In an evening chock full of letter Os, it’s another Electrogogo at Soho’s Madame JoJo’s, and another luxembourg gig; and this time I get to see the whole set! (Curses to the cleverness of Word that insists on helpfully putting in capital Ls when the band eschews them.) Most of the clientele could be found in any West End bar, others look like extras from the Rocky Horror Show (it’s that sort of place), and a tiny but significant minority form one of South London’s finest up and coming bunch of popsters, mingling with all and sundry. The Pulp/Suede/Roxy reference points have been so done to death they really should be placed in a casket and interred with honours, but they remain a useful touchstone to the luxembourg sound. The quintet handily describe themselves as ‘pop noir’, but don’t place too much emphasis on the ‘noir’, this is music of poignancy and thoughtfulness, not something to induce a meeting of razorblade and wrist.
David is ailing with flu and later apologizes for not being able to give his best, but, born showman that he is, he still gives as much as he can, bless ‘im, in a set of incisive commentaries on asylum seekers, desires, and insomnia – ‘so many reasons for losing sleep, but don’t forget that only one of them is you’ goes Reasons For Losing Sleep. Rob is a gifted guitarist, and although his area of stage is only marginally bigger than a postage stamp, the man rocks!, adding some nice muscly riffs to proceedings. Alex on keyboards is feeling even worse than David and his Yamaha comes out in sympathy, sadly disappearing into the mix much of the time, while Steve on drums and soon-to-be-a-dad (and really, really tall) Jon on bass provide sterling support.
A highlight is the marvellously poppy lustfest Close-cropped (‘I want your close-cropped hair, I want your pale blue eyes, and I want your soft hands
and your handsome thighs’), David in his de rigeur black suit and tie at his most animated. They end with their disco-infused plea to stardom Success Is Never Enough, David doing his best Matt Bellamy falsetto.
With enough material already under their belts for a brace of albums, luxembourg will finally, finally, be releasing their first single on Angular (home of two excellent comps of London bands, and both featuring the luxemboys). With songs already in the can, the likely track listing is the afore-mentioned brilliance of Close-cropped, What The Housewives Don't Tell You and Pin Me Down. An autumnal release looks on the cards, so keep ‘em peeled. Next gig at The Garage, Islington on August 6th should see a fully recovered and reinvigorated band back on top form.
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