Scalping, The White Hotel. 17th February 2022

The White Hotel is a weird venue but I love it. I’m convinced that by day it still operates as an MOT garage in the middle of a nondescript Salford industrial estate. By night though, totally different. It’s like an old industrial club. Making it perfect for tonight’s band Scalping. Before they take to the stage though, we get Mandy, Indiana. I don’t know much about this lot, other than they’re local despite the lyrics being mostly French… I think and certainly very sensual for want of a better description. They’re layered over a brutal almost tribal sound. The whole thing’s like a demonic ritual. Imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark directed by Cronenberg. Not for the faint hearted. Neither are Scalping, but it’s much bouncier. I watched Ozric Tentacles last night and this lot remind me of the electro prog legends, but they’re much sharper. Like Ozrics fronted by Trent Reznor. Not that anyone’s singing. It doesn’t need lyrics. Guitar, bass, drums and enough electronics to fill every conceivable space inbetween. It’s a big intense sound. It never gets muddy though. Credit to whoever’s working the desk, the sound in here is crystal and sounds absolutely beautiful. Maybe all this concrete from the old MOT garage helps trap it, as squelchy synths and brutal bass bounce around the walls. Whoever’s put the projection together too has done a great job, there’s some lovely stuff. Not that four blokes dressed in black going for it on stage isn’t enough, but sometimes when your an instrumental band, not having a figurehead singer can leave you a bit rudderless. Not for Scalping though. The impressively moustachioed guitarist feels every beat as he squalls in all the right places. The lads on bass and large banks of electronics are feeding the whole vibe and the drummer is having a fucking blast. When he cracks the symbols, it resonates through the place like a glistening scythe. They’re not gonna be everyone’s thing, but it’s packed in here with the young and beautiful and for little under an hour, they make my chest swell, my feet float and my head rock like I’m getting a new one tomorrow.