Alphabeat - Club Academy - 10/06/08 by Chris Horricks

As Swedish pop bands go, Abba they’re not but Alphabeat’s live show justified their recent chart success and national radio air play. Vocal double act Anders SG and Stine Bramsen, backed by a variety of energetic musicians give an enthusiastic audience packed into the smallest of the Academy’s rooms.

They seemingly rely on the use of simplistic lyrics and easy to remember rhymes, not that this is a bad thing, it has every possibility of gaining mass appeal with a wide audience who don’t want to have to think so they can enjoy the music.

This bubble gum pop created an atmosphere of fun, which at times felt slightly forced and over clichéd, which given the seemingly large camp following is a carefully crafted idea designed to build a reputation for themselves as a good fun live act, which shows a welcome sense of self awareness as lets be honest they’re not going to be critically acclaimed or remembered in the same way as a Bob Dylan or The Beatles but then that’s no real surprise given the nature of the band.

Their quest to gain a wider audience is aided by them playing songs that sound like those of other artists from the whole length of the musical spectrum ranging from Iggy Pop through Madonna to Chas And Dave, any band that can do that is surely worth going to see, as indeed is the case with Alphabeat.

Unsurprisingly current single 10,000 Nights got the biggest reaction of the night, closely followed by fan favourite and debut single Fascination which was kept for the encore by way of ensuring the crowds left with smiles on their collective faces

They put on a good show its just not exactly challenging lyrically. They are the result of what would happen if CSS and Girls Aloud were placed into a blender (only with less gore).