International Tweecore Underground

I’m From Barcelona & Sonic Anaphones
Academy 3, Manchester
Thursday January 25th, 2007

I’m From Barcelona seem to live to surprise. For starters, they are most certainly not from Barcelona, as their moniker quite clearly suggests. The eighteen-strong Swedish troupe, led by one Emanuel Lundgren, also endear themselves by making a local unsigned act a late addition to the bill.

Fugitive Motel faves Sonic Anaphones certainly do not disappoint. With live rituals as quirky as their perfectly formed pop ditties (the band distribute cake to an eager crowd and are accompanied on stage by a considerable number of balloons), they are the perfect act to warm us up for what’s to come.

Academy 3’s small stage shifts from accommodating three lads to a veritable army of Swedes, and the fun continues unabated. Anaphones may be disappointed that I’m From Barcelona’s balloons are far larger and rounder than theirs, but, in turn, it is the Anaphones bubble machine that means I’m From Barcelona play much of their set short of power. Not that this is evident to the increasingly excitable crowd; with so many band members, all oohing and laaing, playing melodicas and keyboards, tubas and trumpets, there’s no real need for amplification.

The lyrics to the likes of We’re From Barcelona may not make sense entirely, but this only serves to widen the smiles on onlookers faces, and if Treehouse is not simply the most adorable song you have ever heard (“# I have built a treehouse/Nobody can see us/‘Cause it’s a you and me house #”) then there is something that needs to be re-wired in that head of yours.

After much grinning and even more pogoing, it’s time for an encore. Having played almost all of debut album Let Me Introduce My Friends, I’m From Barcelona surprise us yet again by ditching conventional encore standards and playing a track over the PA, while the entire band crowd-surf atop delighted fans. It’s been a very special night indeed, and not one person present will forget it.

words: Hannah Bayfield

I’m From Barcelona’s debut album Let Me Introduce My Friends is out now on Interpop.

www.imfrombarcelona.com
www.myspace.com/imfrombarcelona