Live Review: Robert DeLong, Twinsy

Twinsy took a while to get into their groove, and even after four or five songs when they began to look more comfortable it was still hit and miss, especially the lead vocals, which appeared to be hampered by illness. Crowd favourites Water Bombs and Back Of My Car were solid, but Twinsy's writing lacks a little depth, and due in part to the flu were lacklustre live.

In a haze of suspenseful electronic ambience, Robert DeLong took the stage and after a little mix poured out Religious Views. Onstage he builds songs from scratch with an array of effects and vocal loops, slowly adding elements, bringing the tune and atmosphere up with him. His history as a drummer in unknown indie rock bands makes sense when you think about his original take on electronic music.

In its own way each element is a beat, or builds rhythm. Dup-dropped electro pop seeps out of his drum machine, samplers, computers and his range of programmed video game controllers.

DeLong's mature vocals, which have drawn comparisons to Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard, were on song, and in his intelligent lyrics, DeLong has combined indie rock and a fun new brand of electro pop as playful and thoughtful as Modest Mouse, with the track, Few Years Make, a standout.

There are times during DeLong's album, Just Movement, where you may lose interest. Each song is repetitive, and watching DeLong moving between unidentifiable instruments and drum sets live, whilst impressive, falls somewhere short of totally captivating. Though the outer wings of the crowd tried to get into it, a stubborn front section refused to dance. Afterwards DeLong mentioned being unhappy with the set's volume, which may have contributed to the unmovable crowd.

Crowd energy wasn't where it should have been, but Robert DeLong is a one-man band with a plan, and can execute.