Music / Reviews
Review: Teleman, Marble Factory
The London-based indie-pop group Teleman are on another UK jaunt, sprinkling the shiny delights of their feel-good material liberally around the country. Signed to the reliable taste-maker that is Independent label giant Moshi Moshi (home to the likes of Anna Meredith, The Wave Pictures and Slow Club) the four-piece are now two albums down. But although the number of releases is petite, the product is perfectly formed and these 6 Music darlings certainly delight an enthusiastic Bristol crowd tonight.
In spite of a clutch of upbeat hooky singles, the UK Top 40 is still eluding Teleman. 2014’s Breakfast reached #65 and last year’s Brilliant Sanity fared slightly better at #51, but what they lack in national record sales, they make up for in national live appearances and this is a great bonus for their fans. A challenge for bands with a metronomic electronic sound is recreating those studio recordings in a live setting. Teleman deliver with acute precision, ensuring radio favourites like “Strange Combinations”, “Tangerine”, “English Architecture” and “23 Floors” are conveyed with the right combination of careful exactness mixed with stage showmanship.
The Teleman style is tight-as and the members cue off each other with perfect timing. For this reason, there have been plenty of comparisons drawn with the likes of Maximo Park, Franz Ferdinand and Metronomy. And those comparisons are not empty, because Teleman have toured with every single one of these bands, providing a line-up that showcases a pumped-up robotic retro style that’s softened with lovely melodies. Teleman also have the addition of Thomas Sanders’ dreamy vocals and tonight’s joyously anthemic live version of “Glory Hallelujah” goes to prove they don’t always have to deliver with such mechanical restraint.
The last few tracks of the night contain the huge “Düsseldorf” and even huger “Cristina” and the Bristol bunch that were basically blown to Marble Factory by Storm Doris do not skimp on showing their appreciation. With their latest release, Teleman are proving themselves to be brilliant and fastidious pop-synth writers revealing a knack for harmony and melody. With a growing audience, they are also proving to be a mainstay on the UK indie-pop circuit.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
