Editors @ Carling Brixton Academy, 11 Dec 05

I spent Sunday night at the Carling Brixton Academy at the XFM Winter Wonderland show, which featured full sets (!!) from Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, Hard-Fi, Editors, The Dead 60's, and shorter acoustic-style sets from The Kooks and Magnet. Chas & Dave also played a few songs as "surprise guests", but since I'm not British and older, they weren't much of a thrill for me.

For me, the treat of the evening came from the set by Editors, a foursome formed at University in Stafford but based in Birmingham. For a band together for a relatively short amount of time and only one album under it's belt, Editors looked and sounded like a group with way more experience than they do. Granted, they've played Glastonbury, Reading, and Leeds over the summer (which will earn you your stage-experience wings quickly), but from the second they hit the stage until their last amp was turned off, the Brixton crowd adored them, and with good reason.

Although the lazy way to describe their sound would be to compare them to Joy Division (and thus Interpol), Echo & The Bunnymen, or any number of '80's guitar n' groove combos, their sound involves a bit more urgency and immediacy than most of the other bands appearing recently who aspire to KaiserBlocFranz-dom through pilferage of Post-Punk. Editors' songs either jump out and assault you with catchy bombast, or seduce you with an perfectly mixed combination of starkness and melody, giving them a sound that is essentially their own.

Highlights of the set included their first single "Bullets", and the riveting next single, "Munich" (which is actually a re-release, out 2 Jan 06), which given the way the crowd reacted should be a success.

Their website says they'll be in the USA for a short tour next month as follows:

January 15th, 2006 USA: SAN DIEGO CASBAH
January 16th, 2006 USA: LOS ANGELES SILVER LAKE SPACELAND
January 17th, 2006 USA: LOS ANGELES CINESPACE
January 19th, 2006 USA: SAN FRANCISCO POPSCENE
January 20th, 2006 USA: NEW YORK MERCURY LOUNGE
January 22nd, 2006 USA: ALLSTON GREAT SCOTT

Their sound is huge, and their guitar sound is more Big Country/The Edge than The Fall/Andy Gill...and having already seen them in such a sizeable hall as Brixton Academy, I can only speculate that sets in the tiny Mercury Lounge and Spaceland have the potential to be incredible.

Only the Allston show is on sale now, but the rest of the shows go on sale soon.

The album will be released here in the USA on the Fader / Kitchenware label, mid-March.

Stream their album, The Back Room here.









More photos from the other bands at that show to follow shortly.