Hear the name Milky Chance and you might be forgiven for a cursory glance – two random words perfunctorily squashed together, inspiring notions of bad translation. Thankfully, there’s more to music than a name, and the packed and vocal Enmore Theatre crowd would attest as much.
Milky Chance’s success is in some respects a similar oddity: the casual, carefree drift of their folk-pop (or folktronica if you’re a genre sadist) isn’t new by any means. While they’ve barely deviated from a now well-established template of simple, pretty, jangling guitar riffs underpinned by soft electronic rhythms, there’s an evident Euro-cheese factor (I say this with utmost respect – it works for them) that lends them a disarming and familiar quality.
And wasn’t this crowd ready to lap it all up, with shrieks and whoops of anticipation as the four-piece eased into as consistent a set as you’ll see. In town to promote their second album Blossom, Milky Chance’s double-percussion set-up of drums and one-man bongo/conga ensemble drove the performance and lent them a welcome impetus, adding that extra bit of muscle to their floaty folk-pop anthems.
‘Cocoon’ and ‘Firebird’, two of Blossom’s safer summery flutters, were the most obvious beneficiaries and the better of their new material. Rather than stray to reggae-lite, they simplified the songwriting, to much better effect.
One of the welcome surprises came in a slight reworking of mega-hit ‘Stolen Dance’, catching a hypnotised crowd off guard. For all their pleasant familiarity, it was refreshing to hear something different. Harmonica bursts from touring regular Antonio Greger added essential flavor alongside the nasal inflections of lead vocalist Clemens Rehbein, they in themselves a warm, occasionally incomprehensible stream of harmony. Beams and patterns of colour splashed green, red and pastel hues about the room, redolent of debut album Sadnecessary’s cheerful cover art.
With their fashionable tertiary student get-up and charming boyishness, you suspect these lads are as humble as they come, with lead vocalist Clemens Rehbein reduced to coy remarks: “You guys are really loving it,” he said through a smile. This was just as much fun for Milky Chance as it was for the willing crowd, and it showed in their energy.
The incredible success of their early singles aside, they’ve clearly developed popularity beyond – a young and bubbling crowd hanging on chord and word in familiar sing-along, and screaming their delight after every track.
Milky Chance played the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday May 3.
