Athlete @ The Camden Roundhouse
A few weeks ago, the Camden Roundhouse played host to one of Britain's great underestimated bands. Perhaps to call them undiscovered would be a misrepresentation for Athlete have had 3 top-ten albums and a couple of top-ten singles, but the sell-out crowd would call them one of the country's most unappreciated bands. The crowd was mostly middle-class 18-30s, a lot of couples and close groups of friends, which is probably one of the biggest indicators of why Athlete have never taken off in the way they should have. They're not a band that your whole group of friends will like, some people will understand and some won't. Truth be told, I didn't get in to their latest album, Beyond the Neighbourhood, until the 3rd listen, but after that I was hooked. Its beautiful balance of soft guitar, electronic noise and traditional rock has made it one of my favourite albums of 2007.