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Sky Larkin/Pulled Apart by Horses @ ICA, London- 29/01/2008

Unlike most of his media peers, Huw Stephens is a lovely ginger welsh bloke who you’d love to spend hours with creating a fictional music festival or, failing that, just share a pint with. On top of that he’s a DJ with no other agenda than championing his favourite bands with genuine talent, regardless of media hype or “market potential”. This tour (it has his name on it, this isn’t just a strange ode Huw) brings two such bands to London town.

First on are the Leeds based hypermaniac noise makers, Pulled Apart by Horses. Instantly, the four piece squirm, wriggle, scream and writhe to their jagged, riff heavy brand of rock. “I Punched a Lion in the Throat” ignites the increasingly interested crowd as the song clicks forward a few notches from perfectly reasonable scrappy guitar of the verse to the doom sodden guitar and hell reaching screams towards the end of the song. Everything about Pulled Apart by Horses spells out fun- from their over enthusiastic, but undoubtedly endearing, performance to the songs packed to the brim with detuned guitar riffs, via the way they shout breathlessly, wide eyed and excited, in between each song.

Next on are headliners and also Leeds based threesome, Sky Larkin. It’s been two years since INFTC first saw Sky Larkin play to a half empty room as support to Los Campesinos, and since then they’ve come on leaps and bounds. Although much of their set features songs they’ve been playing for some time, the band now sound much more confident and full.

The band play through the majority of their long awaited debut album- “The Golden Spike”- which, although it may not actually be released yet, is greeted by the packed ICA with smiles and small bursts of very shy dancing. “Fossil, I” goes down a treat with it’s waves of crisp melodic guitar and soaring vocals while  “Summit” slips from the band to the crowd effortlessly with the smooth, cleansing verse breaking out gloriously into the fuzzy, anthemic chorus. This is the sound of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs taking Jack Penate’s tuneful pop streak and slapping it around a bit.

Though Sky Larkin may not be in the same league as PABH when it comes to the energetic performance, it matters not. They can really let the strength of the songs do the talking. Singer and guitarist, Katie, is like the nervous new kid at school who somehow manages to make everyone laugh- she’s clearly enjoying herself, albeit with a slightly shy and bemused demeanour. The drummer, Nestor, however has no lack of confidence. He smashes his drum kit furiously while making what can only be described as the weirdest sex faces ever, marking the perfect contradiction with the loveable and somehow pure music the band as a whole make.

The most recent single, “Beeline”, turns out to be the highlight of a brilliant set. The way it bounces enthusiastically and chops between the different sections before breaking down and building back up at the end makes it impossible not to love.

Before we know it, the set is finished. Despite the fact that the crowd are eerily silent between songs and there’s a feeling that someone ultra arty, and basically shit, is stood judging you from behind means everyone’s a bit too scared to dance, Sky Larkin can still count this gig as a huge success. Their brand of alternative pop is pretty uninvolved with any musical group right now and the unpretentious, life-affirming sound is one that must actually be a genuine struggle not to enjoy.

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http://www.myspace.com/skylarkinskylarkin

http://www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses

The Golden Spike is out Feb 9th on Wichita. Go, go, go and get it!