Only 24 hours after performing a majestic set being broadcast to the thousands for Boiler Room, Khruangbin graced a buzzing Komedia for what was sure to be another gorgeous performance. Having now played Brighton three times this year – first being a late night set at The Great Escape Festival and then an intimate evening at Patterns – there is a lot of local love for the band. As there should be, the instrumental three-piece play a magnificent mixture of Thai funk inspired psychedelic surf-rock sound infused with hints of Texas blues from where they originate – it’s quite the musical medley.

Khruangbin first got their break in 2013 when their track ‘A Calf Born in Winter’ was included on Bonobo’s compilation for Late Night Tales, melting the minds of all who heard it and creating an extraordinary hype around a band with no releases to their name. A year later and Khruangbin signed to Late Night Tales offshoot label Night Time Stories, releasing a couple of EP’s which culminated in one of the stand out gems from 2015 with their debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You.

Coming out of the back stage area to an almighty roar from an excited crowd, Khruangbin took their positions onstage looking typically cool; Mark Speer on guitar in a dapper suit, the stunning Laura Lee on bass with sparkling glitter lips and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson in a bright coloured shirt. Playing songs from their LP, which I’m sure the majority of the audience have had on constant repeat at some point, the band duly treated the room to a performance that dazzled and even surpassed everyone’s hopes. Their deliciously mellow melodies and brilliantly laid-back beats instantly mesmerised, getting the room to drift and sway to the spacious rhythms of their soft funk pulse. The bass was heavy and the grooves were languid but in an instant the band would raise the tempo, creating a moment of elation, before bringing it back to the sublimely smooth norm they effortlessly perform.

Mark said it himself, it was an “enchanted evening”. This was in part due to the outrageously tight beat the trio kept but also the incredible ability of his guitar playing, or rather shredding, dancing with ease across his fretboard and superbly shaping sounds with his pedals. They included some funked up gems in their set, namely the hidden song on the B-Side of their LP found after the locked groove (an absolute revelation to me on the night) which whipped the crowd into a frenzy, as well as some classic Thai covers which also got a very welcome response.

I can’t see myself ever getting tired of the sweet sounds Khruangbin bring, and the fact that funk takes an unexpected vanguard when live, which you certainly don’t get to hear as much of on The Universe Smiles Upon You, only makes things that bit better.
Iain Lauder

Read our recent interview with Khruangbin here: http://brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/9-articles/1878-khruangbin-interview-2016

Website: Khruangbin.com
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Twitter: twitter.com/Khruangbin