Live Review: Buckley Ward - The Toff In Town

It's tempting to do something, anything, to redirect the masses en route to the rooftop bar to the bandroom instead. The quality of opening acts lately has been brilliant and tonight is certainly no exception. The Neighbourhood Youth's set is lively and innovative, experimenting with disco-drum patterns, melodic textures and sharp vocals. Their indie-rock sound is stadium big, one deserving of a much larger crowd than tonight's civil group. It's also refreshing to hear comprehensible lyrics right throughout, with, “You're my only one,” bound to break a few hearts along the way. I'lls drop the pace with their Radiohead-inspired collection, complete with silky harmonies and earthy rhythms. They conclude the set to a packed room playing When I Know off their EP Thread, a few copies of which are sure to sell at the merch table tonight. 

The headliners tease us with a soundcheck from behind the red curtain. Here to launch their album So Pretend, five-piece Buckley Ward are unveiled onstage to a huge applause. Like staring down a barrel, lead vocalist Jimmy Allen has an intense gaze that's hard to ignore. What's more, if you focus on it hard enough, you can somehow hear what he's hearing and zone out the crowd, making the experience all the more intriguing. Although the alt.pop act are in the middle of their album launch tour, it's definitely not the first time they've hit the road, having previously supported comparable up-and-comers Big Scary and San Cisco. Tonight, however, they look apprehensive during the first half of their set. The expansive crowd is perhaps to blame, engaged in their own conversations and battling to be heard above the music.   

Midway through, the band become more comfortable, humorously baiting their fans with, “This song's gonna be so rock'n'roll, I'm gonna lose my glasses!” Their sound marries that of both supports, blending alt.pop and rock with rich hooks and euphonic harmonies. They're young and fresh and if the crowd is anything to go by, have a widespread appeal. Title track So Pretend is a smooth-sailing gem and sounds like a mash-up between Youth Group and Guineafowl, blending all the right elements of the two. However In To The Darkening Blue is what everyone has come to hear, a breezy pop number with verses that hold the same weight, if not more, than the chorus. It's addictive and the perfect closer.