Live Review
Loom + Bloody Knees + Polterghost
Black Heart, London
September 4 2013
Linn Branson
Photos: Jen Moffat
For the first of the four-date Black Heart shows curated by Loom, the night is opened by the two ex-Fanzine members (vocalist Jock Norton and bassist Kit Jennings, joined for this new venture by Danny Ward on drums) now known as Polterghost. Having just made their live debut weeks before, they look slick and at their game as they deliver a set of lo-fi rock, like the newly released single ‘Beast’ that receives whoops and cheers as its stoner riffs, thumping drums and driving basslines get underway. From set opener, ‘Holy Smoke’, with its squalling guitars, through the Pearl Jam-like sound of 'Brainfreeze', you start to see how they have already made an arresting impression.
Bloody Knees, the raw, slacker rock ensemble from Cambridge, have the makings of potentially becoming something much bigger. Sharing the same manager as Swim Deep one would imagine may push them on to some worthy support bills. Tonight they aim for the direct approach with high fire frenetic energy. Sadly, the crowd seem a little unappreciative, with response warm but seemingly more content to listen than participate with any show of wild abandonment. Despite this, they play a set of scuzzy melodics like 'Ghosts', 'Never Change' and 'Ears Eyes Ohs and Yous' with a fierce abandonment. Vocalist Bradley Griffiths provides a vocal tone that is punk harsh, coupled with howls that on '100 Days' could come from Sex Pistols ilk.
As for the evening's hosts and headliners, Loom's frontman doesn't wait long before instigating the rumble to start amidst the front row moshing fraternity - before mostly leaving the heaving male bodies to fly around and get on with it. With a reputation that has preceded them by a mile, one cannot help but feel that while this bravaderie has helped garner them press coverage, it has not helped engage new fans. A year on it would have been thought that they would be playing to a larger crowd than the number who have turned up here. Nevertheless, Badwan spends most of the set proving his murderous intentions by catapulting himself around the tiny room in a full-on frenzy - yet still managing to blast through their own 'Bleed On Me', 'Acid City King', 'I Get A Taste', alongside a selection of their covers including (pre-Joy Division) Warsaw's 'Warsaw'.
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