“My neck will burn as we kiss and I’m sick in your mouth.”

Fun gig last night at Koko to see UK indie scene darling Lightspeed Champion.

The fist act (catching me off guard, since they weren’t advertised) was (I found out later) actually Lightspeed’s bass player with backup from a couple of other musicians. He played guitar and sang in a bluesy sort of rock style. It was rough and only lasted a couple of songs, but I liked what he was attempting.

Then came Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, a four-piece band of young guys that I thought were pretty cool. They come across a bit oddly at first: sort of prog with the guitar wankery and rhythms, but a bit like Nick Cave with precise enunciation although deeper and shoutier. But I liked their wry lyrics and their different sound. The first couple of songs were pretty intense. Dev Hynes, ol’ Lightspeed himself, came out to play some guitar on their last song.

Next were Operator Please. I didn’t know anything about these guys, but it seems they’ve been getting some attention. They’re from Australia, won their high school battle of the bands in 2005, and were a MySpace discovery. They’re an upbeat rock band with some added violin. They also all look like they’re 10 years old. I was reminded of both The Gossip and Franz Ferdinand. They were okay; they’re still very young. I liked their cover of Devo’s “Whip It”. Because I was, by far, the oldest person in the room I’m not sure if anyone else liked it.

A short wait and out came Lightspeed Champion. LC was the name of a comic strip that Star Wars-obsessed singer/guitarist Dev Hynes doodled in his textbook margins when he was in high school, and when short-lived indie band Test Icicles broke up he took the name for his solo act. Friends from other bands helped him record his first album, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, which has stormed the NME scene like nothing else in the last few months. Many of those friends were along to be LC’s live band last night, including Emmy the Great.

In short, it was awesome. LC writes sad, I’m-a-loser indie songs with folk elements and killer melodies. They all sounded great live, and Dev himself is a good showman. He moves around a lot, gets into it, and goes googled-eyed and open-mouthed. He’s got charisma and is charmingly self-deprecating (which he may come by honestly - read the insecurity on his blog). His suit jacket, constant fuzzy hat with earflaps, and nerd glasses add to the fact that he knows he’s filling an oddball role.

The full band - guitar, bass, drums, and four people on strings - made the live songs sound as rich as they do on the album. Despite their depressing content, the upbeat melodies and singalong choruses make you feel uncontrollably happy. Dev’s a better guitar player than I’d guessed, too.

He played three new songs last night, opening with one called “Happy Birthday”; another was called “Marlena” I think. And then he played just about every track off …Lavender Bridge. Nice. “Galaxy of the Lost” was tops, I think, an incredible song that also got the best crowd participation.

He brought out another indie-folk singer, Kid Harpoon, for last single “Tell Me What It’s Worth”. Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man vocalist Fred MacPherson came back out to sing on “All To Shit” while Dev played drums, and I thought it was cool. Other nice touches were throwing in the classic guitar riff from the start of Heart’s “Barracuda” to kick off one tune, and a nifty violin-led run through “Star Wars Theme” and “Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)” to start another.

They closed with the epic “Midnight Surprise”, and we all left with smiles on our faces.