If the name Clock Opera is currently unfamiliar to many, then going by last night's gig at Electrowerkz, this should change very soon. Managing to come across as - at times - disjointed but simultaneously very catchy, the music certainly makes this four piece stand out from most of its new-bands-on-the-block contemporaries.
Last year's A Piece of String was, on first listen, something of a cacophonous thrill that very quickly proved to be one of 2010's unfairly ignored best singles. Suitably, when the first noises of its intro came on last night, the audience gave the kind of appreciative roar you expect when a well-known artist plays a hugely loved number 1 hit record.
An exciting aspect of Clock Opera's songs is that there's something unpredictable about their chord-progressions and arrangements. Take, for example, the catchiest number in last night's set, the anthemic Belongings. It is, essentially, one of the band's more standard song-structure offerings but, at the end of the day, it's not entirely clear whether it actually has a chorus, as such. What it does have, however, is a tireless refrain of “oh oh oh oh oh oh”s, which the crowd started chanting even before front-man, Guy Connelly, first opened his mouth to sing.
"Once And For All" was no less epic in its live sound and you couldn't help thinking that this sort of song and this sort of band would not be out of place in a large arena, playing to significantly larger crowds.
Earlier in the setlist, "Lost Boys" and "Man Made", showcased Connelly's fantastic live voice but, unfortunately, when it came to set closer (and most recent single), "Lesson No. 7", his voice was totally drowned by the supporting instrumentation. Things picked up again, however, when the encore saw the band debuting a brand new track, "Fail Better". This proved to be an excellent end to a mostly infallible show.
For further listening, check out Clock Opera's brilliant remix of Feist's recent single, How Come You Never Go There HERE.
