adventures in THE beetroot field: filthy dukes, surkin, xerox teens, friendly fires and late of THE pier

Catering to any and every taste that’s considered up to the minute, it’s well worth a wander through Fabric’s vast landscapes of lasers and projections, as anything from electro clash to new wave and dub step is on offer throughout your ten hour stay. Inspite of this, tonight, it’s all about Room 2 where teenage Liars Club veterans LATE OF THE PIER provide fit-inducing entertainment with their brand of danceable, squeaky electro pop. Flicking between the Pixies-esque sopranos currently favoured by nu rave bands and a compulsive, Curtis-esque drone, they bop about the stage amidst lazers and bubbles in a manner eerily reminiscent of Kraftwerk, clad in UV-charged white. Seeping out of this faint-induced haze, instruments are exchanged, making way for electronically-charged melodic rock solos and a chattering bridge, as the band themselves go off like human alarm clocks. Several minutes/drinks later, St Albans electro outfit FRIENDLY FIRES crash through the end of the interlude to cut up the stage with an eclectic, bass heavy mish mash of twinkling symball, synth and psychadelia a la The Rapture. Staggering about in a navel-exposing lightning bolt t-shirt, vocalist Ed MacFarlane reverts to almost crouching at the foot of the stage to half sing, half shout into the mike held below him- a feat which, in this environment, seems almost impossible to achieve without toppling over in an intoxicated haze, and only accents Friendly Fires’ somewhat juvenile post-hardcore background. Reinforcing the importance of a drunken stumble through the UV abyss that is AITBF, the gap between Friendly Fires and Born Ruffians is filled by an accidental discovery of Parisian remix king, SURKIN’s, blinding Room 1 set of ‘hoodie disco’. Several stellar tunes later and there’s a mad dash for Room 3, where XEROX TEENS (an outfit whose name regularly appears near the top of line-ups, yet who fail to produce anything memorable enough to jog your memory) are entertaining attendees. Opening with a repetitive and unremarkable intro that grates after the sixth bar, their feverish shouting and synth-driven, pulsating art rock should, really, be ideal for a Fabric audience. However, their LCD Soundsystem-esque sound just doesn’t seem distinctive enough for the clientele, especially this late on in the night when sounds are danced to rather than witnessed, when a loud and eclectic edge is demanded to make heads turn. Other than a particularly notable number which features vocals and rhythm work reminiscent of Iggy, Xerox Teens are wholly unremarkable, and, deprived of the flashing lights, bass and beeps they crave, the crowd move on, eagerly anticipating the knee jerking remixes of must-see DJ act FILTHY DUKES.