Last week, we got Still In Love, Shooting Daggers, Flesh Creep and So Far So Good down to Blondies Brewery for the inaugural BREACH gig night. Between broken guitars, insane heat and a broken-down taxi, it was chaos. Here's how it went down...
“If anyone knows this shit, fucking sing along,” commands Still In Love singer Nick Worthington. This ain’t no karaoke evening, mind. This is the inaugural night of BREACH – a new quarterly celebration of the best and most exciting bands breaking out of the underground, courtesy of Kerrang! and ace East London bar and brewery Blondies.
The road here hasn't been easy, though. Literally. It’s unlikely any of tonight's bands have had a more turbulent time getting to Blondies Brewery in Leyton than Shooting Daggers. The three members variously hail from France (singer/guitarist Sal Pellegrin), Italy (bassist Bea Simion) and Spain (drummer Raquel Alves). Where have this trio travelled from today to put them behind schedule and looking so flustered? Deptford, as it turns out, where the London-based queer punks do their rehearsing.
“We called an Uber to take us to the studio and the driver was already upset because we had our equipment with us,” explains drummer Raquel upon arrival, with a roll of the eyes. “The car broke down when we arrived at the studio because it kept getting overheated. The driver managed to fix it, but then it broke down on the motorway, so we had to call another!”
Fortunately, they're here all safe as the party gets underway thanks to fellow Londoners So Far So Good. The self-proclaimed purveyors of ‘Evilcore’ are a gnarly way to begin proceedings, with a confidence and casual way with a colossally heavy tune that makes them a tough act to follow.
Thankfully, Shooting Daggers’ performance justifies those inconveniences. Admittedly, for the first few moments, they seem a little startled in the glare of the lights, but once Sal beckons the crowd to come forward and bridge the gap between them, things kick into gear. As well as showcasing the quality of the band’s recent mini-album, The Real Life Thing, released earlier this month, T.R.L.T. and My Oh My! demonstrate more nuance than SD’s more confrontational material might have you believe.
And though it’s a shame Refused’s frontman Dennis Lyxzén isn’t here to partake in their collaboration, Glow, we instead get a sideline in great advice, courtesy of bassist Bea. “Never give up the fight, but protect your heart.”
Shooting Daggers have played with all the acts on tonight’s bill before, but have also actually played this very venue with the next band up, Birmingham-based brutes Flesh Creep, back in February.
“We had a wonderful time,” recalls FC bassist Jack Miles, an incredibly sweet dude who admits to “having a bit of a moment” at the prospect of playing a K! show, recalling his first discovery of the mag, aged 13, back in 2003.
Frontman Tom Bienkowski, dressed in shirt and tie, is similarly wistful on stage later on, taking time out from looking like an office worker who’s gone absolutely postal to mention the first issue of K! he picked up, featuring Slayer on the cover, dated September 15, 2001.
“It was a heavy news week,” he suggests with enviable dryness in a venue quickly becoming a sweat box. The perspiration is well earned by Flesh Creep, as Tom encourages people to get up close and personal: “You’re not going to get punched in the head – we’re not that kind of band.”
And while it’s true that no one in the band gives anyone a dig, Jack jumps into the crowd and turns into a gurning galvaniser the moment he senses the energy drops below requisite levels.
Meanwhile, there’s undeniable clobbering power in Bubblegum, Fluke and Glimmer, which are included on their Glimmer EP, released next month. Their efforts recall the energy and eccentricity of Every Time I Die, though earlier in the evening, bassist Jack admits it’s a rather unusual mix of “everything from Justin Bieber to jazz” that goes into the mix to create this heady and headbanging brew. And with results like this, who are we to argue?
When it comes to Still In Love’s output, catharsis is a prominent ingredient on their debut album, Recovery Language, released last September. The aftermath, vocalist Nick Worthington suggests, has proved to be somewhat overwhelming.
“It’s because we all work so much,” says Nick, who’s also got a day job as a skateboarding teacher. “I don’t think we really anticipated the response we were going to get [with the record], which has led to a lot of offers, so it’s a question of how we make it work. But it’s been kind of perfect, really.”
The making of Recovery Language, however, was less than perfect because of the realisations that came from exploring its serious subject matter.
“Recovery Language is exactly what it is, about getting sober and having my head screwed on enough to say, ‘I never knew what I was trying to say with the previous songs, or even in a previous band’,” explains Nick. “But I’m still really fucking angry after it’s all said and done. Finishing the album was like closing the book a little bit, as if I’d emptied myself out. Usually these songs weigh on me quite a bit, but it feels really good to play them live. But then, afterwards, it’s back to the 40-hour working week.”
Nick and his Still In Love bandmates certainly make it count tonight. For 30 minutes, nothing else exists for them or this crowd, united in the most kinetic of emotional bloodletting. Nervous Impulse, Feathered Nest and Pillar Of Strength are relentless to the point of ruthlessness – powered by exceptional work from drummer Marc Richards – and tailor made for a venue of this size (the atmosphere is perfectly capped off by a dude dressed as Where’s Wally? throwing down in the pit. “I’ve seen you in a book,” an impressed Nick jokes).
Sadly, the climactic Preserve & Cherish is missing the appearance from Architects’ Sam Carter that it has on record, but that’s okay, as we assume he’s busy elsewhere. This audience wants more regardless, though a broken guitar puts paid to that. Nick suggests it was sabotaged by guitarist Curtis Ward to spare everyone from getting too hot, but it was the perfect crescendo to a perfect night regardless, witnessing some of the UK’s best hopefuls breaching the underground.
See you at the next one!
