Vienna Ditto are a band which defy description. Whereas most two-pieces are unfairly and unimaginatively labelled as the next White Stripes, Vienna Ditto happily describe themselves as “voodoo sci-fi blues” which falls “somewhere between a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack, a charity shop Bacharach-on-the-Moog-synthesiser album and a bad night on the brown acid”. Comprehensive.
However, despite the strength of brand new EP Ticks, this freneticism is only really channelled by seeing them live. They journeyed to Oxford on Friday night, and with a vicious guitar attack, electronic trickery and infectious giggling, they commanded the darkness of the Bullingdon stage, with guitarist-cum-technician-cum-multi-instrumentalist Nigel being essentially led around the venue by his guitar à la Wilko Johnson, while performing all manner of button-pressing and tech-wizardry in between songs, often leading to the dismayed yet hopeful, “Is this song loaded?”
When the songs did load, they were invariably carried by a snarling lyricism from lead singer Hatty, one-time guitar pupil of Nigel. While their set was regularly punctured by technical difficulties and communication breakdowns, it was always endearingly well-natured enough to avoid a loss of momentum, often relying on wordplay and quips to fill the silence.
Their appearance in Oxford was to promote their aforementioned new EP Ticks, which is a disgustingly strong showing from such a budding band. If they tighten up their set and keep churning out such haunting and intelligent tracks, the world is all before them.
