poppedmusic

Young Kato

Studio 2 Liverpool, April 20th 2015

Words: Gary Lambert

Studio Two in Parr Street is more traditionally the new home of jazz and other such grown up genres so it was quite a surprise to see Young Kato lined up to play there in support of their forthcoming album, Don’t Wait Til Tomorrow. This six piece of electronic indie pop filled the carpeted stage of the venue like an almost-finished jigsaw, hemmed in by a young, excited audience.

With only two weeks between the performance and release of their debut album, it was not just the audience who were excited. If the performance was not so professional and polished then I think all six members of the band would have been bouncing off the walls You could feel the excitement in the air.

As you would expect the focus was on doing the marketing for their new album, but the set was not just a run through of a CD with added sweat and volume. Tracks from their debut EP and early singles such as Break Out were mixed with new songs like Runaway and Remedy. The enjoyment for all concerned was massive.

One thing which stood out for me was the band’s Bono-esque ability to tread the corporate path. We all knew that we were there so that Young Kato could boost interest in their forthcoming album as it was regularly mentioned. This was actually quite positive for me. This is a band that wants to sell records and do something with themselves, not just write music for friends and a handful of fans in order to be “for real”.

As part of that promotion, anybody who had pre-ordered the album was invited back for an acoustic bonus set under a staircase behind the main room. Here I went from impressed to blown away. I can understand giving the fans a bit more, but maybe I was naive in not expecting how good this would show off the band in particular their curly-haired lead singer who, without microphone and dancing, sweetly crooned through a few of their fan favourites including the song that got them famously on Made In Chelsea, Life’s Good.

Life’s Good started life in shed in Guildford, who knows where it could take these guys to. But I tell you one thing, they are going to be propelled by effort and ambition.