Live: The Young Republic @ Cargo, 2nd November

On the last night of their tour The Young Republic came to London with Coventry-based support band Don’t Move!  The two bands hit Cargo on a Monday night, but the atmosphere positively reeked of Friday and the audience was treated to an energetic extravaganza of an evening.

Don’t Move! (an exclamation mark in a band name is always a good sign) kicked off the evening with a variety of sounds so wide-ranging it’s a bit like listening to a really well-researched musical encyclopaedia.  Beatles-style hooks, hints of sugary 60s pop, a few bass-led funky numbers, 80s Indie and occasional reggae refrains hang together beautifully to produce altogether unusual sound.

The Young Republic are another band with an encyclopaedic collection of influences and a hefty back-catologue from which to draw.  Their set was a triumph of stylistic accomplishment, highlights of which included “spooky jazz” track ‘Sam Clemens’, stomp-fest ‘Black Duck Blues’ and a searing performance of ‘Balletesque’, title-track of their newest album (review here).

The band left the stage to rapturous applause, and returned for an encore.  Don’t Move returned to the stage to combine with The Young Republic and become… Spooks-a-Lot and the Spooktastics.  What then occurred was a thing of beauty that few will ever witness: a cover of the Ghostbusters theme with string section, accordion and bass providing the melody, enhanced to supreme effect by a fully choreographed dance routine.  It is not possible to have more fun on a Monday night

Words: Helen True