The latest sounds from up-and-coming Dublin rock band director.
Director
Temple Bar Music Centre, Dublin
Actually, Auteur might have been a better name. Such is the singular vision of this four-piece from Malahide that they have conspired to co-direct their videos (which are excellent) and to self-produce their debut album (which is better).
They must be doing something right. We Thrive on Big Cities, a deliciously sharp introduction which veers from jaunty sing-along pop to crunching moments of Sturm und Drang, entered the charts last week at No 2.
In the intimacy of a concert, the group have never exactly seemed relaxed: "Is everybody still having fun?" singer Michael Moloney will ask, with the endearing stiffness of a parent at a kid's party. But as a live act they are never less than tautly professional; always ready for their close-up.
It is hard to decide then whether Director are the least affected band in the country, or the most. When they first emerged, they resembled slightly gauche perfectionists; a couple of years later they now seem like truly gauche perfectionists. Nonetheless, in Moloney - thin, bespectacled, generally looking like president of the chess club - Director have an unusually compelling frontman, where louche is usually rock music's default setting.
His polished baritone gives the plaint of Standing In My Way an airy detachment, and infuses the apparent contentment of I Only Realise with a reverie of depression.
In each case, Eoin Ahearne's guitar dispenses hooks that are alternatively spry melodic embellishments or angry rolls of thunder.
It's this tension between the polite and unruly, the group's tight dynamic, that gives Come With a Friend, She's Saying Things, Man I Imagine and the ferociously propulsive Reconnect their thrilling edge.
Considerably more than the sum of their influences - Pulp, The Strokes, Roxy Music - Director may be a considered band but they're not above playfulness. Encoring with two blissfully ill-advised covers - one of Beck the other of Daft Punk - it seems no matter how considered the shot, Director's mise-en-scène will still leave room for fun. - Peter Crawley
