The Duke Spirit

Source: The List (Issue 601)
Date: 24 April 2008
Written by: Jan F Zeschky

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King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 2 Apr

INDIE

They should be well practiced at this. Following their well-received 2005 debut Cuts Across the Land, London’s Duke Spirit flew across the pond to play the odd gig or 285. Their follow-up, Neptune, is consequently a collection of propulsive road rock, shot through with singer Liela Moss’ restless wails and reflections, both wry and wistful. Fittingly, the two openers tonight – ‘Send a Little Love Token’ and the layered guitars and ascending chorus of ‘Lasso’ – tear off the grid.

There’s a visual as well as aural link to the Mary Chain in the male back line, with a definite penchant for voluminous hair and guitar. But Moss – she of the perfectly fringed sandy hair – is the focus, throwing her body into shapes and pulling hand actions out of her pockets, and with a bewitching, throaty yet lilting, glottal-stopped voice that echoes Grace Slick. A rousing set peaks with ‘This Ship Was Built to Last’, its rhythmic riff warped by distorted slide guitar and rising to a glorious crescendo, and ‘Step of the Walk’, which channels Sons and Daughters’ vampish 60s girl pop through 70s heavy blues and is delivered with justifiable swagger. Very well practiced indeed.

More: Indie, Lasso, Liela Moss, Neptune, Send a Little Love Token, The Duke Spirit, Reviews (Music)