LIVE REVIEW: YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTSTHE OLD BLUE LAST, MARCH 2012

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British Artists
deliver something different to most British indie bands of the last few years: They have balls. What is polished and has a slightly dreamy quality on record becomes a much wilder animal live. The band flail around in a way usually reserved for shit metal bands, but produce angular post-punk which always manages to resist the temptation to become either too arty or too rock-y.

The sound is shot through with a vague melancholy, through bassist/vocalist Leos Scott’s singing; but the Manchester based group’s secret weapon is the relationship between drummer Ben Phillips and guitarist Sebastian Mariner. The former plays fast, complex and at a hell of a pace – no mid paced numbers, no moping – while the latter absolutely batters the tunes out of his instrument.

The most rock ‘n’ roll point came when he chucked his guitar in anger near the end of the set. Keyboardist Simon Walker was lost in the Old Blue Last’s mix, but has great dance moves, so presumably he was having a good time. More commercial moments ‘Everything in Front of You’ and ‘Lived in Skin’ stood out, but the whole set was rousing, energetic and very promising.

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