Superfood bring their promising Britpop renaissance to London

The name Superfood could hardly have been more befitting of the venue – Hackney’s newly opened Oslo may have been hosting a gig in this instance, but it is equally a bustling restaurant, and there was a musical feast to be savoured in London tonight.

The Birmingham Britpop revivalists’ appearance in the capital was the latest in an exciting and appealing string of shows put on in association with the NME Awards, and it’s clear to see why Britain’s legendary music publication has put such faith in these potential-oozing youngsters.

Britpop may have seen its glory days dissipate a long while ago but this is a band with a fervent desire to bring it back – with a bang. And tonight’s inebriated dancing and equally sloshed sing-alongs were evidence as anything that their ardent following are yearning for that revival to come to fruition. Hell, this country needs it.

Several hundred tightly packed onlookers were treated to debut single ‘Bubbles’ to kick things off, a pulsating two-minute blast of satisfying British indie-ness with Superfood’s tandem guitarists giving it their gutsy all. That great form was replicated in the track’s equally infectious B-side ‘Melting’, the kind of tune that everyone should hear as they wobble reluctantly out of bed on a dewy-ground spring morning. ‘Wear yourself out’ goes the chorus; the tireless Oslo crowd took that fully on board.

Such party spirit was at its peak when the lads (and lass) – lest we forget bassist Emily Baker – tore into recent release TV, already firm favourite among a rapidly growing fan base. Frontman Dom Ganderton’s energy-sapping vocals and array of facial expressions were at their most exaggerated on this number as he set out to raise the roof of this revamped Victorian station building.

Crucially, TV is the very song on which Superfood’s eclectic melange of borrowings from 90s sensations like Blur and Supergrass comes to a head.  If you want to start a new Britpop revolution, you best study some of the forefathers of the scene, which these guys plainly have. Far from ripping anyone off, they’ve done their homework, stirred in their own 21^st Century ingredients and cooked it to perfection. It tastes great.

Away from the anticipated tunes, we enjoyed smidgens of material recorded only last week for the upcoming debut album. From what they put on show, it seems that Superfood have unearthed their true sound and are more than willing to flaunt it. For the time being they remain only a minute blip on the musical radar but their all-round appeal and admirable determination to instigate an overdue return for a bygone British genre could endear to them to a far wider audience than even they themselves would like to believe.