The Wake

The Lionheart Brothers, straight outta Trondheim Norway, made their way to the Oxford Circus in London on Monday night to play The Social. I had originally intended to take the tube down to Ealing Broadway to watch a match and enjoy some discount pints. I stood at the station, with my Ipod on for some 15 minutes, nose in a book, before I realized there was no longer anyone else waiting. Apparently the message delivered earlier by the station attendant, whose accent was too thick for comprehension, had made clear the breakdown of the Bakerloo Line. Fortunately, I wasn’t entirely alone. There was a particularly short Irish girl who’d also missed the memo. We discussed the matter for a minute, decided to attempt a bus route together. While on the bus, I picked up a copy of the London paper. I flipped to the Entertainment section and was taken by the Lionheart Brothers half page spread. I read the article on them, and decided that, being 50% Norwegian myself, and a full fledged music fan, it was about time I saw a Norwegian band. As I was already quite late for the football match, I decided to check them out instead.

I made it there by 9:30pm, and though the paper had listed a 7pm start, I arrived right in time for the opener. The Social was an oddly shaped venue. It formed a long corridor that split into two paths after only 30 feet or so, with only one of the paths still offering a sightline to the band. The other split off into a bar and couched seating area. As soon as the opener was off, the house DJ took to his booth and blasted ear shattering samples of beeping and feedback. Thankfully, the intermission was brief, and the Lionheart Brothers made it worth the five pound investment.

They delivered an hour long set of Scandinavian delight not tasted since your last bite of buttered and brown sugared Lefse. Each song starts with rolling toms and hectic fills from their chubby drummer, who was positioned facing the band, and closest to the crowd. The two, long blonde haired guitarists offered drifting, collision course interplay amidst thumping synth riffs. The vocals are mostly unintelligible, but the pitch was perfect and the harmonies serene. They blew me away; a great start to my music adventure in London. Definitely a band to watch in ‘08.

Key tracks: “Hero Anthem” and “50 Souls and a Discobowl”

Their album, Dizzy Kiss, is out as of January 14th.