★★★★☆
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB to their fans) clearly adore a concept. Since 2010 the Londoners with the ludicrous names — J Willgoose, Esq, is their leader, the drummer Wrigglesworth is second-in-command — have taken inspiration from the conquest of Everest, the battle of Dunkirk and the invention of colour TV. Their self-released second album, which reached No 11 in 2015, explored the US/Soviet space race. Its imminent follow-up, Every Valley, centres on coalmining in south Wales.
In theory, their gigs should be heavy going. Until recently none of the band — a duo in the studio, a four-piece live — spoke or sang on stage, preferring to communicate their concepts via public information films sourced from the BFI, sampled on songs and shown on screen. Their audience is mostly middle-aged men. At a busy Electric Ballroom, you were never more than a whisker away from a beard.
And yet, despite several technical glitches, their performance was as joyous as it was odd. The booming voice of Richard Burton signalled the show’s start, as the new song The Pit sprang to life with the aid of a pair of brass players and archive footage of miners. “We’re trying a few new things this evening,” announced Willgoose, much to the crowd’s surprise, before People Will Always Need Coal, a hypnotic song that was part boffin rock, part rave, part political history lesson. The multitasking frontman has lightened up a lot of late, laughing when the dreamy Valentina hit a snag.
It was a pity that Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell didn’t turn up to perform her gorgeous guest vocals on the single Progress, but by then the crowd were itching to dance. They got their chance with the disco-ish The Other Side and a glorious Go!, greeted by a sea of punching fists. Even boffins, apparently, love a party.
Ebbw Vale Institute (01495 708 002), June 8-9