Live Review: Louis London, Davey Lane

Davey Lane of You Am I fame kicked off the evening with a stellar display of craftsmanship. In essence, it was just great pop-rock music: catchy vocal hooks, with energetic drums and a varied palette of guitar and keyboard parts (provided by a very tight backing band) to keep things moving. It's refreshing to see a band who aren't occupied with mashing up genres or recreating bygone eras; while there's a large place in my heart for that sort of thing, the kind of timeless pop songwriting that fuelled Lane and band's set felt pleasantly sincere. Bound To Break Me was a terrific piece of Teenage Fanclub-esque power pop, whilst Last Of The Freakazoids brought things to an exciting peak.
Sydneysiders Louis London began their set with a smooth, delicately balanced piece which gradually built from a slow, minimalistic groove to a heart-racing, grandiose rock ballad. Lead singer Ed Saloman's voice is clearly the centrepiece of the band, and it packs an awesome, gutsy punch. However, while the band's dramatic, anthemic choruses (a staple of almost all of their songs) are made a thousand times more effective because of it, the softer sections, like bridges and cool-down moments that (should) add colour, often seemed to suffer under its weight.
It felt as though the band were pushing too hard for 'Big Epic Moments', instead of letting their developing songcraft speak for itself. There's a certain loftiness to the band's music, which, at its worst, makes the dizzying highs feel unearned, and dissatisfying. But at its best, it seems like a real feat, an 'Actual Spectacle'. Moments of greatness shined through on newer tracks: the laidback summery vibe of We're Not Alone provided a breath of fresh air. However, even the set's strongest moments felt like hints at potential that hadn't been achieved yet. The young band is wearing shoes that are a few sizes too big; but hey, they might just grow into them.