Young The Giant, Water Rats, London

Young the Giant’s sun-soaked sound soon brightens up a grey evening in London’s Water Rats. With the tiny room full to bursting, the California boys introduce themselves, and their new material, to an eager audience.

Despite their relative success in the States, Young the Giant are the new boys on this side of the pond. However, that doesn’t stop the audience bopping along to their upbeat and sunny sounding folk-pop songs.

Latest single ‘Apartment’ goes down a treat, giving lead singer Sameer Gadhia the perfect opportunity to showcase his unusual and inticing vocals. The livelier ‘My Body’ transcribes beautifully on stage and gets feet tapping, whilst showing off the different sounds the boys are capable of.

Regardless of their on stage energy, the band never quite seem to fully connect with their audience. Gadhia’s position as frontman is hindered by his singing with his eyes closed and uncomfortable body language, resulting in a sometimes difficult to watch but engaging to listen to performance.

In spite of their limited connectivity, their set is well received and proves popular with the crowd. With an album on the way produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, My Morning Jacket), they clearly have a lot of potential. Certainly one to keep an eye out for over the coming months.