Darwin Deez

The breathlessly anticipated (at least by me) Darwin Deez gig was relocated from Cardiff’s Millennium Music Hall to the Student’s Union – inexplicably, the Solus bar rather than the Great Hall; even more inexplicably, tickets were still available on the night. First in support were locally-based OK, who seemed highly appreciative of the opportunity to play to a big crowd; they served up some very entertaining, excitable punky pop, although it seemed to be aiming at a niche already ably filled by The Wombats. Next on the bill were Birmingham-based electro quartet Jake Bullit, who came across as a wimpier Hot Chip, but with some amusingly bitchy lyrics.

The headliners were well worth waiting for.  Forged in the creative furnace which is New York City, I guess they’ve they’ve had to come up with something distinctive - aside from their wonderful, sunny/dark pop songs - in order to progress; hence Darwin Smith’s  Hasidic hippie hair-do and the amusingly shambolic inter-song dance routines. It made for peerless entertainment as they more than did justice to the material from their excellent debut album, augmenting it with unlikely mash-ups, the occasional rap, and some amusing cover versions (e.g. a grungy take on Coldplay’s “Lost”). An exuberant show, rapturously received.