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Last Wednesday, England’s Duke Spirit hit The Echo to a completely sold out crowd. The 5 piece has been around for a couple years and recently is starting to get as much attention as they deserve with their recent album Neptune. Lead singer Leila Moss, who looks like a rock n roll version of a young Deborah Harry, is one of the most captivating performers in music today.

I missed Prayers who opened the show but I heard good things. I got there right in time for Afternoons who I had seen a few months back at Spaceland and was less than impressed. The band features members from Irving and the only way to describe their sound is “Irving trying to be Arcade Fire” and while they still are shamelessly going that route I will say that they’ve really stepped up their live show and got much tighter, which tricks you into enjoying it to some degree. If I hadn’t seen them at Spaceland a few months back and then heard from a few people that have talked to these guys that they actually are trying to be like Arcade Fire, I might buy it just like much of the audience that night did.

Duke Spirit came out to a shoulder to shoulder packed in crowd and quickly launched into their bluesy Jesus and Mary Chain styled rock. Moss, with her signature white feather, stole the audience’s attention so much that hardly anyone noticed Noel and Liam Gallagher from Oasis, Jon Brion, Brian and Nikki from Silver Sun Pick Ups and a few BRMC gents milling about in the small east side venue. I had first seen Duke Spirit about two years ago when I interviewed them at Doug Fir Lounge in Portland and was blown away by their live show and their absolutely humble demeanor in person. Their first album Cuts Across the Land was great and have evolved nicely on their new release Neptune. This show was highlighted by tracks such as “The Step and the Walk”, “Cuts Across the Land” and “Send A Little Love Taken”. Apparently this night was a showcase for BMI and I’m assuming it went well because a brief 2 or 3 days later, they were signed to BMI. I couldn’t think of another band more worthy.