While I suspect many of our London readers had ventured into Camden to watch Alcest play to a sell-out crowd of beard-stroking, black-rimmed glasses wearing hipsters who read about them in the Guardian, I had to go one better. I had been warned Hoxton was “hipster central” and only as I sit in nearby watering hole do I fully understand what was meant…I am sure I must be the only person in the building who didn’t recently graduate with a degree in the Arts (oh wait…). Anyway sweeping judgements aside, I am here tonight for a band I have been singing the praises of since receiving their first album back in 2008. Having always been keen to push the boat out and cover interesting and unusual music that probably is lost on the average “metalhead”, BirdEatsBaby are a total breath of fresh air in today’s music scene and I was glad to finally get the chance to see them play live…back to them in a little while.

Only one support act tonight in the form of local chanteuse Laura Kidd who goes by the moniker She Makes War. A solo performer, she takes the stage with a guitar and mic and a keyboard to aid with some samples and treats the crowd to a performance I could best describe as plugged in but stripped back. Her sound shares the minimalism of Russian songstress Regina Spektor, with a bittersweet vocal style that is both down to earth and pleasing to the ear. There just seems to be very little substance to this. Not all the tracks played are as infectious as ‘Delete’, and while there is nothing bad about what Kidd is doing I think having a live band to back her up would give her songs a much needed boost. A mediocre start to the night.

So tonight is the official launch event for BirdEatsBaby’s new album, entitled ‘Feast Of Hammers’ and it was to be expected that this Brighton quintet would focus mainly on their new material. Starting off with ‘Love Will Bring You Nothing’ this is instantly recognisable and one off the new album that is gradually growing on me and gets their set off to a flying start. This lot are both dark and theatrical, welcoming you to the cabaret in style without having to retort to gimmickry. Sure, there’s a hint of glamour to their appearance and the stage decor frames them rather nicely too but the music mostly speaks for itself. Singer Mishkin is a flaming ball of passion, switching from feline saccherine chirps to wild yells of angst at the flick of a switch; there’s a touch of musical theatre to her delivery without being too over the top. ‘Feast Of Hammers’ comes across particularly strong with the violins screeching dramatically in the mix as the music sweeps up from a mellow intro passage to a fierce crescendo that attacks like a hammer bludgeoning its victim. It’s good to hear a couple of older tracks too such as the attitude-fuelled ‘I Always Hang Myself With The Same Rope’. The drums and guitars do a fine job of keeping things moving along; I had my reservations as to whether they could pull their songs off as well live or if it would come across as a bit shambolic on stage but they kept it tight and pulled it off with all the energy and panache demonstrated on CD. Despite a nightmare journey to get here due to the morons at TFL, the Birdies gave us a jolly good show. It’s about time they got a break too ‘cos they deserve to be much bigger.

Review Luci Herbert, Photos Pete Woods