 | | The Earlies |
Formed over a few drinks in a Manchester studio, this ten piece gang of hugely talented musicians create a luscious textured soundscape that is the product of years of experience and people with brilliant record collections. Bizarrely for a band this good, many people seemed surprised they were playing a venue as large as Academy 2, but make no mistake, they should be playing the likes of the Apollo; they’re that good. They came on incredibly late and had been knocking a few back in the bar across the road, so there was an air of Faces-style good time rock and roll to proceedings, but it’s refreshing to see a band having as good a time as their audience. Unlike Arcade Fire who seem to just think having loads of odd instruments means a great sound, The Earlies' heady mix of sax, percussion, cello, two keyboards, twin guitars and five part vocal harmonies is both carefully planned and yet strangely anarchic. Wonderful oldie One of Us is Dead is spellbinding as Brandon Carr slurs his way through a wall of sound, backed by a dizzyingly bizarre cocktail of instruments that teeters on the edge of disaster but somehow holds together. The new stuff is a bit dirtier – even urban - and less West Coast but is still ravishing, especially when on No Love in Your Heart, the honeyed harmonies kick in, sugaring the aural pill. The Earlies are wilful and determined to do what they want, which may hold their career - as far as venue size goes - back, but in the meantime, they are having great fun making music that is capable of being equal to anything Manchester has ever produced. | 
