Damon & Naomi

So it’s a birthday, there’s a party, and I’m already slightly dazed and confused through alcohol before tackling the steeper-than-your-average stairs descending into the dungeon-like basement of one of Crouch End’s swankiest boozers (for ‘swankiest’ read ‘sells fancy foreign beer that tastes like it’s been poured through a tramp’s sock but must be cool ‘cause nowhere else in this part of town sells it'). They – the stairs – take a 90-degree turn and we’re here… Unfortunately, half of the local townsfolk appear to have beaten us to here.

Y’see, this is a place best suited to sit-down entertainment, most commonly of a comedic kind (see: the Wharhol-like collage of famous faces at the top of those terrifying stairs). It’s absolutely not ideal for a rammed gig, where the low ceiling and filter tips conspire to create an atmosphere that’s not so much expectant but more in need of a little expectorant. We – the birthday girl and a brace of mates – find a corner. And wait.

Damon And Naomi - they of Galaxie 500 past and twee-indie (twindie?) present – have been on for 20 minutes before we really take notice. That’s no criticism of their music, as such; rather a comment on how inebriated one has become through a lack of genuine distraction. D&M are simply too nice for anyone who doesn’t remember G500/anyone who owns only a single D&M album to overly care about their presence. So unassuming are they that it’s too easy to drift into other peoples’ conversations, the slow dynamics of the music only becoming apparent midway through so many songs, when the volume is upped and the vocals become more urgent. Yet that’s a relative sense of urgency – such is the unhurried behaviour of the fleshed-out-to-a-quartet (maybe…?) duo that a slow motion replay of the last five moves of a chess championship might be considered more exciting. Ho-hum…

Yes yes, the music is wonderful – last album standouts ‘Beautiful Close Double’ and ‘A Second Life’ are beautifully rendered – but with so many superfluous distractions, and so much beer in the system, it’s impossible to maintain a recommended level of concentration. We depart after several songs in search of party continuation.

D&M in your home after a tough day: oh yes please. D&M in a smoky hole in the earth during birthday celebrations: oh no thank you.