When we left Spector in November 2012, they were sharp suited and playing Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Looking perfectly coiffured, they offered up the final slice of the ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’ pie—with singer Fred Macpherson and his comb still involved in an illicit love affair. Tonight at Sixty Million Postcards we appear to be witnessing the rebirth of Spector. There’s new songs and a new guitarist in the ranks (after the departure of Chris Burman earlier in the year). Oh, and Macpherson’s comb is also conspicuously absent—made redundant by his 180-degree switch on hairstyle.
It’s all through the looking glass sort of stuff.
But before we get to the part about Spector 2.0; we get to see the ‘beefed up’ incarnation of Pale with the addition of an extra guitarist who used to be part of LULS (much to my dismay to see as LULS had been one of my tips of the year). The problem is, even with the added instrumentation, they’ve really not capitalised on the extra dynamic that it could bring and instead leaves Pale sounding just as two-dimensional as my previous encounter with them. Their electro-fuzz is simply just that—fuzz which meanders along without seeming to have much purpose. ‘Too Much’ still remains their stand out track and if they could recreate this formula throughout more of their repertoire then Pale could make more of an impression. As it stands, they still just provide a fleeting buzz that is very much dismissible once their set is over.
Spector, however, have no such problems with being forgotten– even with the relative quiet of their camp over the last 9 months. They are in typically outrageous, over-the-top form despite the image redesign– which begins with Fred leaving an answerphone message for some randomer on an iPhone swiped from the audience and culminates in him jumping into the audience and kissing the guy that heckled for ‘Chevy Thunder‘ all night. It makes for a somewhat unpredictable, yet distinctly memorable evening.
Although ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’ is now over a year old, they still remain as fresh and vibrant as ever. I’ve always believed that Spector sound better live than on record– and tonight certainly reinforced this belief. ‘Twenty Nothing’ is a teenage anthem with sing-along lyrics that both the audience and Macpherson barrel through with aplomb. ‘Celestine‘ sparks with life and energy– and quite easily is one of the set highlights as even the band themselves crack a smile (which, yes, is a rather shocking departure from the seriousness of the previous Spector incarnation)
New tracks ‘Decade of Decay‘ and ‘Reeperbahn‘ sound very much like the band are staying within the same remit which made up the majority of their debut– catchy, upbeat indie behind Macpherson’s twisting, cynical lyrics; the impossible mix of melancholy meets joy. It does, however, seem as though they have brought a little more of the darkness in, channeling the likes of Joy Division. From these early indicators it seems like a winning formula as both tracks easily rival, if not outstrip, anything on their debut album.
Despite the evident improvement to Spector’s musical musings, the new material is still too new to really rile the crowd (undoubtedly one day it will), so it is left up to ‘Chevy Thunder‘ to bring the ruckus which, of course, it does by the bucket-load. Whatever energy the crowd has– it’s all expended in the four minute frenzy which sees the tech team having to hold up the barriers whilst attempting to fish Fred out of the crowd. As ever though it is ‘Grey Shirt and Tie’ that closes the set and though the end of the Spectorum– it still has the same uplifting, euphoric spirit about it.
It’s nice to see that although they no longer look like the same band I saw at the Green Door Store in February 2012, they very much retain the essence that brought us all to Spector in the first place. And, if anything, they’re now back better than ever.
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