Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Cargo | livemusic.fm

After coming onto the scene in 2010 with a few mysterious tracks on Bandcamp, Unknown Mortal Orchestra exploded onto the scene with bloggers going crazy for them, bands name dropping them left right and centre and the track 'Ffunny Ffriends' being played everywhere that had speakers. Fast forward to 2013 and this trio of psychedelic lo fi chasers have released their second beautifully produced, vintage album,  'II'.

It is on the release date of this album that they grace the stage of Cargo to play new and old material alike to a needy and engrossed London crowd. Nielson is a man that knows what he wants in terms of sound and this is evident in both their recorded material and their live show, which displays a crisp analogue touch. From the get go they punch their sound out through rich and impressive guitar playing, with riffs and picking that is clearly loved by all guitar players in the audience, showing an incredible level of skill and professionalism. The bass is full and vibrant and compliments these hook deliciously, allowing the audience to helplessly groove and bob along, never forced and always sincere.

Initially Nielson and co were men of very few words, letting their music do the talking, playing calmly through 'Little blu House' perfectly before switching up to fan favourite, 'Thought Ballune'. It is not until three songs later that Nielson finally opens his mouth to ask the crowd if their rendition of 'No Need For Leader' was 'ok'. By the knowing smiles on their faces and the rapturous response by the crowd it is utterly apparent what the answer to that question is.

New single, 'So Good At Being In Trouble' highlights the almost effortless ability to weave a melody around a song, fixing in a funky falsetto groove and crooning vocals to produce one of the stand out but more subtle parts of the evening. This is very much an opposite to initial hit 'Ffuny Ffriends' Which hammers on it's accented notes in the initial hook before the fuzzy guitar takes over and the crowd is almost encouraged to feel stoned, like we assume the band already are. After playing us out with the closing song of their first album, 'Boy Witch', they go off to come back to an impressive encore including the final song, 'Lucifer Sam', a Pink Floyd cover that suitably rocks the rafters and gives an appropriate ending to an impressive evening.

This was just a taster to the citizens of London of what is to come in the future as they return in May to play The Village Underground. After tonights performance and an impending tour with Foxygen, that will be a show not to miss.