Guillemots @ The Liquid Room

Fyfe Dangerfield seems less animated than he was this time last year. Perhaps the 'demotion' of tonight's gig from the cavernous Corn Exchange to the Liquid Room has dampened his spirits. It soon appears a wise move though, and not just for audience size, as the Guillemots fail to pull off a convincing show even in these cosier confines. There are some precious moments; Made Up Love Song's mystical forlornness particularly tingles and a solo-effort from Fyfe, keyboard slung around his neck 80s style, is treated with such hushed reverence that even the air-conditioning is turned off. However, for every step forward they take one back. One song particularly galls with the sort of 'ska' that makes those quotation marks almost palpable. Then, just when it seems things have evened out, an unnecessary and wholly awful encore of Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, with saxophone solo, gives the whole game away. What a pity. [Darren Carle]