All good things come in pairs. Socks. Eyes. Chopsticks. Lovebirds. Curtains. Synth-driven bands with two drummers (nb. in case you didn’t know, an AK/DK live show features two drum kits).
With brand new LP ‘Strange Loops’ just landed, Brighton boys AK/DK, AKA Graham Sowerby and Ed Chivers, put on a two-date double headliner at the rather brilliant Alphabet (you see, good things really do come in pairs).
SOURCE interviewed AK/DK way back in 2011, not long after they had performed with legendary art-rock improv journeyman Damo Suzuki. By all accounts Sowerby and Chivers put a smile on Suzuki’s face and they proceed to plant more than one or two more on the faces of a nicely busy Alphabet crowd tonight.
Kicking things off is Bunty, a purveyor of looped sounds who sports a fine line in homemade solar system fascinators. The music she creates has a space age quality too. Rummaging in an old suitcase, Bunty plucks out various percussive instruments and then bonks, bashes, samples and loops them whilst adding layered, reverberating descants over the top. The now-packed house laps up the psychedelic waves and Bunty, paired with her loop pedal, goes some way to reinforcing the initially tenuous review MacGuffin.
The next act is a complete contrast and, gasp, a solo performer. Coming on like a peak-90s John Cooper Clarke, Thick Richard indulges in a level of acerbic spoken word acrobatics that Alexei Sayle would be proud of. But why is a street poet on the bill? It just so happens that Thick Richard performs on AK/DK’s new album (more on that later) but, actually, it’s probably because he is a rather wonderful throwback to those militantly alternative comics of yesteryear. His observations on the absurdity of modern living get the audience properly chuckling and he is relentless in pointing out the dumbass duality of it all.
AK/DK waste no team in getting down to business. The two gleaming drum kits sit proudly amongst a tangle of leads and wires and vintage synths, like an analogue Matrix, and are swiftly commandeered by Sowerby and Chivers. They perform almost as organic extensions of the equipment that surrounds them as they hammer their drums, flip switches, twiddle knobs and scream into radio mics. The sound is that of a retro minimalist synthesizer disco re-written to acknowledge the emergence of the air fryer, but refusing to bow to its dominance. 
The duo have been playing together so long that they seem able to read each other perfectly and are without doubt rhythmically symbiotic. They may even be telepathically connected, knowing exactly what to do when one ancient piece of equipment fails to keep the show stomping on. At one point Elvis arrives onstage (looking suspiciously like Thick Richard) for a jubilant rendition of ‘Nobody Shouts’ and the room is absolutely jumping.
AK/DK are locals to be treasured and their energy is matched only by the joy in their performance. The new record is beautifully produced and is the perfect companion piece to this euphoric performance. A perfect pairing indeed.
Alphabet, Thursday 31st October 2024
