mv & ee

Warming up the venue in its lava-lamp glow are the tiresome tunes of The Doozer, who receives some heckling – not the usual procedure for a folk gig. His set is awash with film like swathes of keyboards but they are indistinct. Pekko Kappi follows up with an entirely different brand of folk, all the way from Finlandia. Playing an alluring lyre and filling the air with lullabies, it’s a dreamy atmosphere with exotic qualities, although it fails to set the night on fire. With a welcome addition of some sturdy Meg White rhythm section, MV & EE look to enliven the now standing gaggle, starting as they do with some blissed out southern soul rock. ‘Easy Living’ is a slung out ditty of slide guitars and spaced out harmonica blues that defines their set nicely. A searing Leadbelly cover follows, replacing Matt Valentine’s gentle growl with Erika Elder’s softer intonation, and it feels like the set is coming up for air. However it soon becomes lost in a wealth of noodling. The loose timing and overlapping tunes would be freeing were it not for their lack of pitch. ‘Our Religion’ cements their plummet into dulling, meandering themes. Occasionally things begin to look promising, but the music never quite wins over; the night is lost to an over zealous tack with instruments. If Barratt and Fielding ever run out of scenes to de-style, psych-folk could be well within their comedy mits.