Editors @ Cockpit
By Luke Ramsden
As Ian Curtis is my witness, Editors are good. They may not be the four most effervescent of chaps or the most endearing of performers but if nothing else, Editors prove substance over style should be the way to go any day. Life, death, victories, losses - all delivered under the guise of a fair dose of gloom, yet still with amazingly fashioned gluttonous choruses. How on earth is that possible? The bandwagons just leaving folks, better jump on board because Editors should be huge in the very near future. As if Editors wasn't good enough tonight, we've got the unfortunately named The Pioneers Of Industry and arguably one of the brightest stars in Leeds' substantial best kept secret list - ˇForward, Russia! This could be one of the best understated gigs of the year.
The soon to be capacity second Cockpit room is barely half full for The Pioneers but the latecomers may live to regret that extra pint as this quartet is ripe with ability, delivering a series of hookful, vaguely heavy numbers with confidence and meaning.
Make no mistake about the potential of ˇForward, Russia! Theirs is a very marketable sound at the moment. To lump them in with the Killers/Bravery revival would be to do them a huge mis-service, yet they may be free to ride into the forefront on the very wave it has created. Despite the minor annoyances like the solely numbered nature of their songs and even the band's self whoring black & white t-shirt uniform attire, ˇForward, Russia! are essential. Vocalist Tom coming close to strangulation as his indecipherable vocals yelp around the wires, contorting his movements as if falling foul to a random lightning storm. Electrifying. Highlights? 'Nine' & 'Thirteen' (Probably anyway, the numbering system mixed with drinking alcohol doesn't help the memory to much of an extent, surprisingly). When the band just utterly dance-rock out, they are at their finest. ˇForward, Russia!'s pokey venue support days are sure to be numbered.
The capacity near literally doubles in time for the appearance of Editors. It's a sellout no question. They may even have sold out the main room if given the chance. Breathing, half hearted grooving and pogo-ing room is allowed however and the crowd relay a pleasant if not substantial level of support for the band throughout. The phrase 'believe the hype' is thrown about all too often but in the most part, Editors warrant the acclaim afforded too them by a frantically increasing media and fan base flurry of activity. Even the songs that plod along and do their job on record sound vital live. Beefed up somewhat and delivered sublimely by reluctant centrepiece Tom Smith, tracks like 'Fall' & 'Camera' appear near epic in their relentless if uncomplicated musical approach. Stealing the show however, Editors have four immense songs that their contemporaries could only dream of. Not even a false start on 'Lights' hinders a supreme track, that's followed by the pounding 'Bullets', latest single 'Blood' spouts choirs of the unbeatable chorus 'Blood runs through our veins, that's where our similarities end' and finally set highpoint 'Munich' are all near perfect interpretations of dark pop music.
Editors have set a new benchmark for darkly fused assessable music. They are better than the fastly tiresome Interpol. Anything New York can do, Birmingham can do better. Editors create superb music without the thrills and scene points. What more can you say?
