Excited to be in Wales for the first time (here, supporting Illuminati Hotties), – though with another visit to Clwb lined up for later in the year – Ducks Ltd have been limbering up by listening to John Cale and Cate Le Bon. As vocalist/guitarist Tom McGreevy informs us more than once, the band call “Toronto, Ontario, Canada” home, but the fact that his songwriting partner Evan Lewis was born in Australia helps to explain why their jangly guitar pop is so distinctly Antipodean in flavour.
Like the output of fellow Torontonians Kiwi Jr, Ducks Ltd’s Carpark Records debut album Modern Fiction is more indebted to the likes of The Go-Betweens and The Clean than The Smiths and the C86 crew. The set essentially treats us to the same song several times (Under The Rolling Moon being one of the few standouts) but it’s heartening to know that indie rock of this vintage and purity remains alive and well.
If the Illuminati Hotties sweatshirts on the merch stand are to be believed, we’re in for a set of “all rip’rs, no skip’rs”. But “I’m always letting everyone down”, sings Sarah Tudzin on Illuminati Hotties’ first song, and sadly expectations are indeed soon dashed. Bright, perky single Pool Hopping comes too early to have much impact and two mediocre slow songs in a row harsh any initial buzz.
The best indie-rock takes on pop-punk preserve the latter’s fizz and hooks, but – as singles entitled post-everything and will i get cancelled if i write a song called, “if you were a man you’d be so cancelled” imply – many Illuminati Hotties tracks are smeared thick with jaded millennial irony. Joni: LA’s No.1 Health Goth and MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA boast bratty chantalong choruses that animate the crowd, but all too often spark is sacrificed for smirk, lost beneath listless LA cool.
The highlight of the evening is the between-song back-and-forth with the audience. “If we were to see one thing in Cardiff, what should it be?” asks Tudzin. “Techniquest!” comes the reply. Illuminati Hotties’ latest album is called Let Me Do One More, and while there’s a modest queue for merch at the end, there appears to be little appetite on the part of either performers or crowd for an encore.
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Sat 14 May
words BEN WOOLHEAD
APPLICATIONS for spring term 22 are now Closed: If you’re 18-30, live in Wales, and want to get ahead in the creative and cultural industries, express your interest for autumn term.
