April 28, 2008

HeartsRevolution

The Revolution starts… here. Club NME, KOKO, London (April 11)

Beware; those who enter the HeartsRevolution world may never leave. Ben and Lo’s music takes hold of you with its silvery, digital clutch – cut’n’paste, overlapping beats, dream-like synths and mantra lyrics – and never lets you go. The duo vibe off each other, their intense chemistry bouncing off the sweat-soaked walls of KOKO. The obvious comparison is Crystal Castles but, unlike the cold, entrancing robotic distance of Alice and Ethan, Hearts’ vibe is much deeper, much more human. Indeed, the likes of ‘CYOA’ (“You say you want a revolution/ I’d like to know why… chose your own adventure NOW!”) give the 8-bit scene an emotional resonance it’s never had before. But with HeartsRev, it’s not just about their music: art-school guru Kate Moross joins the band onstage to provide a Warhol-like touch, her projections of frayed, fluoro images providing a brilliant foil to the band’s Atari Teenage revolution. Tonight’s show is a sonic/visual mindmeld, jumping into NME’s REM-deficient brain and taking us on a trip out of our consciousness.

Priya Elan

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