REVIEWS

The Reviews today are Manahan Thomas, RTÉ CO/Brophy at the National Concert Hall and Tokyo Police Club in Whelan's

Manahan Thomas, RTÉ CO/Brophy

NCH, Dublin

Regulars at the RTÉ Summer Lunchtime Concerts will remember this week's as perhaps the most distinctive of the current series.

Dominated by Handel, the all-Baroque programme also included Purcell, Albinoni and Vivaldi - the kind of repertoire that most mainstream orchestras have ceded to specialist period-instrument ensembles.

Unencumbered by delusions of historical authenticity, conductor David Brophy nonetheless captured from the strings of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra the crispness and vitality that stem from assured period playing.

Two warhorses, Handel's Largo and Albinoni's Adagio, included the shaded roar of full swell from organist David Leigh, and a deliciously ardent violin solo from leader Mia Cooper. Yet Brophy's quietly energised pacing meant that in neither piece could there be any cloying of the Romantic gloss.

An eagerness with the faster tempos made for glint and buoyancy in the trumpet movements from Handel's Water Music, but almost got the better of a dangerously brisk Rondeau from Purcell's Abdelazar.

The same might have gone for Handel's Rejoice greatly from Messiah, were it not that soloist Elin Manahan Thomas took the intricate passagework in her stride.

This was an auspicious NCH debut for the flourishing Welsh soprano, who since turning from high prospects in Celtic academia has steadily risen to prominence in the early-music sphere. It was her uncommon balance of clarity and expression that made the well-worn Rejoice and I Know That My Redeemer Liveth seem like fresh and individual creations.

The intonation may have had its momentary imperfections, but the tone was silvery, the fioratura affectingly modulated, and the ornamentation artfully spontaneous.

Purcell's psychological drama-in-miniature Mad Bess of Bedlam and the outer movements of Vivaldi's Nulla in mundo pax sincera were, however, respectively the highpoints of interpretive intelligence and breathtaking agility.

If Emma Kirkby defined Baroque singing for the present generation, Elin Manahan Thomas looks set to do so for the next. ANDREW JOHNSTONE

Tokyo Police Club

Whelan's, Dublin

After courting the fickle hype machine with their uber-short but wonderfully sweet EPs, this year's debut full-length release from Tokyo Police Club received a surprisingly muted welcome from certain critics, seemingly disappointed with the lack of new ground being broken.

Whatever. On close inspection, Elephant Shell contains enough hooks to catch a whale (probably inevitable with a guitarist named Josh Hook) and is brief enough to keep the listener coming back for more.

Greeted by an enthusiastic, young audience in Whelan's, the four 20-nothing Ontario natives made their case for more positive recognition even stronger with this performance. The lyrics of singer and bassist David Monks help shed the last vestiges of adolescence, with themes varying from killer robot invasions to topsy-turvy relationships and throughout the evening he appeared genuinely overwhelmed by the love being returned from the fans.

It's the music that packs the killer punch, though. Greg Alsop's drumming, keeping the hi-hat busy at all times, and Hook's searing guitar effects pushed the songs onwards while Monks's melodic bass lines and Graham Wright's keyboard flourishes added pop finishes to the post-punk foundations.

There were group handclaps and shouty choruses galore for the audience to dig their teeth into. Graves and Your English Is Good match ridiculously infectious tunes with attention-deficient brevity while The Harrowing Adventures Of . . . developed from a quiet acoustic beginning into a feedback-drenched display of power.

Without straining too hard, the influence of both The Strokes and Editors are readily recognisable but few other acts are supplying such blissfully perfect two-minute bursts of pristine indie-pop right now.

Before exiting the stage one last time after a euphoric Cheer It On, Wright jokingly thanked the crowd for choosing their show over ageing rocker Lenny Kravitz, who was also in Dublin on the same night. He needn't have worried - with songs as exciting and polished as these, the crowd wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. BRIAN KEANE