I am writing this having just returned from Café Drummond after watching ‘Pulled Apart by Horses’, ‘Gay for Johnny Depp’ and ‘Young Legionnaire’. My ears are still ringing and my body is aching but oddly, these expected and much dreaded factors are not bothering me as much I had anticipated. If I am being completely honest with you all, I was dubious to say the least about going to this gig.
I will openly admit that I do not naturally connect on a deep level with post hard-core and punk music, in fact, to quote a close friend, I am perhaps ‘the last person on earth’ anyone could have expected to attend a gig with such a line up. However, I have heard a lot about Pulled Apart by Horses, they have been experiencing huge amounts of airplay in recent months, and with reviews that they are incredible live, my natural curiosity took over and, ignoring the sniggers and chuckles from my flatmates, I ventured outside of my natural musical comfort zone and entered into a new musical abyss, as it were….
The venue itself was faultless! Café Drummond is an intimate venue on Belmont Street that, after walking past on a regular basis, I have often made mental notes to find out more about entering, it was perfectly proportioned to host the gig, with an edgy yet strangely cosy interior that added to the building atmosphere and excitement as the venue slowly filled up. It was, to say the least, a slow start, but as more and more people slowly trickled in the venue itself really came to life and I can really understand why it has become such a household name on the forefront of the Aberdeen music scene.
‘Young Legionnaire’, despite a long musical backstory, are a relatively newly reformed band made up of Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party), Paul Mullen (The Automatic) and Dean Pearson. I must say, the melodic interludes throughout their pieces really eased me into what was a completely new musical genre for me. The contrast of the stripped back sections combined with the huge, guitar heavy sections that make up their unique sound not only made their set exciting, but on a personal level, it really helped me get acquainted with the ‘post hard-core’ musical genre that I was about to experience. The near-mainstream sound they managed to create at times really eased me in to their music, and I would recommend anyone curious or unsure about post hard-core rock music to check them out as soon as possible. ‘Colossus’ and ‘Iron Dream’, their recent double A sided single, were the biggest crowd pleasers and sounded immense and epic in the intimate venue. I was completely drawn in and sad to see them leave the stage at the end of their set.
‘Gay for Johnny Depp’ added another metaphorical layer to my evening of musical discoveries. They are a hard-core, screamo band that originate from New York, and as the name suggests, are all united in their love of their fellow American acting legend, Johnny Depp. Formed in 2004, the band have two EP’s under their belts and one debut Album, The Politics of Cruelty, that NME featured in their top ten albums of 2007. Vocally, the band screamed slightly too much for my musical taste, as much as I enjoyed it and was blown away by their power, I do like some lyrical and melodic variety. However, I could not help but be entertained by their original and hilarious lyrics, the majority of which, I am unable to type for this review under the principle of politeness. I highly recommend you go and have a look for yourselves to fully appreciate the musical genius! ‘Shh, Put the Shiv to my Throat’ was a particular favourite! Their stage presence was amazing and completely mesmerising and I fully recommend you go and see them if you have a chance.
The main event was, of course, ‘Pulled Apart by Horses’. They are an alternative Rock Band from Leeds and ‘The Observer’ were not at all wrong is describing their sound as a ‘beautifully focused racket’. They have received huge airplay from Radio 1 in particular in the past few months and must admit that I was hugely excited about seeing this band live. They are at the forefront of bring post hard-core music to a commercial audience and are constantly opening up new eyes, mine included, to this genre. They are Tom Hudson, James Brown, Robert John Lee, and Lee Vincent. They have experienced enormous success since their 2009 single, ‘I punched a lion in the throat’, especially with ‘High five, swan dive, nose dive’, which was a personal highlight to the evening. They have even supported Muse on a UK tour, which, for a relatively new band is a huge, and very worthy achievement. Their new single is entitled ‘Yeah Buddy’ and I have a feeling it is going to be enormously successful. I would advise anyone, new or old to this genre of music to give their sound time to sink in before any rash judgement is made. Underneath the wall of noise that first hits you are powerful, melodic and enjoyable songs that I am looking forward to listening to again and again. The reviews and hype are not wrong, the music, set list, stage presence and atmosphere were electric and I surprised myself at how much I instantly got in their set. You must see this band live!
If I was to post a criticism on my evening, I think it could only be this… the date! When I imagine a perfect Sunday night in a windy and rainy Aberdeen, and feel free to call me old and boring, I think crumpets, hot chocolate and rubbish detective programmes. Do not get me wrong for a second, I enjoyed every second of my evening, I loved how exciting and unashamedly ‘in your face’ the bands were. It was emotive and exhausting in the best possible ways. However, I’m alert, awake, riding high on adrenaline and huge guitar riffs, and this, I have to say, is something I am not used to on a wee Sunday night in Old Aberdeen. I think I need to readjust my body clock….
Sophie O’Sullivan
You can watch 4 tracks streamed live from Pulled Apart By Horses here
