The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Final Form at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen

Final Form at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen | Live review
30 August 2014
Alexandra Sims
Avatar
Alexandra Sims
30 August 2014

Music review

Alexandra Sims
★★★★★

Highlights

Stones, The Art of Battling Giants

Links

Twitter Facebook Website

Melding jangling synth, heavy drums and rattling guitars, electro-pop six-piece Final Form feature bold and gutsy sounds packed with zeal. Evoking bands such as Friendly Fires, Bloc Party and Everything Everything, the London sextet create lively pop anthems dotted with club beats and tumbling drops, underpinned with a traditional rock sound.

The band launch into their set with gusto, ricocheting off the floor with each guitar stroke. Lead singer James Stapleton radiates energy, switching between instruments and jumping along to each pumping chorus while fellow vocalist Sophie Musson dives into raunchy dance moves.

Despite the band’s brazen energy, much of the set is simplistic. Thick, plodding chords in unimaginative progressions make up most of the songs, the electronics are often dated and derivative, while too much reliance falls on the many pumping drumbeats coming from tambourines, synths and backing tracks.

Eye 2 Eye begins well with brisk, jaunty guitar yet falls swiftly into uninspiring melodies. Stapleton’s vocal often lets the songs down, his falsetto choruses lacking the same punch as his dancing. Rise and Fall fails, with trite electro sounds and a bland tune, while Half Romance, littered with awkward sound effects, feels fuzzy and disjointed.

Highlights are duet Stones, a mellow tune using intricate synth and shivering harmonies, which finally showcases Musson’s powerful voice, and final song The Art of Battling Giants. Based on a book Stapleton received for Christmas, the latter provides a riotous send off, bursting with 80s beats and plenty of blistering synth.

Final Form are certainly a spectacle, emitting floods of energy bounding about the stage, although their set does feel lumbered at points. The jewels of the night are the women of the group: drummer Stephanie Davis and Musson sparkle throughout, with Musson disappointingly underused.

★★★★★

Alexandra Sims
Photos: Melissa Harper

For further information about Final Form and future events visit here.

.

Listen to Half Romance here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Related Itemsbandelectro-popmusicsynth

More in Live music

Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”

Filippo L'Astorina, the Editor
Read More

South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

South Facing Festival: Jungle bring their signature neo-funk to Saturday night

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Patti Smith at the London Palladium

★★★★★
Jennifer Sanin
Read More

The Libertines at Wembley Arena

★★★★★
Sophia Moss
Read More

Kaleidoscope Festival cements its status as a family favourite at Alexandra Palace

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Yola at Koko

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

John Legend at Somerset House

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Primal Scream at Alexandra Palace Park

★★★★★
Sophia Moss
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Alexandra Sims
★★★★★

Highlights

Stones, The Art of Battling Giants

Links

Twitter Facebook Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • My Old School
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: Keep It Down at Hope Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: The Man Who Wouldn’t Be Murdered at Lion & Unicorn Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “It’s by going to the intimacy of our own perspective that we can hope to then speak to a more general audience”: Charline Bourgeouis-Tacquet on Anaïs in Love
    Cinema & Tv
  • Trending summer dresses everyone wants to own in a heatwave
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: In PurSUEt at Underbelly, Cowgate
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “It’s by going to the intimacy of our own perspective that we can hope to then speak to a more general audience”: Charline Bourgeouis-Tacquet on Anaïs in Love
    Cinema & Tv
  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • Where is Anne Frank?
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Anaïs in Love
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Graveltones at Underworld | Live review
Autobahn at The King’s Head | Theatre review