Buzzin Music Blog

Photo by Brooke Campbell-Johnston

The Miserable Rich live at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
10th December 2008

Inside the refurbished deco glamour of the pavilion, The Miserable Rich kicked up a maelstrom of subtlety, melancholy and quiet violence. Beneath waves of orchestration and the grandeur of modern composition lie these hopelessly romantic Brighton souls.

Through a dispersed audience comes a croon and augmented tunes, from the type of characters British music has been missing for a while. The regretting piss artist, commentating on our hedonism and lack of love not from a standing of disapproval, but of acceptance. The everyman depicted in the song “pisshead” is one we all see, reflected in our plastic cups of beer tonight.

The Miserable Rich have in James DeMalplaquet a front man shying from the microphone yet harmonising with a disillusioned crowd. Even if at times they run the risk of over-politicising themselves as in “Poodle”. These Paul Simon-esque witticisms are worth more than these cliché, empty anti-American sentiments.

But in the context of love and excess, a context void of rock and roll arrogance and narcissistic glamorisation, The Miserable Rich shine.

Intricately picked guitars against strings that both soar and stab all accumulate in a rich set of songs. They attach themselves to some feelings we might have in our darker hours, and yet are suitable for your mum over Christmas dinner too.

The Miserable Rich sing about welcoming bright days in hushed gentle tones, but their over-whelming mood seems so anchored in stagnant sadness and the flaws of the human condition, that optimism seems strangely alien.

The Miserable Rich strive to better themselves and soundtrack it to a classically grand score of strings; yet it is unsettlingly insecure (in the best way possible).

The Chamber pop of their debut “Twelve Ways To Count” lends itself beautifully to live performances. Vocals and lyrics are transformed from early Coldplay indie pop tinkering to adept, vivid phrases, sung with a broken dignity (Listen to “Muswell” to hear what I mean). Hats off to the band then, who with glasses of red wine in hand, are documenting our demise in the most beautiful way possible.