Half Cousin

It is not so often that the support act really grabs your attention. It is also not so often that the audience consists of less than fifteen people. The low showing was a shame as supporting duo Ernest Graham and Emily were brilliantly melodic and soothing, providing wise song-writing and haunting violin instrumentation. Comments on the intimate venue and surroundings aside, Graham manages to release a couple of ‘Thankyou’s’ before launching into their next track. You get the feeling that this could be one of their first gigs outside their native Western isle. The thought of The Big City may scare them, but their music takes them home.

Graham’s voice is the middle ground between Loudon Wainwright and Ronan Keating – in a good way – whilst the acoustic guitar and violin backing are reminiscent of The Wicker Man (1973) soundtrack. Closing the set with a cover of Ray Charles’ Hit The Road Jack may seem daunting but it works fantastically well, providing both a highlight and a performance twenty times better than Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge covers session has ever witnessed.

Half Cousin is a rubbish name for a band. Similarly, 'Iodine' is a rubbish name for an album. However, tonight Half Cousin’s performance of tracks from Iodine is quite often spellbinding. Usually a five-piece, lead member Kevin Cormack goes solo tonight standing alone on the small stage. It takes him a while to warm up but when he does, he is truly on fire.

Over processed beats and electronic loops, Cormack sings, hammers his electric keyboard and plays his guitar with the gusto of a man headlining Glastonbury. He communicates to the audience through his wide eyes, lingering voice and endearingly awkward stage presence. On 'Country Cassette', Hot Chop meets Halloween, which, under the simple red lighting of Blackfriars Basement sounds and looks genuinely spooky. The brilliantly titled Big Chief (The B&B Frequenter)' is a highlight of the more mainstream end of tonight’s showcase, which in live form resembles Radiohead’s recent, pre-In Rainbows material.

Occasionally, Half Cousin are truly mesmerising. However, often they seem much like Radiohead in a way – slightly too artistically profound for their own good and the set suffers because of this. In fact, there are two separate moments from tonight’s show that could be Ross from Friends playing keyboard in Central Perk. Also, hailing from Orkney, it is often difficult to make out the lyrics for a few of Cormack’s tracks. If you thought Alex Turner sang in a strong accent, Cormack triples the stakes in an accent which (bizarrely) is particularly strong on the words ‘drawing’ and ‘shadows’.

By the end of tonight’s set, the closer 'The Absentee' rings aloud in the audience’s ears. With junk yard / early house backing beats reminiscent of Bjork and heavier Chemical Brothers, its repeated refrain of ‘Keep telling me about the same’ will be in everyone’s head for the next three days at least. It is a great song and with more songs like this Half Cousin should find more critical acclaim and (hopefully) a larger audience. One piece of advice though Kevin, lose the hat.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.