Live: Childhood

4th October

Deaf Insitute

6/10

Having been working on tracks for over four years, Childhood only released their debut album Lacuna in August of this year. Since the record is made up of an accumulation of songs they’ve been sitting on for a while, Childhood enter onto the stage with an aim to prove the progression of their sound over that time.

This means interspersing catchy riffs with hints of the more experimental, as if dipping in and out of some psychedelic trance. ‘Pinballs’ epitomises this perfectly; progressing louder and louder until what sounds like a spaceship arriving splinters into disarray, butchering the tempo to within an inch of what it was before. This ebbing of fast and slow goes down well and although coming as a sweet surprise first time round, when repeated again in other songs such as ‘Pay For Cool’ and ‘When You Rise’, the magic is slightly lost.

Singer Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s vocals are lyrically indecipherable most of the time, but in songs such as ‘Right Beneath Me’, the dreamy contrast between his deliciously smooth bass and gentle falsetto forgives all with its velvety charm. Saving the best till last, ‘Solemn Skies’ keeps on growing, and this time isn’t reigned in at any point for dramatic effect as with earlier songs, making it somehow more dramatic.

Childhood straddle that fine line between appearing effortlessly cool and just lazy, as their dreamlike sound could be mistaken for blandness. Yet despite being shoved in the corner practically entangled in the backing curtain, it is the synth that takes control in turning potentially plain indie riffs into something quite unique, proving Childhood to be more than just another jangly guitar band.