First of a two-in-two of young bands harking back to that growling post-punk sonic template; familiar faces tomorrow, but first here’s new Vermont 4-piece Thus Love. A self-styled “queercore” post-punk lot, I’d discovered them earlier this year via the good offices of the new band-breaking “Revolt Into Style” Facebook page, a little too late for their sophomore 2024 release “All Pleasure” to inveigle its’ way onto my “Best of 2024” Compo CD, but in plenty of time to book for their subsequent UK jaunt. “All Pleasure” is an intriguing blend of moody, tuneful and hooky Joy Division-esque post-punk with strident overlays of glammy 70’s NYC New Wave, similar in mood to last year’s finds Been Stellar and Slow Fiction, albeit with a little less shoegazey introspection and a bit more dynamism. And by all accounts, the dynamism and swagger is ramped up a few more notches “live” too; OK then, let’s see…
Left a little late for a jaunt down
a sunny M4, but parked up about 7.30 and wandered into this arty storefront
venue, running into Bristol gig face Louise, a Thus Love fan of a couple of
years standing, and chatting Suede briefly with her and her Suede-obsessed
friend. Took a central spot for openers Ain’t. A 5-piece fronted by a striking
pre-Raphaelite dressed hippychick vocalist with (initially) bunny ears, with an
intriguing sonic template blending metronomic post-punk and considered, mid-paced
Pumpkins-like angsty slacker grunge, they unfortunately suffered with a bad
sound mix, rendering a lot of their material (and particularly said singers
rather understated, lilting tones) struggling against the fuzzed-out guitar
noise and pounding drums, making this set heavy going on the ears. A shame, as
there sounded as if there might have been some decent material under there, to
go along with the vocalist’s entertaining moves…
A respectable crowd had gathered as Thus Love took the stage dead on 9, to pulsing disco feedback, easing into oldie (and thus “newie” to me!) “Repititioner”, the plangent opening riff and ascending bass building into a languid mid-song wall of sound, recalling my 2000’s NYC faves The Stills, no less. “On The Floor” the opening track of “All Pleasure” followed, the hypnotic pulse and upbeat Joy Division-esque guitar riff sounding clear and purposeful, setting the tone for a tough, road-tested, robust and fulsome performance of their intriguing, hooky and resonant US alt-rock. “You guys good?” offered wonderfully-named vocalist Echo Mars (yes, Echo Mars, I shit you not!), to which Some Wag Down The Front (OK, me…) countered with, “yeah, how are you?” “Fucking living the dream, bud…” came the languid, drawled reply…
I’d be inclined to believe that, actually,
as Mars proved a natural frontperson, laconic and relaxed yet also dynamic and
committed, backed up ably by an excellent, intuitive band. “Were any of you
here when we last played this room? I was climbing that [speaker stack] like a
monkey…”, ventured Mars, this time remaining confined to the stage and their
guitar, nonetheless throwing shapes with abandon. “Birthday Song”’s slow burn,
moody intro built to a sweeping choral crescendo; “House On A Hill” kicked in
with a herky-jerky new wave rhythm underpinned by a sleazy, sinister
Pixies-esque bassline before the wolverine growl of its’ denouement, bassist
Ally Juleen screaming the hook to the rafters; and oldie “Put On Dog” was absolutely
superb, a careering hellride with green strobes augmenting the mood of mutant
madness. The kind of number most bands save until the end, but Thus Love stick
it casually in mid-set. Confident…
A merch plug (“we get to buy dinner at home if you buy shirts!” pleaded the drummer) and an anti-Trump rant from Juleen preceded the brooding gothic death march of “Centerfield”; then the dissonant building hook of “Show Me Patience” recalled aforementioned recent US finds Been Stellar, before the eerie and growling Pixies-esque plod of “Lost In Translation” ended a damn fine set punctuated by a 2-song encore culminating in funky closer “Family Man”, and Juleen happily throwing the drummer’s list my way. By this time my knees were barking a little, so I decided to head off, wandering alongside the crowd just leaving the nearby SWX and dropping in for a snack in Taka Taka on the corner. Had an entertaining conversation therein with Ain’t’s relatively new (7 gigs in tonight) bass player, who during a meandering conversation about the current state of rock, made the mistake of asking me what I thought of them! I think he appreciated my honesty – at least he didn’t hit me! He did persuade me to give Ain’t another chance, which tbf I would have done anyway… No such persuasion required for tonight’s headliners though, Thus Love showing promise “live” even beyond my expectations. A band to see again… and again…
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