Gala Bell of Music Go Music, ICA, London, 22 September 2009
A five-foot-tall hourglass stood on stage, its sands unmoving, when Music Go Music made their London debut at the ICA last night. The prop seemed a wry acknowledgement that the LA band’s sound is rooted firmly in the past.
The core trio of singer Gala Bell, keyboardist Kamer Maza and guitarist Torg, augmented on stage by a rhythm section and two backup singers, serve unashamed, well-crafted, radio-friendly pop that harks back, as others have already noted, to the likes of Abba, Blondie and the Carpenters. In this digital age, where the charts are dominated by beats and samples, MGM are like a breath of fresh air.
Live, the sound is more muscular and driven than on record yet there’s no deviating from the template: keep it tight, keep it simple, keep it up upbeat. No messy solos distract attention from Bell, who has an unforced charisma and a voice that seems to come from a more innocent age, one when Phil Spector was behind a mixing desk rather than behind bars.
It’s dance music, pure and simple, and the audience lapped it up. The next time the band headline in London, I suspect, they will be playing to a sell-out crowd.
Set list: I Walk Alone; Light of Love; Just Me; Love Violent Love; Explorers of the Heart; Reach Out; Warm in the Shadows; Goodbye Everybody
