Fangclub @ Garage Attic (5th October 2019)

with: Zola and Static Suns

Hosted by: DF Concerts

Images: Ray Mondo

WORDS: Ray Mondo

"Grunge isn’t dead, it just doesn’t want to be your friend": proclaimed the tshirts at the merch stand. And how right they were.

Just less than a year after their triumphant performance at the same venue of the Garage Attic (with support from the excellent Black Borrachero), the Irish grunge-rockers Fangclub returned with some new songs from their latest studio album Vulture Culture, all with an even better stage show to boot. It's been a busy year for the alt-rock trio (who have recently expanded to an even heavier sounding 4-piece), having recently performed support slots for thrash metal giants Metallica at their last Dublin date as well as the 90s art-rock stalwarts The Smashing Pumpkins on their recent European tour. But it goes without saying that it's all very much well earned after years of touring and constant hard work.

With that said, it's amazing that the band are still as energetic and enthusiastic about playing live as the last gig they will have just played. But just from this, it's easy to see that Fangclub still have their eyes on the prize as they make their way up the ladder with no visible signs of stopping. It's always more than a pleasure to see this kind of stick-at-it-ness and dedication from a younger band, as it really does give you hope in the day and age of manufactured pop hits and churned-out chart radio nonsense.

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The first band of the evening though, were Static Suns, who hailed all the way from sunny Troon. Despite having a more conventional indie rock sound than the other bands on the lineup, they still received a warm welcome from the crowd. 

Describing their influences as ranging from bands such as Oasis through to Arctic Monkeys, this came across in their sound as the band churned out some pleasantly straightforward rock riffs. Featuring bass-lines which were jammed packed with all assortments of slaps and pops, alongside some robust-sounding rhythm guitar parts and bright lead lines, things were of course all tied together with some impressive work on the drumming side of things. While the band's attention appeared to be slightly diverted elsewhere at points during songs, and there were some technical difficulties which occurred here and there, Static Suns still put on a good show and got the evening's events started on a positive note. 

If you're into your indie rock bands without the unnecessary frills attached, Static Suns will definitely be worth your time checking out.

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The second band on were Zola, another local band who have been present on the scene since 2017 and have already making waves in smaller alt-rock circles. 

Led by vocalist and guitarist Nicholas Traill, the band delivered some chunky and thick riffs relentlessly. Opening with the frantic-sounding crunch-fest 'More', the song featured some Queens of the Stone Age-esque riffage, which was more than a good sign for the rest of their set. The band also gave an outing to their latest tune, 'Swing Carousel', a punchy and hard-hitting rocker foot-stompingly catchy tune with guitar lines reminiscent of classic indie anthems such as 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinand. Of course there was also some intricate yet impressive (and at one point - due to a rogue drumstick - one-handed) percussion from drummer Rhys Kenyon. The other highlight of the set would include 'Sol' from their self-titled debut album, a real hard-hitter that brought out the band's chemistry with each other, and acted as a great example of the fine low-end work from bassist Andrew Blacklaw. 

With songs like these and an undeniable musical tightness, Zola are surely worth a listen if you're into your down-tuned garage band-influenced riff rock.

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As Zola brought their short but sweet set to a neat close then, it wasn't too long before the night's headline act made their appearance. Sure enough, to the sound of the crowd going wild, Fangclub took to the stage. Bolstered by the addition of new guitarist and backing vocalist Ed Scanlan (originally from fellow Dublin band Long Tail), the band kicked off with the title track from their newest album Vulture Culture. This was a massive sounding track which takes a cynical look on current affairs and the overall decaying state of society. Something which is definitely relateable in this day and age. 

Already going down a treat, the band then bring out a generous selection of some older songs from their first self-titled album and first two EPs, in the form of the crunchy and head-boppingly catchy 'Follow', the aggressive angst-thrasher 'Knife' and the seductively sweet headbanger 'Dreamcatcher'. This was then topped off with a further double whammy of alt-rock bangers 'Better to Forget' and 'All Fall Down'; the latter featuring perhaps the sickest and positively dirtiest bassline in new-grunge out there. All courtesy of bassist Kevin Keane who managed with ease to belt out some appropriately visceral screams which further added to the trademark in-your-face attitude the band's music just oozes with.

Right off the back of these older much-loved hits, the band brought out some of the new material. The fast-tempo body-swayer 'Heavy Handed' acted as a more-than smooth transition between the old and new songs, and the 90s-flavoured heartache of 'All I Have' was an excellent example of the band taking what they've already done so well in their previous releases and building upon that and more. It's fair to say the set was already going enormously well, and we were all in a time-machine back to a time when heavy, alternative music and living was all that mattered. This was then followed immediately by the band’s new lead single 'Hesitations', an explosive mood-rocker which contains infinite amounts of swagger and pomp, and there were a few fun moments where the band would pause right on cue to see who else in the crowd knew the words which resulted in a few smiles all round. 

Debut album deep cut 'Lightning' also received an outing, and went to really highlight the to-the-point rawness and addictive-to-watch execution of lead guitarist and vocalist Steven King's playing, who manages to coax all manners of grungy riffs and appropriately unconventional noises out of whatever six-string is in his hands. Drummer Dara Coleman got plenty of time to shine as well, especially on next songs 'Viva Violent' and 'Common Ground', in which the kit was beaten and bashed about like no tomorrow. Alongside this, Coleman always looks like he's having the time of his life, only adding to the energetic atmosphere of the band's on-stage presence.

King then introduced (but not before joking about it being one of the more difficult ones to play), 'Kingdumb', another song featuring an oddly sweet main melody backed by angry guitar distortion. This is perhaps somewhere between the intricateness of mid-90s Soundgarden and the abrasive punkiness of Nevermind-era Nirvana or similar. As things began to draw to a close, 'Bad Words'  (perhaps one of the band's best known signature songs so far) got a cheeky look in, possibly intended to get the fans thinking they would leave it out of the set entirely. 

This was followed by Vulture Culture opener 'Last Time'. Despite being an opening track appearing at the end of the set, its appearance here made the song even more poignant as it was a heartfelt piece written by King to his partner during darker times. Starting with slow clean strums backed by soft, intimate vocals, the song suddenly became sounding hugely triumphant when the distortion and gritty vocals kicked in; reinforcing the song's themes of fighting an inner battle and overcoming struggles allowing for better things to come and for life to move on. Again, this is something else which fans would be able to more than relate to in current times. Despite some noisy punters at the back of the crowd who seemed more insistent on hanging around the bar and loudly talking to each other rather than being respectful during such a quiet and heartfelt song, the band's performance went down quite well with those who were rightfully paying attention. 

This left the band to wrap up with the raging whirlwind rhythm of classic track 'Bullet Head', which almost felt like a thanks in return. Once all was said and done, with many an applause to be had, the band made their exit offstage, leaving King to humorously mime along to Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' playing over the PA. The rest of the band then appeared to comically carry him off, a real reminder of the band's sense of humour and the fact that not everything has to be all doom and gloom when it comes to heavy and emotive music.

On a more personal note, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the band again for hanging around after their set and spending a generous amount of time talking to their fans, taking pictures and such as they did at their previous Glasgow date. With so many bands understandably wrapped up doing their own thing then packing up to go to the next venue as soon as possible etc, it's really cool knowing there's still some down-to-earth bands out there who are more than cool with taking a bit of time to get to know their fans and chat away. The performance at this gig was so enjoyable to watch, that I ended up making the trip to Edinburgh two days later to see the band playing live again!

If you've not seen Fangclub live yet, you're seriously missing out, catch these guys before they get huge. At this stage, this seems inevitable to say the least!

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Thanks to Ray for writing this review and thanks to you for reading! Feel free to leave a comment below or you can support RWEI by giving us a like/follow over on the socials, if you want. As always, contributions and submissions are also welcome. 

Cheers!