Errors @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff 13.02.12

They are respected by their peers (check the outrageously good list of names they attracted for their remix project ‘Celebrity Dome Down With Me’ – Dam Mantle, Gold Panda, The Field), and they have a label (Mogwai’s Rock Action) that is willing to let them progress their sound at a pace that suits them. In fact, it’s difficult to think of a band that have had a more ‘steady’ rise to fame than Errors. As they told a packed Clwb Ifor Bach, they’d finally been booked on the (larger capacity) top floor of the iconic Cardiff venue – but this is the result of years of legwork, not a sudden spasm in the trend-ometer.

Have Some Faith in Magic is the sound of a band comfortable in their own skin, and some of the new material sounded fantastic. The bleary, contemplative Blank Media weaved a dreamy spell, and Earthscore – with an almost tribal rhythm – is an intriguing sidestep for a band more associated with a syncopated electro bounce. ‘Pleasure Palaces’, the first single to be lifted from the new album, is more traditional Errors fare – acid tweaks, 808 bumps, and snaking synth lines – and got a slightly subdued crowd moving.

The vaguely underwhelmed audience were not just being moody Monday night-ers though: not all of the new tracks translated especially well live. Perhaps its because the tracks on Have Some Faith… are more subtle, nuanced affairs, but although the gig started and ended with a bang, there were some definite whimpers in between. New songs always take a while to settle into a live set, but its difficult to shake the feeling that Errors sound best when they are welding sinister electronic melodies to whip-crack drums – and these moments were few and far between.

Tellingly, the biggest roar of the night was reserved for old favourite ‘Mr Milk’ – and it is on tracks like this that Errors are untouchable. No one does rippling live electro better. And although the new-found depth on Have Some Faith in Magic sounds refreshing on record, I found myself longing for a few more party-starters in amongst the moodier new material.

It’ll be interesting to see where Errors go from here. They have enough credibility to do pretty much whatever they please, and the quality of their song writing remains top drawer. But it would seem somehow a waste if their live shows started to lean too heavily towards the moody and the melancholic at the expense of the fizzing disco bullets in their back catalogue. After all, there’s always label bosses Mogwai for that.