Working Men’s Club, The White Hotel. 15th July 2022

Working Men’s Club are an uncompromising bunch, prone to shifting wildly in their sound, certainly from their origins to that stunning debut packed with aggressive electro. I’m stood in the stripped back White Hotel at the heart of a Salford industrial estate to hear where we’re headed next with the new record ‘Fear Fear’. I’ve heard some songs, but the postman delivering vinyl today has let me down, so instead of learning it all in advance, I thought I’d just see if the songs I don’t recognise tonight sound any good. It’s sold out, but mercifully doesn’t feel as cavity crushing as times I’ve been in here before. The White Hotel is the sort of venue that would make a good location for a b-movie slasher and can feel a little claustrophobic. Perhaps WMC would soundtrack an electro slasher well! We’ve got some personnel changes, well just one, but that’s nothing new for this band either. Syd of course is one of only a couple of constants. He’s still the driver, orchestrating the monstrous synths. Locked in and wielding the mic like a coiled snake, poised with that intense scare. He’s as menacing as the tunes. The new stuff slips in easily, although there’s not that much of it. What we get though sounds a bit boucier, a little less brutal… a little. It’s still dark lyrically though. All these songs are bangers and it’s not long before the place reeks of sweat. WMC gigs are like an apocalyptic club night where no one knows where they are, who they are or what’s going on. Great as it is, in truth venues like this are too small for them now. They tour again in November, playing the much larger Ritz in Manchester. Sadly I’ll be elsewhere that night, but if you’ve not got a ticket, I recommend grabbing one fast. The new stuff sounds great!