We Have Band, Debaser, Stockholm

To lift a quote from a DIY interview with MSTRKRFT, “Electro will stop being cool once you have mainstream artists like The Black Eyed Peas making electro records”. So at the risk of rounding up 2009 with more ‘electroverexposure’, it was with a wee-bit of trepidation that DIY stepped out to see ‘another’ neo-synth artist, the London/Manchester-based 2-boy/1-girl trio We Have Band, who are so 80s-revival, they’ve even laid down a cover of The Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’ on a B side.

Judging from tonight’s performance at Stockholm’s indie club ‘Debaser’, it has to be said that there is much to like about We Have Band. Make no mistake – We Have Band is a ‘band’ in the true sense of the word, with the female ‘sampler’ Dede WP playing support to the vocal interplay between the two male keystones - guitarist Thomas WP and Percussionist Darren Bancroft. So, then, there’ll be no chance of The Guardian’s Paul Lester calling this lot a “solo artist” as he did with La Roux… Another thing worth mentioning about We Have Band is their personal on-stage charm, and you can’t help warming to their efforts of throwing in a few Swedish stock phrases (like “Tack sa mycket” – thanks very much) and telling the crowd that, contra to stories they’ve heard about Nordic countries, it is “nice to see people dancing.” Though to be fair, their chugging rhythms and funky bass-lines play more than a big part in this. The setlist overall is, as expected, mainly of the disco-orientated electronic ilk - the clear standout being the single ‘Oh’, which turns the floor into a Rapture-style rave. ‘You Came Out’ with its very fitting Peter, Bjorn & John-style whistle, is also a fun dance-mood setter and a good example of Dede’s punky female credentials over an infectiously throbbing-beat.

And while We Have Band do well to stray away from ‘formula’ by fighting temptation to thrust their female member into the limelight, you can’t help but be left with the impression that Dede could be the band’s one potentially untapped resource. Although she physically occupies centre-stage, it seems there is more scope for her to provide a more effective vocal and aesthetic counterbalance to the two gents rather than playing second-fiddle, as she largely remains glued to her sampler except for when she has time to throw in some cute dance moves. On their current form though, We Have Band are a highly enjoyable pre-party treat for the Scandinavian electro-indie fest that follows afterwards. They are a promising new band who are very much of their genre, who have some quality dance-pop tunes, but who also have the promise to be even more.