Austin, Texas, would you believe it, has long been famous for its abundance of live music and has even been crowned the “Live Music Capital of the World”. Any night out in Austin offers countless venues to satisfy any tastes, both of the swarming students in town as well as other left-of-centre residents, all flocking in from neighbouring parts of the state into this oasis of culture. This, of course, means high competition for any local band, and much credos for those making it outside the local scene.
The word-of-mouth acclaim for Austin based Voxtrot took its time to reach the UK, inasmuch as one can separate the global internet based music market into countries, but now that it has it seems highly unlikely there’s any stopping it. The band encompasses that time and place factor which might just make them impossible to overlook.
Having already supported the Arctic Monkeys, Vines and Dirty Pretty Things in the UK and played alongside such super cool figures as Loudon Wainright III, Blonde Redhead and The Shins in the US, they are now in the process of further establishing a loyal following here and in Europe. Their first album released in May this year on Playlouder - part of the label-devouring Beggars Group - is clearly an accomplishment savoured by the band, as previous EP releases created the necessary buzz and received high praise, but were not quite enough to break that top-surface crust of the underground scene.
November in Hoxton proves to be a fitting backdrop for their first London date – gloomy on the outside, glitzy on the inside. And the Hoxtonites are unable to control their usual cool in anticipation for the evening’s performance at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.
All change for the support bands – those billed do not actually perform. Instead we get Godwits with their Celtic fairground carousel tinkles and heavy melancholy drums, like a funereal procession. And death, as their bassist points out, is a central theme in their songs. Very beautiful, but also hazardously veering towards mobile-phone advert territory.
The room is now full of your garden variety trendies – passive-aggressive energy, big attitude but no courage to act on it – mainly lunging elbows and subtle kicking. The tallest swarm to the front leaving the shorties craning their necks at the back. Those who bully, win.
Voxtrot take the stage. The most consistent thing which can be said about their sound right from the off is that it’s inconsistent. All very familiar, their songs are like bits of your all-time favourites sewn together into a patchwork quilt medley. The Smiths come to mind almost at once, with Johnny Marr in tow. The Beatles, certainly – Sgt Pepper period, that album is a clear influence – proving the case with bassist Jason Chronis’ guitar, which is a Korean imitation of McCartney’s famous Hofner violin-shaped bass. Other sounds from the past engulf, including, curiously, OMD, Lloyd Cole, and Joe Jackson. The lyrics and, indeed, melody structures are operetta-like, packing in layers of melodic complexity and elaborate stories, in the vein of The Divine Comedy – but perhaps without the scope of imagination and foresight.
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Of course, the favourites are all here – new single Firecracker, Soft and Warm – risking a momentary lapse into Mr Blue Sky, Your Biggest Fan, Start of Something, and from the new album some pogo inducing numbers like Brother in Conflict and Kid Gloves as well as Ghost, filling the room with glitter-ball shimmers with its Eurovision winning qualities. ‘What do you guys wanna hear?’ Asks cultish blog-master front man Ramesh Srivastava and the crowd responds with a barrage of ‘Steven!’, for which they will have to wait for the time being.
Ramesh has recently, he reveals, had an operation which prevents him from too much stage acrobatics, but Chronis’ infectious stage leaping and minor headbanging soon causes him to throw caution to the wind, and he cannot help but ignore his doctor’s orders. Mitch Calvert on guitar puts the final touches to a sweeping and harmonious orchestration. The crowd does not drop its cool entirely but they are visibly torn between façade and fun.
Voxtrot love what they do. They have real zeal and are anxious to demonstrate Ramesh’s songsmithing skills. One must speculate whether this group of musicians, passionate about their creations though they are, might have their hands in too many pies, and whether their craft may not benefit from some simplicity.
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