Galleries

Gliding magnificently somewhere between post-rock, post-punk and... umm... Postal Service, is Galleries. It's beyond all comprehension that Bloc was so empty on Thursday for the band who have apparently existed for over a year. Mind you, it wasn't completely empty. I've seen mighty bands play to far fewer people. But the point remains – Galleries should be a big deal.

They've got that kind of moody, tense thing going on that Interpol do, and Editors are occasionally not bad at. But the electronic sounds put them somewhere different altogether. There's something of I Was A Cub Scout in that, as well as in some of the vocal melodies.

Sometimes they're so epic and atmospheric that the comparisons to Mew and Sigur Ros don't seem bewildering; and at other times they throw in guitar hooks so catchy and radio-ready that they could stand shoulder to shoulder with The Strokes and The Killers.

Their live performance is perhaps not the most engaging of spectacles, but the sound they create is stupefying. They just get everything so magnificently balanced and so beautifully right that it wouldn't matter if they played hidden in cardboard boxes or under bed sheets like budget Halloween ghosts – I'd still watch.

(Someone should make films to project behind them when they play, though. It would be awesome.)

Anyway, Galleries have new songs on their MySpace, and six songs for free download on the Slow Receiver site. They've got a few shows coming up to, but quite frankly not enough. Someone book them for some more, please!

Download free Galleries songs on Slow Receiver
Galleries on MySpace

(Also, a shout out to The Pop Cop, for being how I found out about them in the first place).