Let’s get it out of the way early: Bands hailing from Oxford and its surrounds are often burdened with inevitable Radiohead comparisons, and newcomers Spring Offensive are no exception. The tendency to relate everything musical to its regional precursors is unnecessary, and more often than not misleading since in recent times, Oxford has served up a certain sound that owes as much to a DIY mentality and out-of-London spirit as to any musical affiliation to Thom Yorke and co. Foals, Jonquil, Stornoway et al have all found their own paths to varying degrees of success after emerging from the fertile musical soil of Oxford.
Already earning themselves a hefty live reputation, this first show in Brighton (sandwiched in the middle of what is a pretty diverse three band bill) is a chance to see if the five-piece can convey their occasionally bleak, often uplifting, fascinating and ultimately beautifully played music in a live setting. In truth, it takes approximately two minutes to realise that here is a band destined for bigger and better things in the future. Fronted by the imposingly tall but amiable figure of lead singer Lucas Whitworth (who slips his shoes off to perform the set in socks), the quintet display not only a quiet confidence that stems from a shared musical vision and the technical ability to turn that vision into transcendent music, but a sense of humour and mild mannered enthusiasm that’s liberating in an age where indie music often places swagger ahead of substance. Here is a band where you sense immediately that it is all about the music.
While Spring Offensive have already been specifically compared to Radiohead, they musically only have a passing resemblance to that band, having as much in common with the other Oxford bands already mentioned — a dash of math rock, some folkishly harmonious acapella moments and rhythmic shifts aplenty. Make no mistake though, melody is always king with Spring Offensive. The twin guitars interweave to stunning effect, chiming melody lines in unison or weaving together a tapestry of sound, while drummer and bassist create a canvas on which the rest of the band can flesh out the breathtaking shades of light and dark that make the band so exhilarating. “Every Coin” serves as a good indication of what the band is about, a simple drum and vocal opening building and surging into a gloriously melodic chorus, while the song also hints at the band’s intriguing lyricism. These are intelligent young men, and the lyrics are central to, and inseparable from the music, which adds layers of slow-releasing impact to the songs. In what is only a relatively short set of around half an hour, inevitably the centre-piece is the stunning new opus “The First of Many Dreams About Monsters”, which clocks in at a tidy 13:22. The song, which uses Kubler-Ross’s grief cycle as its creative inspiration, runs the full range of tempo and power, from softly-softly to walls of noise, from gentle jazz infused guitar to full-blown thunderous rock-out. It is, quite frankly, a staggering work of brilliance from a band so young.
It is no exaggeration to say that of all the bands who have played Brighton this year, Spring Offensive are the most wonderful revelation of them all, a band with creativity to burn and technical talents to match. How far they can go and how much they can achieve is uncertain, but what is clear is that this is a band with the gifts required to make some spectacular music. And that, in itself, is excitement enough to be going on with.
