Chalk, Band on the Wall. 28th Feb 2025

I’ve had a very calm evening, I’m now ready for some noise. I’m in the right place, that being Band on the Wall, with Chalk. They’re from Ireland, which seems where every band is from these days, but they’re more than the currently favoured dark post punk guitar band. Throwing a ton of metallic techno brutalism into the mix, I’m ready to have my ears blown off. They’re like a pepped up Ministry trapped in a dystopian northern disco. The riffs are thick, the drums pulverise and that electro backline is devastating. Singer Ross may look lovely in his spangly jumper and sunglasses but he’s deadly with that mic. Breathy vocals one minute, terrifying echo-laden screams the next. They’re wonderful chaotic. Flailing guitars, the drum kit doing its best to stay in one piece, there’s a sense that without the synth tying it all together, it might all fall apart. Certainly one of the heavier bands of their ilk. You’re not singing along as much as holding on for dear life. They can do melodic though. Dark, trance like stuff with deep drones and bass keys. They even drift into auto-tuned hopeful summertime banger territory at one point, but honestly live, some of it doesn’t quite land. It’s the heavier stuff that gets the crowd moving. A bit. It’s a moody audience. Which I suppose is to be expected. ‘Them’ is brutal and brilliant though with is menacing lyric “You never looked at me like that” ringing out as the speakers buzz with overloaded distortion. Then all of a sudden an hour has passed and they close with the almost euphoric ‘Condisions’. A few in the audience picking up the refrain “You don’t know him like I do”, before they thank us and disappear. It’s an electric performance and a great way to kick off the weekend, my ears still just about hanging on.