1,295 DESPERATE JOURNALIST, The Violent Hearts, Bristol Dareshack, Wednesday 4th October 2023

 

A hectic 3 in 4 nights kicks off with a potential cracker from the current standard bearers of UK Indie rock. For me, London’s Desperate Journalist have been pretty much the best band the UK has to offer since I first heard them back in 2017, their urgent and intensely rich mix of dark 80’s post-punk, pseudo gothy guitar licks and stark, confessional lyricism from rock’s resident Ice Queen Jo Bevan knocking me for six from the get-go. This, the first in a short gig run for the band for no reason whatsoever (no new material to bed in, no imminent releases, it just seemed they wanted to keep their hand in “live”!) took us to a brand new Bristol venue in the Dareshack, so this was pretty much a no-brainer…!

 My turn to drive, so I picked Stuart up just after 6 and, after dumping the motor in Nelson Street car park opposite the site of the sadly lamented Bierkeller, found the venue easily at the top of The Pithay! We grabbed drinks in the side bar and were joined in short order by “Shiiine On” buddy Matt, in need of a good rock night out. Methinks you’ve come to the right place! Heard noises emanating from the venue just on 8 so went in to the evocatively black-lined Fleece (ish?) sized room, grabbing house right spots a couple of rows back as support The Violent Hearts took the stage. Slightly out-of-place supports to cartoon punks The Dickies a couple of months ago (gig 1,290), here their muscular swaggering dark alt-rock, propelled in no small part by their strong-armed, hard-hitting drummer, made much more sense. Lots more nuances to their sound were evident than previously as well; “John I’m Only Speeding” had a twanging, Cure “In Between Days” feel, and the sweeping “Burning” gave more than a nod to “Free All Angels”-era Ash in its’ windswept melancholy. After the Ramones lyrical nod, however, “Porcelain” was my set highlight tonight, a splendidly hurtling punkish blast. “Who needs an “E” string anyway?” queried vocalist James Mattock as he undertook running guitar repairs before a Suede-ish, sleazoid “Hex On Me”, then the rambunctious rocker “Everything And Nothing” drew another impressive support set to a close, both Stu and Matt also commenting favourably. I might have to go see them in their own right before long…

 Spotted gig buddies Julian and Alfie down the front for a chat, before bumping into DJ bassist Simon on a quick pre-gig loo trip. Desperate Journalist themselves took the stage dead on at 9, Rob Hardy immediately coaxing hauntingly resonant textural noises from his guitar, and Jo delivering a rushed, “hello,” before the band plunged into the angular, dismissive opener “Nothing”, the black-clad, straw-haired singer immediately the focus with her wide-eyed, impassioned choral vocals. The undulating chimes and terrace chant snark of “Why Are You So Boring” followed, sounding brilliantly clear, and we knew we were in for a good ‘un…

 

Once again, Desperate Journalist were absolutely on fire tonight, delivering another consummate performance of insouciant and aloof elegance, controlled yet gut-punching power and brilliantly effortless Bunnymen-esque cool, the surprise being just how easy they made it look, how it always seemed they were playing within themselves, but still delivering an utterly superb showing. “Hollow”’s stripped back build to its’ pounding, strident chorus was an early highlight; “Jonatan” (“about someone called Casper,” according to Jo) was underpinned with a sinister guitar riff highly reminiscent of The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary”; and after a taut, funky bass-propelled “Fault” (Jo spitting out the hook with bilious intent), oldie “Cristina” was my highlight of the night, breakneck, breathless and passionate. Superb! 

“Are you enjoying it?” asked a loud punter (not me, for once) of Jo, the Ice Queen immediately firing back, “Absolutely not! Get out!” Another deep cut, the libidinous, meandering “Lacking In Your Love” ceded (pardon the pun) to “Cedars”, another brilliantly wallowing and melancholy run-through of their finest number. Tour guitarist, the excellent Charley Stone, excused herself briefly prior to this one, Jo subsequently deadpanning, “you need to rely on the singer to smooth these moments over – but you don’t get that from me!” A soaring, epic “Be Kind” and potent, punchy “All Over” rounded off the set, the Ice Queen making herself scarce so the band could take centre stage for the song’s lengthy and climactic denouement, before the stratospheric hook of a brilliant “Satellite” provided the punctuation to another typically stellar 1 hour 10 minute Desperate Journalist performance. Why this band aren’t absolutely massive utterly baffles me… Drummer Caz kindly handed me her list before we wandered back to the car park, bidding Matt farewell on the lower levels then heading off, home just after 11. Three in four under way, then, and I couldn’t ask for a better band than Desperate Journalist, to kick things off in their usual superb style!