Turin Brakes

Not so long ago London based folk duo Turin Brakes were English folk music’s great white hope, occupying a uniquely emotive spot in the UK singles charts with songs like ‘Painkiller (Summer Rain)’ and ‘Underdog (Save Me)’. This suitably intimate gig at Whelans was booked after the March release of their latest album The Outbursts, a promising return to form after a few years marked by tussles with their record label and a diminishing profile.

Armed with well-crafted and suitably moving songs, the band were unfortunately let down tonight by substandard sound that made them hard to listen to, and even, at times, unrecognisable. Song after song featured the duo’s faultless guitars, but they were difficult to make out, with the sound having been tuned so that all the audience could hear was the overpowering bass.

At one point, with the PA system turned off altogether, Olly Knight and Gale Paridjanian, accompanied by their double bass/mandolin player, stood at the front of the stage and played a song which reflected what Turin Brakes fans love about them- simplicity and melody- far more than when the microphones etc. were on. If they’d played whole gig lo-fi the show might have been vastly more enjoyable.

That said, the room was packed out with people, all of whom seemed to be having a brilliant time, getting into the spirit of Knights’ jokes-- “This is a song about having your heart ripped out and fed to your cat, from the cat’s perspective”-- and Paridjanian’s railing against the modern evil that is record companies.

Turin Brakes’ songs are perfect for summer. With a better and more natural balance between the guitars, mics and double bass, the show could have been too.