Far from being a computer software package, Cut Copy are a dance rock three piece from Melbourne, Australia. Like fellow countrymen The Avalanches, they create a type of music that's danceable, blissful and ultimately carefree.
Comprising of lead singer and guitarist Dan Whitford, bassist Tim Hoey and drummer Mitchell Scott, their sound is chiefly synth based, complete with hazy vocals and thick basslines. New Order and Daft Punk are clearly influences, but there's also an otherworldly, all entrancing feel to their music that points to the likes of My Bloody Valentine.
Their latest UK tour has brought them to Nottingham, where they played to a disappointingly sparse crowd in the basement of Rock City. However, although it's quite clear that they're not quite yet a top 40 act, with more performances of tonight's energy and enthusiasm, it shouldn't be long before such a fate occurs. They certainly have the tunes to make it big, not to mention the fact that Whitford and Hoey both look like they've just walked out of a GQ photo shoot.
Things didn't start well it must be said - clearly misjudging the perils of motorway traffic, they arrived in town hours late, meaning that after only appearing on stage at half ten, their set was cut down to just over half an hour. Not to say they didn't make the most of it though; in their allocated time, they managed to air the best material from their recent debut album Bright Like Neon Love, put a smile on the face of many in the audience and generally turn the room into something of a rave, albeit with a mere 75 or so people.
Time Stands Still got things going, as it does on the album, and immediately the room was transfixed. With everyone effectively encapsulated by Whitford's spellbinding vocals, it was an impressive start. Forthcoming single Going Nowhere soon followed, this perhaps their most rock friendly number. With a driving riff combined with a beat not dissimilar to Daft Punk's One More Time, it should make a name for Cut Copy beyond the dance clubs and fashion magazines.
Saturdays appeared mid set, this an up-tempo, feel good, summer friendly floor filler with a decidedly trance like feel to it. As the audience jumped up and down almost uncontrollably, for the duration of the track we were on a beach in Ibiza in mid August, rather than the East Midlands on a dull autumn evening.
The best was saved for last, however - as the curfew drew close, Whitford asked the crowd if there were any particular tracks they would like to hear. Future was the unanimous choice - arguably their finest moment, it's effectively a five-minute homage to New Order, with Whitford's lazy, deadpan vocals sounding much like those of Bernard Sumner. "Will they meet again one day?" Whitford enquired, with an air of hope - after such a premature ending to the set, it would be a safe bet to say every soul in the room hoped he was talking about his band and the audience.
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