Watch out, the secret’s out
THE SLOW READERS CLUB AT NEWCASTLE RIVERSIDE, THURSDAY, MAY 10 BY PHILIP TALLENTIRE
THERE comes a time when even the best kept secrets begin to leak.
And that’s certainly the case with The Slow Readers Club.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time they crossed over from cult act to best emerging group in Britain.
But it could well be when they supported fellow Manchester outfit James two years ago on the Girl At The End Of The World Tour.
A huge buzz built around the band as each performance added yet more new supporters to a growing fanbase and, from them, word of mouth recommendations spread like a benign virus.
Those converts were won over by a mixture of infectious hooks, pulsing synths, driving rhythms and soaring choruses from four talented and committed Mancunian musicians.
Incredibly, The Slow Readers Club were, until recently, an unsigned band. Yet their two albums, a self-titled debut released in 2011 and its 2015 follow-up Cavalcade, sounded effortless, inventive, polished and, as a bonus, came chock full of anthemic gems.
Block Out The Sun, Follow Me Down, Feet On Fire, I Saw A Ghost and Plant The Seed are just some of the standout tunes that have won the band their fanatical following.
A ferocious work ethic has seen The Slow Readers Club – who all have daytime jobs – cover the length and breadth of Britain building an audience that grows with each tour.
And, on home turf in Manchester, they have made the step from small clubs to sell out shows at the Academy 3 in 2015, to the 1,500-capacity O2 Ritz 18 months later, to the Albert Hall, which was packed out with more than 2,000 fans in November.
Their latest nationwide jaunt started in Cardiff last week and will stop off at the Newcastle Riverside on Thursday, May 10, before concluding in Stoke at the end of the month, though they’ve got festival dates booked in for the summer.
The tour coincides with the release of their third album Build A Tower and the band are featuring plenty of new material, as well as fans’ favourites, in their latest live set.
Those yet to catch the band will be interested to know their influences include the Killers, Interpol, Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division, among others. But the sound isn’t derivative, it has a grandeur all of its own.
Singer Aaron Starkie’s remarkable range includes a falsetto to die for and, on guitar, his brother Kurtis plays intricate and addictive arpeggios that provide an epic palette for the vocals to weave around.
Meanwhile the rhythm section – Jim Ryan and David Whitworth – contribute the bedrock of the sound but also inventive bass lines and drum patterns that set the band apart from many of their less adventurous contemporaries.
Build A Tower is the first album with their new label Modern Sky UK and the lead off releases from the record, including the monumental Lunatic, suggest The Slow Readers Club’s seemingly inexorable rise will continue unabated. Catch them while you can at an intimate clubs because, as we’ve seen in Manchester, once word gets around they soon graduate to bigger venues.
To order the Build A Tower album or buy tickets (£15 each) for The Slow Readers Club gig at Newcastle Riverside on May 10, visit www.theslowreadersclub.co.uk