Teleman, The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton - review
Unless you listen to BBC 6 Music or keep a keen ear to the indie rock scene, you may think Teleman is who you call if a gale blows your Sky dish off the chimney.
However, this art-rock quartet from London with a name borrowed and mis-spelt from a German composer (could have been worse, could have been Humperdinck) have produced one of the British music scene's best albums of 2016 with their second release, Brilliant Sanity.
Almost filling the Slade Rooms with a slightly older than I expected audience, it appears the more discerning music fan has picked up on this band's blend of quirk and melody, which is firmly in the tradition of such fine outfits as Franz Ferdinand, Talking Heads, XTC and (for those with even longer memories) Be Bop Deluxe and, in the synth work, Kraftwerk. Yet, also not that far removed from such chart botherers as Bastille.
Teleman seem to stand outside fashion in both look and music. While singer-guitarist Thomas Sanders and his brother Jonny on synths both have a preppy appearance, bassist Pete Cattermoul looks like he is auditioning for the Richie Finestra role in 70s rock industry TV drama Vinyl while drummer Hiro Amamiya radiates cool calm.
Songs from Brilliant Sanity dominated their hour-long set but it was also peppered with favourites from their debut album Breakfast, which was produced in 2014 by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.
Highlights included the chugging Steam Train Girl, Drop Out with its menacing riff, the pure pop of Düsseldorf the siren call of Fall In Time, the psychedelic freak out of Not In Control and anthemic encore Glory Hallelujah.
By Leon Burakowski
