I went to see these lot last night and I have to say I was blown away. As sleazy as Madame Jojo’s is, it suited the setting.

Hot and sticky, Young Empires music, should come with a baby wipe. This Toronto 3-piece, playing there first gig outside of their hometown, look and sound like the fully formed real deal already. Yeah the guitarist may look like Jedward’s older, more cooler brother, and lead singer Robert Ellingson might dance like me when I’m pissed. But in front of an audience, they really have something special.

Achieving the not-at-all easy task of sounding better live than on record, their songs are floor-fillers that have a sass and funk that similar bands (like The Bravery maybe?) just struggle to achieve. It’s interesting mentioning The Bravery, because when they came out, it felt like the end of a scene, if that makes sense. The Killers, who they so aped, were about to go stadium-sized, and bands we’re no longer vogue, music fans instead looking to look to more darker, experimental outlets. And so bands that wore their influences on their sleeve, like The Bravery, were soon found out, or just given up on.

What has this all got to do with Young Empires, you may ask? Well it’s simply that they seem to have a lot more substance than other bands. Watching them last night, I was struck by how, while they still have a long way to develop, they seemed to already have a foundation set to go on, and build from. It was funny talking to people after, and they all seemed to think that they were just a few songs short of being great, however never did you get the impression that writing those songs was beyond these Cana-danians.

So yeah, I really liked them, I reckon they’ll be huge. Turns out Will at We All Want Someone To Shout For is already a big fan, so…..well there goes my h’exclusiveness. Oh dear. Young Empires are doing a bit of a UK tour at the mo’. If you’re in LDN, they’re at KOKO on Fretag, and The Flowerpot on Tuesday. If you go to their Myspace, though I can’t for the life of me know why as Myspace is SO FUCKIN’ SHIT!!!!, sorry…..you can download a rather splendid MP3 Bundle, and here’s a sample of one of the tracks you will be bundled with.

Delightful.