Slow Club at The Horseshoe Tavern

Photograph by Neil Van. 

It’s been more a slow burn for Slow Club than a meteoric rise. Where other English bands get pushed to the public by publications like NME or coast in for sold out tours on the strength of catchy singles, the English duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor has taken a more measured, organic approach. The result was less a feeling of attending a “buzzed about” showcase and more the sense that people in the crowd actually enjoy the band and were already familiar with the material. Turns out: that can go a long way.

Opening the Wednesday night show at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern was Nick Mulvey, an English musician with an impressive one-man show. His looped guitar lines recalled perennial Canadian favourite Feist, while vocally Mulvey sounded more Bahamas meets Bombay Bicycle Club – all-the-while coming across as assuring, confident, and collected. 

It’s the type of voice you think you have when you sing in the shower. Generally speaking, you don’t; Mulvey is an exception to the rule, it would seem. He played songs from his 2014 debut First Mind, hooking in the crowd with rich sounding steel guitar on “Meet Me There”. It was a strong Toronto debut from an artist likely worth paying attention to – especially given his recent Mercury Prize nomination for the aforementioned first album. If we’re putting Mulvey in the context of Canada’s recently awarded Polaris Prize, you can probably think of him as England’s Basia Bulat.

Briefly explaining later in his set that he hopes to be back next year (complete with a full backing band) for another show, I’m going to say it now that it’s worth keeping track of where Mulvey is headed… regardless of whether or not he takes home that giant novelty cheque at the end of October.

Slow Club also made mention of awards during their headlining set – albeit an entirely different one than the Mercury. “Who wants to hear songs from our pre-Grammy winning album?” vocalist, guitarist, and occasional drummer Rebecca Taylor joked. 

The mood in the Horseshoe was collegial, Taylor apparently shocked at the high turnout, saying: “I was in a real grump and now I’m not. This is amazing.” Arguably it was the approachable attitude that held up the night rather than the music. 

Vocally, Slow Club has some issues to work out – particularly in the more upbeat, sing-out-your-guts type of moments, where Taylor struggled to stay in key.

The disco beats of “Complete Surrender” – the title track off Slow Club’s third studio album – were fun and altogether ABBA-esque but also distractingly flawed in its vocal presentation. In contrast to that, however, were the slower, more serene moments. Those were the moments that worked.

Harmonies between Taylor and Watson were a high point – “Never Look Back”, from 2011’s Paradise, playing well, as did Taylor’s solo effort on Complete Surrender’s scornful “Not Mine To Love”. 

The audience was also treated to some 60s throwbacks, with doo-wop creeping into the band’s set as the show progressed. Tropical rhythms also snuck in on the fun (but lyrically questionable) “Our Most Brilliant Friends”, from Slow Club’s 2009 Yeah So debut, and the momentum-rousing “If We’re Still Alive” – both of which were numbers largely carried by touring drummer Avvon Chambers and bassist Rob Jones.

It was easy to like Slow Club as a band, given their personable approach to the performance. There was no sense they were taking the crowd for granted and – even though Watson messed up very early on by referring to the city as Montreal and then having to profusely apologize – the audience very much appreciated Slow Club’s surprise second encore. 

Taylor and Watson returned from their 17-song set and moved to the centre of the room, taking everyone through an acoustic “Hackney Marsh”. It was a strong moment to end with and part of the genuine, organic relationship that Slow Club has managed to develop with its fans. However self-deprecating they want to be about it, it goes a long way. It will go even further once the more off-the-cuff vocal aspects are sorted out.