Three years ago Django Django found themselves unexpectedly positioned as the bona-fide new face of experimental British indie.
Fans queued outside the Pavilion Theatre at 2012’s Great Escape for hours for the chance to hear the quartet’s reverb-heavy, Afro-inspired fusion of surf rock and psychedelia which would later lead to a Mercury Music Prize nomination.
Fast forward three years and it is a surprisingly small sonic jump from that successful debut to the ten-track follow-up, Born Under Saturn, which is a solid and cohesive effort rather than something truly progressive.
It features new friends picked up along the way, including James Mainwaring from Mercury-nominated jazz outfit, Roller Trio, who adds saxophone to middle eight of new single, Reflections.
Mainwaring joined the band on stage in Brighton but his contribution disappeared amid the haze of guitars and electronics.
That musical fog was both Django's blessing and curse: they’ve honed a distinctive and memorable aesthetic but it made their live show often feel one-paced and samey, a Dulux base-layer which washed over without ever cutting though.
It felt the case as they closed the Corn Exchange on Friday - despite their ceaseless energy and effort.
Three stars
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