GIG REVIEW: welcome to the weird world of Happyness - Birthdays, 4th February //

for fans of: Mac Demarco, Wilco, Diiv, The Fat White Family, Honeyblood

(photo creds: Michael Jamison @ inthejunkyard)

Down the depths of Stoke Newington Road (well, about a ten minute walk from Dalston Kingsland station) is a disgustingly cute little bar called Birthdays. Being in the general Dalston / Stoke Newington / Islington / Shoreditch area, it's like a watering hole for hipsters. Standing outside drawing smoke out of their roll-ups were a sea of half-fringes, top knots, and Stan Smiths in the shadows of the awning lights.

Underneath the main bar, the bass throbbed with the rumblings of bold, self-confessed DIY rock outfit Nai Harvest. Hailing from Sheffield, it's unusual that they'd pocketed the support slot when a large chunk of the audience appeared to have been there for them rather than the main act. Statistically Nai Harvest are more popular: on average their angsty sounds attract slightly more Spotify traffic, they have four times the amount of Facebook likes, and are much easier to find on YouTube. Yet it is Happyness who had the honour of headlining this particular NME Award show. Other headliners of NME Award shows throughout the first quarter of 2015 include La Roux, Drenge, and the live return of The Cribs, however Happyness are the freshest, sprightliest young band of this crop.

The South London trio are Brooklyn-ready, having only just recently signed to cult label Moshi Moshi - previously nurturing big names such as Eagulls, Kate Nash, and Disclosure. As a welcome gift, the band explained in a slow, mumbled drawl how the label bought them drinks and a keyboard, which they exercised for the first time during the live debut of Regan's Lost Weekend (Porno Queen) - a dreamy piano ballad that manages to burn in one slow, steady swoop while paced by acoustic undertones.

Though none of the audience past the second row could see much else but 66.6% of the band - and even so, only their bobbing heads were visible over the crowd - they still managed to exude a very endearing stage presence. Their clumsy transitions and stuttering crowd talk was masked by their Dr Jekyll effect: Happyness manage to spout two very different sounds. There's no in between in their extremes: they produce either flossy garage turmoil or provocative dark-pop. The latter seemed to conjure the most rhapsodic reaction, particularly concerning brooding ballad Montreal Rock Band Somewhere / (one of my top 22 tracks of 2014).

photo creds: Michael Jamison

Among the crowd, I'd never seen so many long-haired men congregated in one place. Their curls bounced on their shoulders as they bopped around to beefed up versions of tracks from Happyness' aptly-named debut Weird Little Birthday - set to get its third reissue in March. Though their live sound is yet to be properly fulfilled - it still feels a tad empty and amateur - they still managed to amplify the sonically enjoyable but simultaneously super strange It's On You and tongue-in-cheek Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same into powerful little ditties. Bright grunge cheekiness may not be so evident in the greasy purr-a-long Baby, Jesus (Jelly Boy), until you clock lyrical gems such as "I see people come in twos / just like breasts do". It may be the third time I'd seen them live, and the umpteenth time I'd listened to that lyric, but their oddities always make me smile. Whether they were born that way, baby, or perpetually on some kind of mushroom remains to be seen. By the end of the set, Happyness had almost made a comfort zone alongside the excellent sound system and neon-lighted rainbow of Dalston's underground universe.

With a band of this much pizazz and novelty, it's no wonder that NME (notorious for being up Alex Turner's arse, but are always to be trusted to seek out zippy new talent) has got their back. Listen to their boisterous new 90s-esque single, A Whole New Shape, below.

CATCH HAPPYNESS ON LIVE DATES WITH JAWS ACROSS THE UK THIS YEAR
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