Last Wednesday (January 26), I had the unexpected pleasure of going to see Ex Libras play at 93 Feet East in Brick Lane. In short, I found them exhilarating and charming. These three unassuming young guys shuffled on to the stage and then totally let rip with a massive, mature sound.
Their endless list of influences could stretch from Radiohead to Puff Daddy with deep rooted foundations in heavy rock, and a touch of Brand New about them. They were visually interesting and filled the stage with charisma, all clearly really enjoying themselves, as were the crowd (myself included). Musically they were in complete control of the ethereal and spacious sounds, with no hint of the rock n' roll haphazard about them.
The Mars Volta-style seamless transitions between songs were aided by unusual and above all absolutely wicked drum patterns. Vocally, Amit Sharma is stunning. It's a voice that cannot be ignored, and when coupled with heavy rock guitar and modern-classic keyboards the whole sound sticks together like toffee and glue. They are all technically great musicians with a wonderful sort of sweet, calm, grunge vibe about them, using unusual time signatures and unexpected key changes to keep the audience guessing, but at all times keeping them dancing.
Up next were Anison who, when choosing tracks on X-fm last Monday, put Ex Libras smack bang in the middle of their set. They came across with a similar buzz but a very different sound.
Anison were very exciting to listen to, playing a much more mainstream and accessible sound, with single after single rushing out. Anison is a less experimental outfit than Ex Libras, but still largely different to most things we've heard.
The overall feel was a beautiful, loud and sensitive play-off between traditional rock instruments and Muse-esque vocals. This kind of accessible rock is very popular in up-and-coming bands, with grunge rearing its handsomely ugly head once more. And I for one am fucking chuffed.
I left the gig wanting to listen to both Anison and Ex Libras' recordings – which I have been doing with devil may care abandon ever since, and I strongly suggest you do the same.
But if you haven't made a point of doing so already, I insist you make a point of listening to "Teenage Eyes", "For Us, For Me" and "Underachiever" by Ex Libras, and I also thoroughly recommend looking out for "Sail Back to Sleep" and "The Colour Red", by Anison.
