Darkly Intriguing
It’s barely Friday afternoon, the sun is shining, the festival is kicking off and everyone seems happy to be alive. Then comes those fateful words from Red Light Company; “this song's about death”. Talk about dampening the mood but these guys are dark. Forget your fun filled comedy of We Are Scientists of the springy bounce of Scouting For Girls, Red Light Company are all seriousness and strangely its somehow appealing even on an August Bank Holiday.
Brining a touch of Placebo mingled amongst the indie rock of The Killers, Red Light Company kick off proceedings with ‘Sinking Ships’ that quickly has heads nodding along as the London based five piece make their Reading debut. It's lead singer Richard Frennaux that is the key to the band, continually glaring at the crowd with a twisted, slight smile across his face the long haired blonde is both intriguing and unnerving as he stares unflinchingly, adding a touch of menace to the band’s dark lyrics and catchy morbid beats. ‘Scheme Eugene’ (the death song apparently) finds Frennaux sharing the vocals with bassist Shawn Day as the song ripples mesmerisingly whilst the recent airplay received by ‘Meccano’ finds the track instantly adhering itself to the crowd. It’s left to ‘When Everybody Is Everybody Else’ to end the set with the Red Light Company clearly having gained some new fans before they make a quick, sedate departure, merely uttering some “thank yous” as they leave. Darkly intriguing even on a summer’s day.