Spending your Saturday night watching unsigned bands is always a bit hit and miss – you may well find a diamond, but will more likely just find more rough. However having recently been introduced to Chris Corner (formerly of Sneaker Pimps) and his project IAMX (that is to say very recently..... like 48 hours ago) I had at least some idea of what to expect.
The venue filled up very nicely early on, helped in no small part by the first act,
The Lost Generation, bringing along a modest but vocal cadre of loyal fans. Hailing from Fife the indie rock trio did a surprisingly good job of warming the place up, to the extent that they squeezed in a cheeky extra song after the end of their time slot to placate the crowd who were fairly insistent on an encore. True much of this can be attributed to that small group of fans I mentioned earlier, however the rest of the crowd seemed all too happy to hear another track. Frontman Mike Clark even had a fairly decent crack at playing a solo with his teeth, in what I'm led to believe is a sort of signature move for the band – he might have looked like an absolute tool doing it, but the crowd lapped it up. In terms of the actual music The Lost Generation come off somewhere between Ocean Colour Scene (this is particularly apparent on their track
Blame It On The Gun) and late 90's Bon Jovi. With a Fife accent. Which is probably a strange concept when you try to imagine it.
After a short break
Daggers took the stage. These guys are an eclectic mix of dirty electro with a strong rock beat, and possessing of an energy on stage you so rarely see with any sincerity. Actually, I'll qualify that – the rest of the band could be rooted to the spot and no one would notice, since singer Theo appears to be everywhere at every time. Wide eyed and just a little unhinged, he has that ' Sid Vicious' thing going, and the rest of the group just wisely stayed out of his way. That would actually be my only real criticism of the performance – Theo drew so much focus I actually had to keep checking that Daggers did indeed have another four members up there. Musically the band did very well indeed, despite lacking the same level of crowd support as their predecessors. The highlight for me was
After Midnight, which filled the venue with a Numan-esque frenzy of electro indulgence. Certainly one to watch.
A few technical glitches kept
IAMX from making their scheduled slot by about 20 minutes, which is often an irrecoverable faux pas on the unsigned circuit, however the crowd seemed more or less sympathetic and only a few failed attempts at a slow clap suggested otherwise. When the group finally got going they opened with the title track to the new album
The Alternative. It's a strong track, with one of those melodramatic choruses that gets everyone really involved. Chris Corner's stage presence certainly helps him out here, bounding and twirling like some skeletal madman and infusing the audience with a sort of mild hysteria. His fellows on stage were likewise animated, grinding to their own beat and never once seeming disinterested or lethargic. The technical performance was excellent, drawing barely a thread of difference between live renditions and studio productions throughout. During their one hour set IAMX blasted through a few old favourites from their first album,
Kiss & Swallow, but more heavily favoured tracks from the new release,
The Alternative. Of particular note was my (and apparently also the crowds') favourite track
President, where the chorus was belted out in fairly impressive volume by the assembled masses. In such a small venue this sort of interaction feels even more significant, and I'm sure this was not lost on the band either. If you've never heard IAMX before then let me give you a quick overview of what you're missing: synth-pop, heavy on the pop. Think Muse mixed with Depeche Mode and sprinkled with Apoptygma Berzerk and you're starting to get there. Closing the set with new single
Spit It Out, IAMX rose to a thundering crescendo and exited the stage in a whirlwind of synth and applause. Strong cries for an encore were obliged with two more tracks, going a long way towards making up for the late start.
All in all, a thoroughly successful night was had and a few new songs need to be tracked down on iTunes at my end. I'm not sure any of the nights' acts are quite ready for the next step up, but it certainly wont be too much longer especially for IAMX. Comfortable in their underground niche for the moment, keep an eye out in case
The Alternative proves to be their big break.
http://www.myspace.com/thelostgeneration http://www.myspace.com/daggersuk http://www.myspace.com/iamx
IAMX + The Lost Generation + Daggers at King Tuts (22 September 2007) 
