Somewhere on the way to 2007, electronica fell into the orbit of the childhood nursery rhyme. The result has been a parade of self-consciously twee laptop acts, touting gurgling bathtime melodies and songs about talking cats. In the vanguard of this... well, I suppose we ought to start calling it a scene, are Psapp, a London duo who toot on children’s toys and bang out rhythms on plastic fish (for their troubles they’ve found themselves anointed leaders of their very own movement: toytronica). This sounds toxically cute and very nearly is.
What rescues Psapp (tonight expanded to a six-piece) from their twee compulsions is frontwoman Galia Durant, specifically her inclination towards dark lyrics. True, she warbles as though addressing a room of attention-deficient 10-year-olds but listen closely and you will hear songs that are freighted with sadness and regret. On ‘Make Up’ Durant sifts through the detritus of a failed relationship; ‘Leaving And Coffins’ is, she explains cheerfully, “about death”, ‘Tricyle’ drifts on a bittersweet melody while the vocalist gazes sadly into the middle distance.
Still, the last thing Psapp want to do is rain on anyone’s parade. No sooner has Durant finished wailing her heart out than she is tossing toy kittens into the crowd and inviting audience members on stage to eat chocolate-covered ants (scoff an ant and you win a kitty – it’s fair deal). Cute is what they aim for.