The Dome, Tufnell Park
The eclectic punk act from Atlanta braved the conditions of a stormy night in London, yet failed to seize the moment for the huddled masses.
On paper, there are few acts similar to a band such as Algiers: brandished a modern ‘post-punk act’, their sound intricately pulls from the heart-ache of gospel and the eclecticism of electronic, fronted by the enigmatic and soulful persona of Franklin James Fisher.
For many tonight, this alluring elixir is the reason why they’ve arrived in Tufnell Park in the middle of a blustery, rain-fallen string of evenings in March. Unfortunately, The Dome scarcely provides a habitable place during times like these: notorious for its shoddy sound system, bare-bones lighting rig and awkward stage-audience layout routed at an inconvenient L-shape.
It was on these laurels that tonight’s tempestuous act rested on and ultimately suffered for it. The intricacies at play amongst their latest repertoire, primarily their recent 4th LP Shook, disintegrated away within ‘73%’ - inept of dividing the multiple sonic layerings and exacerbated by Fisher’s vocals caked in a washed-out, drowning reverberation effect. When the act needed it the most, the guitar lines proved inaudibly distant at times, fading into the background for ‘Irreversible Damage’ and ‘A Good Man’, and failing to capitalise on their brand of anarchic authority on the North London crowd.
Having collaborated with the likes of Rage Against the Machine’s Zack De La Rocha, experimental rappers Billy Woods and Backxwash, and the eclectic composer-poet Moor Mother, the very basis of an act such as this should situate them at the forward-looking curvature of today’s punk scene. Yet where many of the aforementioned entice and engage their audiences, Franklin & Co failed to produce an extra spark to ignite the tenuous embers amongst this gathered mass: much needed was some impromptu audience participation, inclusive crowd interaction, or surge of physical energy - any such would do.
Instead, the act attempted to incite some thought-provoking statements and images on the backdrop screen, protruding through the silhouetted figures on stage, whilst consistently wrestling with the inept lighting rig throughout: “Can we just have some red light please?”.
The double-team drumming arrangement proved to be Algiers’ saviour, bolstering the best of their abilities at the right moments: stomping through ‘Bite Back’s hammering bridge section; carrying ‘Blood’s soulful cries as a defiant ring which could carry as its own anthem. Whilst Franklin’s vocals waned within such moments, overall it provided one of the most enticing elements to their repertoire - a main source of inspiration for those braving the weather tonight.
Algiers may not reach the heights of their contemporaries, perhaps proven tonight, but their enticing brand of post-punk placed within the spheres of soul, gospel and electronic (think of a modern Kraftwerk mixed with Rage Against the Machine, Neu and Fela Kuti) kept us warm and consoled for a brief moment on a stormy night in the capital.
5.5/10
Algiers' latest LP, Shook, is out now on Matador Records and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Miro Hudak whose work can be found here.
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