The Lounge Society, Yes (Pink Room). 27th January 2022

We’re here tonight for Now Wave’s ‘Mood Swings’ night. A rather apt moniker seeing as I was all happy until learning that Loose Articles have had to pull out due to, yep you guessed it a positive Covid result. Gutted, but I hope everyone’s okay. There is still The Lounge Society to look forward to though. Fehlt and Idle Hours were both on earlier, but I only caught the tail end of the latter. I liked what I heard though and Fehlt do sound quite interesting too. I’ve yet to make my mind up about The Lounge Society. On record they sound great, but the last time I saw them live I was a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I was tired, I’m loathed to say anything negative about any band I like, but if I was tired, they didn’t exactly wake me up. So it’s with a slightly low expectation that they take to the stage. They start well though, charging out the gates with guitars weaponised and tambourines smashed against chests. Gang of Four is an easy comparison, but many of their songs are quite schizophrenic, switching from sharp attacking melodies to hypnotic grooves. It’s a slightly more playful take on the post punk sound. The angular guitars have a jangly funk to them and the rhythm set to different vocals could almost sound a touch disco in places. Cameron Davey’s vocals are stabby though, making it clear that although you can dance to it, this lot can bite. When they let loose it’s pretty ferocious. Davey moves about the stage like he’s wired into the amps, head synced to every jolt, knocking half the drum kit over, it’s no wonder his arm’s in a sling. There is a bit of filler in the set. Not a lot and to be fair it might just be that some songs are so good, others are bound to come up a bit short. There’s no album yet, plenty of time to hone it. They sensibly wrap things up with ‘Generation Game’, It’s refrain of “What will the US do” as menacing as ever and then they’re gone. Just over half an hour and pretty bloody good. Certainly better than last time. I really must’ve been tired.