Veronica Falls Deaf Institute Manchester 9th March 2012 7/10

Going to live music frequently leads to an addiction, chasing that elusive magical moment when all else ceases to be important. It is a rare pleasure, and when it eludes me, as at this gig, it's difficult not to be disappointed. It was an enjoyable evening, with musical making of a high standard: and only when compared to shows such as Wild Flag's was something lacking. I'm not going to write about the support bands, who produced two thirds of the live music, as they didn't wow me. This was as much down to their style of music, and particularly their vocals, as any lack of skill.

Veronica Falls is a four piece band from London, formed in 2009; the lead vocalist Roxanne Clifford and drummer Patrick Doyle are from Glasgow. They came to prominence last year when their self-titled debut album was released to almost universally positive reviews. Many of their songs have despair laden lyrics, for example Beachy Head about the  notorious suicide spot, but the overall effect isn't downbeat. Whilst some have compared them to mid '80's indie pop, I can also detect some Mamas and Papas influence in the boy girl vocal harmonies, and this lifts the mood. Variety of tempo also avoids monotony.

The small venue was packed, and stood at the front, the vocals were particularly indistinct. This is probably by design, since even on the album the words are often masked by electric guitar, drums and the vocal harmony. The songs tend to be catchy, epitomised by Found Love in a Graveyard, which has a bitter sweat quality, and towards the end of the short set the band moved up a gear. It never really soared for me though: the jangly guitars and reverb soaked vocals stayed resolutely earthbound. 

They aired a new song which sounded bright and poppy; perhaps they want to disprove the misapprehension that they are closet goths, which the drummer denies in this interview. The encore was a well executed Roky cover, but the highlight for me was the song Stephen, a ballad about fictional, near perfect boyfriend. There was certainly a sense of fun in their performance, and whilst their wasn't much banter from the band, they did engage the audience through their music. Definitely a band to watch, and they entertain, which I think is their aim. It's not their fault I was looking to be inspired.