CityLife

White Lies

USHERED through breezeblock corridors and service stairwells, the venue for Monday’s White Lies’ gig might as well have been deep in some government facility rather than the back of HMV.

That said, there’s no amount of concrete, steel plating or fence anywhere that could hide the current furore being whipped up in the music press about the Ealing three-piece.

In what has now become a January phenomenon to predict the ‘biggest’ new bands of the approaching year, 2009 has seen few dissenting voices question the up-and-coming deification of White Lies.

A fact which, I’ll be honest, filled me with a certain degree of horror as I walked the well-trodden path of shoplifters.

Thankfully though, White Lies are no Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong.

As last year’s single Death will have already told you, White Lies’ sound is tight, ambitious and deliciously morose.

Virginal ears

Only a few seconds in and it’s clear to anyone with virginal ears that White Lies aren’t just another guitar band.

If comparisons are what you seek then start with Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes. Bass fuzzes and rumbles from that comfortable spot where it lies in the pit of your stomach as the trio, plus one on keys, roll into ‘To Lose My Life' (out this week).

Baritone

Frontman Harry McVeigh guides the eightes-post-punk inspired outfit with faultless baritone vocals, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

If the rumoured stadium-rock revival is indeed to be believed, White Lies are assured a spot at the crest of that particular wave.

Much of the set is dominated by grandiose arrangements; climbing and falling away to reveal swelling guitar riffs.

It’s nothing if not grand, and boasts much of the funereal magnificence that made early Arcade Fire gigs so entrancing.

I’m not usually one to heap hype upon hype, but White Lies have all the required promise to go far in 2009, and go far fast.

After all, what could be a better soundtrack to the approaching recession?

White Lies return to play Academy 1 with Glasvegas, Friendly Fires and Florence And The Machine on Friday and Saturday, February 6 and 7 as part of the NME ShockWaves Tour. £15.59 (first night sold out). Call 0161 832 1111.

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