Exactly one year ago, Spector released their first single, “Never Fade Away”, covered here at B3SCI upon release. From that review:
“The track plays both big (large passes over simple chord progressions, dynamic building rhythms and instrumentations) and intimate (lyrical content, you feel like you and you alone are privy to sentiment and desire that is revelatory but tightly guarded by its author.)”
It’s a song that’ll sound new in twenty years because it could’ve hit the Billboard top 40 a half century ago, nestled beside The Marvelettes. “Never Fade Away” was supposed to be the introduction of the next great English rock group, The Vaccines but with more gravitas. And although Spector has yet to release their debut LP, visitors to the Satellite Tuesday night, April 17th, were given a sampling of the London five piece’s diverse and precocious musical offerings, which were headed by one spectacular frontman, singer Fred Macpherson.
I think Spector opted for the earlier, 10pm set time to appease any Coachella goers who were either burnt out from the previous weekend or conserving energy for the upcoming. Whether this had a factor in the somewhat modest turnout, I’m still unsure, but considering the stiff competition on Tuesday included Kasabian (@ Music Box), Elvis Costello (@ The Wiltern), We Were Promised Jetpacks (@ The Echo), and Madeon (@ The Roxy) among others, Spector needn’t be concerned. What’s important is that the concert-goers were very much excited to see the group perform.
Spector opened with “What You Wanted”. Fred Macpherson jettisoned within a 4 foot radius while finger snapping furiously. This guy’s got mad charisma. The instrumentation, which is Chris Burman (guitar), Tom Shickle (bass), Jed Cullen (synth, guitar) and Danny Blandy (drums), favored simple arrangements and syncopated beats. Next, “Friday Night” began with its, little bit of, Badfinger/Pete Ham guitar intro eventually leading into its big bridge accompanied with Spector’s (now) trademark handclaps. From there the band rolled into “Grey Shirt and Tie”. Fred Macpherson hammed things up a little bit between songs, appearing sloshed which I think could be homage to one of those Dean Martin type moments. The band was loud in the mix. They were better live than on record, proving the pivotal difference between bands of ‘buzz’ and speculation, and simply good bands able to be judged on performance. The rest of the set went as follows: “Twenty Nothing”, “Celestine”, the recent Mr. Lowe number one, “Lay Low”, presumably off the forthcoming record, “Chevy Thunder” and of course “Never Fade Away” for the finale.
There were no alarms and no surprises. Spector has some great songs and Macpherson is a spectacularly wild and rambunctious frontman, who can even be a little foppish with his trusty comb. As Spector develop, it will be interesting to observe the band’s relationship between their live performance and their studio work. But thou shalt not play devil’s advocate! Spector, it’s time to record a couple more singles for the ages.
Spector 
(Facebook)
Rating: 8.667
Reviewed by b3
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