The Felice Brothers, London Forum, gig review: Reckless pace keeps audience on their toes

But gig is too self-conscious an attempt to go against convention

The Felice Brothers perform on stage (Getty Images)

Originally rooted in old-as-the-hills Americana, The Felice Brothers have been gradually drifting out and into other forms.

At their best during relentlessly energetic romps on stage – solos breaking up the demented exuberance that runs throughout – the reckless pace keeps the audience on their toes.

Greg Farley on Cajun fiddle is a delight, and Ian Felice’s scrawny frame produces a surprisingly powerful delivery of lyrics about old and new America, despite interruptions from shoddy sound and lighting tech.

The band breeze through material from Yonder Is The Clock, Celebration, Florida and their 2014 LP Favourite Waitress, the latter of which was a surprising turnaround from their previous work: more refined, and with less backyard noise to distract from the actual music.

Indeed, it’s the only album to date the band recorded in an ‘official’ studio instead of a chicken coop.

It’s still difficult to break through the cacophony of so many bells, whistles and foot stomps: each performer consistently out of time as they struggle to find a groove.

For the most part they seem intoxicated by one thing or another, which works for the brazenly ‘ridiclis’ slapdash slurs of ‘Cherry Licorice’, but in others: ‘Saturday Night’, and ‘Fire At The Pageant’ with its vague nod to old-school hip-hop, it’s too self-conscious an attempt to go against convention.