Live: The Megaphonic Thrift @ Ruby Lounge

The Megaphonic Thrift
Ruby Lounge
11^th March
2 stars

The Megaphonic Thrift, an indie shoegaze band from Bergen, Norway, haven’t drawn a massive crowd to their gig at Ruby Lounge. In fact, the headcount is probably around 15.

The male and female voices compliment each other as the echoey vocals harmonise over the rhythmic guitar riffs and, as many sounds mingle together and the stage lights begin to flash, the music becomes enjoyably disorientating. There is an enchanting precision in their deconstruction of guitar melodies but I can’t help dispute NME’s ‘face-meltingly intense’ assessment as they are, simply put, just not that radical.

The strobe lights continue intermittently but the stage remains more or less in darkness which, together with the smoke machine, means we are hardly permitted a glimpse of the band’s faces. This impersonality begins to irk me somewhat, the band simply going from one song to the next with barely a pause between them, a “thank you” if we’re lucky. I’ve always thought the perks of a sparsely attended gig were humour, real engagement and an increased rapport with the band. The Megaphonic Thrift offer us none of that. While some think idle chatter on stage is gimmicky and detracts focus from the music, I am wholly of the opinion that a good dressing room anecdote never undermined anyone’s musical talent.

For me then, although the standard of their pleasant melodic patterns stays constant, their performance lacks excitement. Save for the sole drunken man dancing at the front, band and audience become akin to boys and girls at a school disco, awkwardly evading interaction and gazing, predictably, at their shoes.

The Megaphonic Thrift – Tune Your Mind