Chvrches: Live at the Olympia

There’s no doubting where the glam quotient resides in Glaswegian synth-pop trio Chvrches. With foxy singer Lauren Mayberry flanked by bandmates Iain Cook and Martin Doherty, the dynamic is akin to walking into your house and discovering two workmen either side of a gorgeous pop starlet. Indeed, at the end of each song you feel like you should ask the two forty-something blokes, “Are those synths sorted yet?”

Chvrches have enjoyed notable success with their debut album, last year’s The Bones Of What You Believe, which charted in Ireland and the US, and went top ten in the UK. The packed Olympia is further evidence of their popularity. But whilst Chvrches are impressive, the gig never really achieves lift-off.

The trio supplement their basic electro-pop template with some nice stylistic deviations, touching on elements of glitchy electronica, thumping house and even NIN/Depeche Mode-style cold wave. Whilst Cook and Doherty are given their George Harrison allotment and contribute a song each, there’s no doubting who the star of the show is, and Mayberry turns in powerful performances on the hits ‘Recover’ and ‘The Mother We Share’, both terrific slices of emotionally-charged synth-pop. That said, Mayberry is a curiously restrained performer, and remains somewhat static throughout, never venturing out on the wings or achieving a true sense of abandon.

Also, Chvrches lack a true classic in the vein of The Knife’s ‘Heartbeats’ or Crystal Castles’ ‘Crimewave’, and the necessarily short and sweet nature of a first album gig means it’s hard to build momentum. Following an encore comprised of album closer ‘You Caught The Light’ (making its live debut) and their usual set finale ‘By The Throat’, Chvrches call it quits without ever scaling the heights.

Maybe on album number two the group will realise their undoubted potential.