The Thespians launch their new single while laying siege to the Shipping Forecast, Getintothis’ Richard Lewis finds himself digging their pinpoint ragged rushes.
Downstairs at The Ship, The Hold is at sardines-like levels of attendance for The Thespians‘ first live outing of 2013.
The launch gig for just-released glam infused stomper Under Siege, the quartet stride on stage and plough straight into the track unannounced, an audacious gamble that instantly pays off as the group find their feet immediately.
A venue ideally suited to the band’s ragged, pin-point accurate melodic punk rushes, the four-piece play eyeball to eyeball with the front row for the duration of the show.
New flipside So So and the band’s keynote moment Reason to Reason are blazed through with resolute efficiency, the mix emphasising the trebly aggression of the band’s dual-pronged axe attack.
Easing the pace momentarily the first half of Love and Music is performed solo by frontman Paul before the rest of the band crash in midway through, bassist Phill somehow making the stage seem bigger than it is careering around its cramped quarters, completely absorbed in the sound.
Cranking up the energy level, the four-piece hit the closing stretch, blitzing through Push a Button then seguing directly into a furious rendition of I Don’t Care.
Disappearing into the shadows, feedback whistling from the amps after a dozen expertly crafted punk/new wave missives, The Thespians‘ melding of CBGBs via The Roxy songcraft continues apace. Sound and fury signifying plenty.
Prior to The Thesps‘, The Mono LPs play to a crowd virtually the same size, the band’s extensive trips round the city’s gig circuit paying dividends as they turn in a clutch of scalpel sharp tunes.
Possessors of a compellingly vicious live sound, the cello scything away like a chorus of Bernard Hermann strings, the high point is reached during a raucous scanning of Make Me Sick, the stop-stop staccato bursts evoking excellent nineties pop misthanthropes The Auteurs.
The Thespians on Getintothis at X&Y Festival.
The Mono LPs reviewed by Getintothis at The Dovedale Social.
The Mono LPs at Resurrection Festival.
