Alpha Male Tea Party, Body Hound: Buyers Club, Liverpool

Alpha Male Tea Party

As the Liverpool trio Alpha Male Tea Party incinerate Buyers Club with their album launch, Getintothis’ Joe Giess dances in the heat.

Sometimes, by way of serendipity, things come together flawlessly, and Alpha Male Tea Party‘s album launch was a prime example.

It may be hard to imagine an experimental and instrumental band jetting off for a world tour but there is something of a heritage for this bag in Merseyside with Mugstar, Mind Mountain and Ex-Easter Island Head, all part of the recent instrumental Merseyside alumni. Tonight, Alpha Male Tea Party was elevated to this status of prestige, but let’s start at the beginning.

As you leave the sun of the streets and enter the upstairs of Buyers Club, the red brick hall has an eerie and strange chill in the air. All it needs is for a portcullis to come down and cage us with the Sheffield bred Body Hound.

They come out to trepidatious crowd, most groups standing at least two feet away from each other. And rightly, they refuse to play until the audience congregates at the front. The band lures them to front of the stage, so they can fire off an audio assault, playing some violent and punishing math core.

They craft a set of phenomenal structure, as tightly coiled and woven as a double helix. The songs get a terse introduction of “Old/New Song” as and when appropriate – then they rip back into the set. The bassist thrashes around the stage with his body contorting with every sludgy riff and crescendo. An aggressive and exciting start to the night.

Encore! Why the pantomime of encores is awful and must end

In comparison to what seems to be the darkness of Body Hound, Alpha Male Tea Party’s major driven melodies act as the light. They pick up their instruments and a drove of followers surge to front to be inches away from the band, huddling together like sitting around the campfire and watching the wonder of AMTP – the local talent are definitely crowd favourites.

The cordial mob have a magnetic and fun appeal, they ask the crowd to scream “fuck Off Beasly” as the lead guitarist films it on his phone. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t really matter. The crowd has already worked into a frenzy and swaying as the riffs get heavier and more complex.

Although it’s easy to be critical of the average paying punters for not bothering to leave their homes and get off Netflix, but nights like tonight show why people commit to the cause. The idea of the underground is an ephemeral notion but when you’re in a room full of people ecstatic for an independent release, you realise this may just be it.

Go out and find these bands.

Pictures by Getintothis’ Francesco Imola