The Heavy, a four-piece indie rock band with a name to live up to.  Given their roots in the small town of Noid in south-west England, the urban toughness of their sound which can be best described as garage rock infused with a definite American soul influence, is a real surprise at first.  Perhaps this would explain their recent success the other side of the Atlantic, where they appeared on David Letterman and had single “How You Like Me Now?” featured in a 5 million dollar ad slot broadcast during this year’s Superbowl.  That’s good exposure.

But back to Camden, and lead singer Kelvin Swaby was swagger personified, flirting ostentatiously with female fans in the front row and undertaking a James Brown-esque shuffle or two.  The band performed tracks from across their two studio albums to date, alternating between hard-edged, bass heavy rock and the more laid-back but filthy-sounding skank of new songs such as “Sixteen”.  Whilst the frontman poured energy and sweat into his vocals, the rest of The Heavy lurked behind with just about enough menace to carry off lyrical claims of conversations with the devil, and sexual prowess.  Clearly, they were here not so much to gently warm you to the music, as to grab you by the throat – the crowd were gripped.  Being as it is a mish-mash of very different styles, The Heavy don’t sound anything new… in fact, they sound old.  But the band, far from attempting to push musical boundaries, were just trying to have a bit of fun, a sense shared by the appreciative gathering.