Love Of Diagrams

After a few months of near non-stop excitement which saw them signed to Matador and become the eye in a storm of indie media hype, this wasn’t Love of Diagrams’ finest hour. They missed their flight from Melbourne, there’s a problem with the drum pedal and they’re far from happy with some errant feedback. Their sense of agitation is palpable. It’s a shame because their mighty sound – stone cold, sexy and thrillingly raw – survives a muddy mix well enough, and the moments where their twin-pronged vocal attack, gunshot drumming and Sonic Youth riffing collide are spectacular.

Promising to return when they’re not “plagued by technical problems”, they're quickly coaxed back on stage for a two song encore, including a spirited run at early favourite ‘No Way Out’. While this probably wasn’t even the best show they’ve played this week, there was enough pent-up no-wave energy on display to see why Love of Diagrams are creating excitement. There’s an unmistakable forcefulness about their stripped-down songs, the jet-propelled momentum of a band going places.

by Daniel Herborn