Four guitarists? The last time I saw such a thing, Primal Scream circa-XTRMNTR were the perpetrators, but there was a clear and ever-present purpose to it that night (namely, to build a cacophonous wall of noise!). It’s a bit like playing four strikers in a football team: it can work (as any Middlesbrough fan might attest), but more often then not, it results in muddled, unbalanced performances. Tonight is such a night.
Here’s the rub: The Radio look a lot more compelling and fully-formed than they sound. There’s those four axe-wielders strung across the front of the stage, clad all in black, along with two stunning female singers, flanked by two slightly more intense fellas. Visually, it’s intriguing. But tonight’s performance lacks both the conviction and sense of implacable cool necessary to provide the look with the correct context.
The group’s body language suggests that they haven’t nailed it down yet – the gaps between songs become longer and more tentative, to the point that the band look like they are re-grouping after each track, desperately looking to each other for a new tactic to win the crowd over. It doesn’t work – the group’s obvious nervousness makes for uncomfortable viewing, and the hum of audience chatter grows steadily as the night progresses.
The Radio’s sound is also unsure of itself. A moodier, more gothic take on the Spector teen/girl pop genre? Jerky B-52’s new wave, now with added electronic touches? It might sound compelling on paper, but they never quite emerge with a cohesive sound intact. The four guitars notwithstanding, there isn’t enough meat here and few hooks or melodies linger in the memory after the gig ends.
There’s both charm and potential here, but tonight at least, nervousness seemed to dim The Radio’s star.