the girlies though, who were already crowding the front of the stage to witness the band’s hyperactive rap-chorus-rap-chorus schtick. My mate pointed out that one of them, with his bouncing around and long hair flapping about, looked rather like Rowlf from The Puppet Show.
There’s no denying Iglu & Hartly have the pop nous to be absolutely massive - I couldn’t name any more of their songs without checking their MySpace, but they don’t veer too far from the vibe marked “Kid Rock fronting Cut Copy on Spring Break”. I’m not convinced they have enough substance to maintain interest over the course of an album, but nobody listens to those anymore anyway, do they?
While Micachu fit The Macbeth’s size perfectly, it’s clear that Iglu & Hartly’s show is more suited to getting sizeable (and hormonally charged) crowds going madshit mental. You’ll be able to make your own mind up about them over the next couple of weeks, because they’re touring up and down this fair land; just keep an eye on your girlfriend…