LIVE REVIEW: SO YOUNG ISSUE 12 LAUNCH PARTY

So Young hand-picked the most exciting new talents to launch the twelfth issue of their Magazine. The bands transformed a dreary Monday evening into a relentless musical pledge against mundanity. I caught Jacob Slater from Dead Pretties after the gig, and asked him for a tag-line for the night: “Don’t wash your socks! Go to more live music, and if you find Matt Healy, then behead him publicly!”

Hotel Lux begin the night with their pulsating vibrations of youthful disillusionment. The low dirge of the rhythm section is a gut rumble, and the crowd are hungry for chaos as singer Lewis Duffin spits out his deadbeat lyrics. Their third song, ‘Envoi’, is the band’s only release and it sends the crowd into fury. Instead of flooding the Internet with an influx of bedroom-recorded demos, Hotel Lux’s polished debut single turns your average crowd pleaser into an angst anthem. All the kids are banging their nuts, screaming the vitriolic refrain “YOU’VE RUINED HIS LIFE”.

Bristolian boys LICE slam the revs up a notch. Their rampant deliverance is an aggressive opposition to mediocrity. Frontman Allistair Shuttleworth and guitarist Gareth Johnson’s incendiary stage presence fuel their performance, making their loud scuzzy sound ear-biting. LICE have been lucky enough to support The Fall, and it’s safe to say that the influence is definitely there. But when Shuttleworth whips out his harmonica for ‘Little John Wayne’s’, it’s clear that LICE have some of their own unique tricks up their sleeve.

Next up is Dead Pretties. I’ve been excited about these lads since the first time I saw them at a massive warehouse party in Manor House – they completely blew me away. A friend of the band’s got up onstage and started snarling out The Clash’s legendary ‘Guns of Brixton’, and from then I was hooked. The boys are living up to the name that they’re establishing for themselves. I mean, it’s only the first tune, and I’ve already managed to throw the remainders of my beer onto the stage and anger the tames stood in the front row... Oops! Frontman Jacob Slater’s narcotic wild-eyes glare out into the crowd; his frantic shrieks sound menacing on top of the jagged threats of Oscar Browne’s bass licks. Ben Firth’s drums perforate your ears, forcing down the doors of complacency. They continuously deliver and so the crowd don’t stop giving it right back. When ‘Social Experiment’ kicks in, I know I'm going home bruised black and blue. Fuck the pedal board bollocks - Dead Pretties stand for that absolutely raucous, unforgiving rock 'n' roll that we know will always lift the roof.

Shame closed the show with their viciously sonic cynicism. After having toured with Fat White Family, these boys definitely know how to work a crowd. Frontman Charlie Steen provokes the audience into action with his deadpan growl. The audience are everywhere; at one point a stray crowd surfer breaks the lights and we find ourselves in pitch black, but it doesn’t stop the trip. A stage-invasion ensues, and Gareth from LICE starts flashing a torch like a DIY strobe light. It was fucking mad. ‘The Lick’ is the highlight of their set, and the venomous guitars (courtesy of Eddie and Sean) seem to slap and slash against each other aurally. It’s a thoroughly kinetic sound. As their set draws to a close, it’s clear that Shame’s bite infected the crowd.

Don’t wash your socks!

Photo credit to So Young Magazine.