Playlouder - Music is the Network

The lower chambers of the Cross Kings are low indeed. The ceiling is so low that there is no stage to elevate the band above the crowd. In an environment like this, there’s no cruising; you’ve got to be good.

The first band on address the issue by invading the audience’s space – this is the scene that greets us when we arrive. And they sound like a late 90s pop punk band who have just discovered hardcore, until my ears tune in, and a few more tracks reveals an outfit more interesting than first suggested. They combine punk, metal and hip hop to remarkably unembarassing and distinctive effect. 

Well worth checking out, even if the keyboardist does look like he’s been borrowed from The Teenagers. I think they’re called Team Robespierre.

They’re not Pivot, anyway; Pivot are upstairs and, as usual, split opinions right down the middle. I’m not taking that risk though; if there’s more than a metre between me and Wild Beasts I may throw a tantrum.

Fortunately, getting downstairs early paid off, and by the time the band began, though the tiny cellar was full, the space the other side of the shiny bit of rope from the band belong to me and a few others.

What to say about Wild Beasts’ performance? It was the live show that first turned me on to them. And this time, having come to know and love the songs, the performances of ‘Assembly’, ‘The Devil’s Crayon’, ‘Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants’ and others are second to nothing I’ve seen this year.

Wild Beasts really challenge the notion that musicians are people like the rest of us. The sounds and rhythms that these four craft are like spells cast over the assembled party. And while there’s more of the workman than the rock God in each one of them, there’s an understated style and panache that no posing London ninnies with next week’s haircut could ever understand, let alone hope to emulate.

Frankly, Wild Beasts are marvellous.