Cologne-based indie rock band Lawn Chair made their delightful UK debut on Wednesday at Windmill Brixton. The five-piece, fronted by Claudia Schlutius, has been tearing up the German indie scene since the release of their Eat the Beans and Wear the Jeans! EP last April. Now, they are spreading their wings with flair, bringing their spirited post-punk-meets-synthpop to a fast-growing audience.
Schlutius puts in overtime as a lead vocalist. She tumbles and swerves around the stage while she sings, occasionally hunching over to bang out a melody or a beat on her synth. The band behind her is exceedingly tight at all times; the bass lines are clear and present without being overwhelming, the two guitarists pluck out jagged riffs that fit perfectly together like oddly-shaped puzzle pieces, and the drummer holds down each rhythm with utmost precision. Their demeanour suggests that they take the music – but not necessarily themselves – very seriously.
“Who hasn’t dreamed of starting a punk rock band?”
Schlutius says by way of introduction to the song Punkrock Band, where she and the band’s rhythm guitarist share a rushed, sung-spoken dialogue underpinned by a catchy beat and poppy chords. The song culminates in an anxious mantra which the two mutter repeatedly in unison:
“I will start a punk rock band that everyone will love.”
Then, as if to demonstrate, Schlutius then lets out a sort of melodic shriek into the microphone as she dances the robot while a guitar shrieks along with her. The irony is palpable; the lyrics suggest the singers are desperate to perform and to please, all while Schlutius and her bandmates do exactly that. Excusing the fact that their band isn’t entirely punk rock – though it certainly draws from that lineage – it’s clear that nearly everyone in the crowd is loving them, indeed.
The guitar tones on these songs are truly incredible, like they’ve been ripped from your favorite song by The Clash and plopped onto a disco beat. The band’s stage presence more than matches the caliber of their sound, though – their physicality gets more wild with each song. On Lover and a Fighter, they all march in place in perfect time while collectively shouting, “HOO! / HA!”. At several points during the song, Schlutius steps to the edge of the stage and sings urgently to the audience like she’s rallying us in battle: “Talk is cheap but love is free, babe / I’m an army against one man.”
The silver tinsel backdropping the stage, in combination with the intense blue lighting and Windmill Brixton’s colorful wall murals, makes Lawn Chair’s set feel like some sort of ‘80s fever dream. When the buzz in my ribcage from the loudspeakers becomes a little too much, I move to the back of the crowd to find some more elbow room. There, a few people have turned the area into an impromptu dance floor, wiggling away like it isn’t even a Wednesday. Lawn Chair’s energy is so infectious, I can’t help but dance along – Wednesdays be damned!
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