This is just a matter of personal preference, but normally I wouldn’t be interested in eight scruffy yet handsome English boys. If they promised a good rock show, however, I could make an exception. Tuesday night, the hyped Friendly Fires of St. Albans opened for the über-hyped White Lies of West London at Black Cat. This was the first show of their U.S. tour together. Sadly, we missed the opening band, The Soft Pack, so have at it in the comments.

The buzz in the front row was that White Lies were heading into town from New York and might be a bit late (they weren’t really). It seems that they had just finished a taping for Letterman, which aired as they were finishing their set in D.C.

For those not familiar with their sound, they use a mix of Billy Idol’s muted guitars, power chords, and post-punk styles. They make what few chord changes there are count. Joy Division’s influence can be heard, along with a host of others, on tracks like, “E.S.T” and “Farewell to the Fairgound.” It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare them to U2 either, albeit without a shred of optimism. Most of the songs focus on such weighty themes as love and death, and any distinction between the two becomes blurred in their verses. There’s nothing much new here, but they execute well live.