Nervus @ Bloc+, Glasgow (2nd October 2019)

with: Lana Wild
Hosted by: Damnit Presents

Photos: Joanne Gray

WORDS: Joanne Gray

Finding the time to fit in a few UK shows to coincide with the release of their third album Tough Crowd, the Watford-based Nervus found themselves playing a free show in Glasgow's Bloc+ venue. Having seen the band give a great performance last year to a less-than-full Audio crowd, I was keen to catch the band again in a smaller, more intimate venue where they could get the vibe that they deserved as a band. Thankfully it became very clear that this would be a far more suitable venue for the DIY indie-punk band as the place was pretty packed upon arrival.

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Up first to perform to this very respectable sized crowd then was the first act: Lana Wild, a self-professed "noisy female singer-songwriter from Edinburgh". As the singer would go on to state throughout the set, this was only the fifth ever Lana Wild performance ever. It's very much safe to say that, although she has been on the touring circuit with other bands throughout the years, this was a pretty new project on show here. Unsurprisingly then, there is no music online yet so I went into this act pretty blind. Thankfully I managed to get a setlist from a previous performance, so I can go in a bit more about the songs I did hear that night.  

Opening with 'Warrior', we were presented with a folky-punk tune that was reminiscent of more down trodden acoustic material from the likes of Frank Turner and Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! fame. The influence of the latter artist was evident from the get go in particular here, and this familiarity would resurface throughout the set. Already though, it was clear that this was going to be a heart on sleeve performance from an artist who has been through their fair share of emotional turmoil in the last few years. 

This was particularly clear when Lana Wild introducing 'Catfish' and 'We're at War'. Both songs related to the worst year of her life following a devastating break-up and the difficulties of coming out as trans while being on the road. Indulging the audience in this background information about the songs allowed for the deeply personal and emotive lyrics to resonate even more than they would've normally done, and they were all the better for them. With a bit of that Laura Jane Grace-esque bite to the vocals in some of the more angsty parts here, the songs really showcased this emotive form of acoustic rock with a bit of a punky spirit that did more for me than other singer-songwriter material of a similar style. 

After two relatively miserable songs about heartbreak and personal turmoil (something which Wild would chirpily state as being "kind of my thing"), 'Manchester' was a more uplifting affair which was accompanied by major key guitar chords and was about finding comfort in the city. This optimism would then turn to anger in the next song, 'Do This Or Die', which was without a doubt my favourite song Wild would play that night. Pushing those raging vocals from earlier to the fullest, this may as well have been a punk song, as Wild snarled out against authoritarian figures such as "the police, the state, your mum, homophobes, sexists, racists" (apologies if I missed anything here, Lana) who try to stop people from being true to themselves. Upping the pace and getting everyone's heads bopping and feet tapping away, this was a song that sounded just as (if not more) confrontational coming from just Wild and her guitar alone as it would've with a band supporting her. Wicked stuff here.

Laura Jane Grace would then get another cameo in the set here, as Wild decided to perform a cover of 'True Trans Soul Rebel' by Against Me! The personal but somewhat uplifting lyrics and jangly guitar chords meant that the song provided another joyful moment in the set, and managed to get a few more people bopping their heads along. It was then over to the last, and once again, rather sad sounding 'Borderlines' to close this set off. Singing something like: "I want to kill myself but I want to stay alive to become someone else", before then beaming out to the crowd upon the song finishing pretty much summed up the entire set quite aptly. 

Clearly Lana Wild was stoked to have so many people come down to hear her songs that night, and with the quality of the songs here, I can't wait to hear the material once it's recorded very shortly. Wild even hinted that there would be a full band to accompany her the next time she played here, so that's another thing to look forward to. I will be keeping an eye out on Lana Wild after this strong performance, that's for sure. 

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It was then over to Nervus to build upon the enthusiasm and goodwill built for the first act. Very much filling their set with the newer (and arguably more raucous) Tough Crowd material, this was something the band had no trouble doing at all. 

Beginning with the album's lead single 'Flies', it became very quickly clear that this was going to be a markedly more rowdy set from Nervus that night than I've seen before. Opening with guitar feedback, a rumbling bassline and lo-fi distortion, there was an underlying tension that I've not heard from the band in the live environment until now. In typical Nervus fashion though, a mammoth, joyous chorus is never too far round the corner, and this was very much the case here. As with every time I've seen the band, the dad dancing and joyful flourishes from keyboardist Paul Etienne were a particular source of that joyous lift, and this would continue throughout the set. Throw in some breezy "ooohs" from Paul and bassist Lucinda Livingstone, and a Weezer like ripping solo from vocalist Em Foster, and you had an utterly uplifting singalong song here that exploded in the live environment more than what it does on record (something which I'll get more into during my albums round-up in the next few days!). Particular shout out to the soul vocal line which ended the song which came from Paul himself rather than Em. This was a nice surprise for me. 

It was then over to last year's Everything Dies for the more downtrodden, keyboard heavy Creeper-like track 'Nobody Loses All The Time'. Being one of my standout albums of last year and one of my favourite songs from that album, I was really glad that this one got a look in within the setlist that night. At this point in time, it is clearly still this material that is most popular and well-known with fans as well, as seen by the crowd singalong for the catchy "woahs" towards the end of the track. Following on from the heavier sound of the previous track, it also did seem like the pace and punch was upped for this song too compared to the last time I saw the band play this too. Solid plus in my eyes. 

Up next was a three-song run of more politically conscious tracks from the latest album. The first song was the slightly controversial  'They Don't', a track which sees the band criticising the actions of police and stating simply that "they don't keep you safe". Opening the track with further blunt description and condemnation of police violence, it was clear that the band don't give a damn about people think about their strong opinions on these subjects that they feel so strongly about. For better or for worse. Regardless of the drama-filled Twitter spats that seem to follow Nervus around due to Em Foster's confrontational personality online though, this is an absolute bop of a song that has really grown on me with further listens. 

Starting with a slow, sad sounding piano line from Paul, the muted fuzzy guitar lines would evoke Weezer at their glummest once more. This would all lead to the simple, but joyfully innocent and catchy chorus. Accompanied by slightly out-of-tune vocal harmonies and jazzy keyboard lines, these elements gave the whole thing a wonderful ramshackle PUP feel. Having taken a while to warm to this song, seeing it live has really solidified the catchiness of the song for me and it's safe to say that the track sounds even better going back to it now, as a result. 

'The Inconvenient Truth' and 'Piss' then continued these PUP and Weezer comparisons as the slightly dissonant, trebly guitar lines were as off-kilter as they were incredibly satisfying to watch Em flawlessly sing over then. Sprinkling in more than a little of the special anthemic quality that bands like Creeper have at their grandest, the former song in particular surprised me by just how huge it sounded in the live environment. Another tune that has grown on me very quickly following this gig. If you were to then close your eyes during the beginning of the next song 'Piss', you could've probably been fooled that you were actually listening to a PUP song with the opening gang vocals and high string alternate picking. This was another song which sounded more turbulent live, and it was arguably all the better for it as a result. I was beginning to get the vibe here that this harder edged and externally minded Nervus songs were really bleeding into their overall performance. This was something that I (like most of the crowd around me), was well into even if we were all less familiar with this newer material. 

Breaking up this run of songs, the relatively old 'Oh Joy' was the only song to make an appearance from the 2016 album Permanent Rainbow. A relatively clean, but utterly gorgeous affair; the shimmering guitar lines, gentle cymbals and cavernous bass built towards the middle of the track where everything came together wonderfully. The quirky, emo-rock tinged mathy section in the second third where Em flew over the fretboard while still managing to sing is always impressive to see live as well. Again, it seemed like the pace was upped here, and there was an urgency that I've not quite seen from the band playing this song before. This was definitely a set highlight for me, and the song received one of the bigger singalongs of the night.  

Anticipating then that Nervus' following call for the crowd to shout out song requests would consist of older material, I was then surprised that both of the songs shouted out were newer tunes. The first was 'Where'd You Go'. Stating that the song ended with a massive build and it wouldn't make sense to put in the middle of the set, it was over to the second requested song 'Burn' to fill its place until later in the set. Introducing the song as an ode to all that's wrong with the UK (namely Boris Johnson, the Tories, the government and austerity), this Glasgow crowd was more than happy to go along with this unusual drumless track for the ride. 

Clearly being a song Nervus hadn't played live yet, it will no doubt take a little while for the band to get used to this odd layout. Drummer Jack Kenny grinned and joked about with bassist Lucinda about not having anything to do before looking out to the crowd slightly awkwardly for the remainder of the song. Then bringing the ramshackle nature of the track fully to the fore, keyboardist Paul had to look up the chords for the song on his song while playing it. With all of this in mind, the jaunty campfire song dedicated to the incompetency of the ruling class and the hope for a better future actually went really well, and actually provided some nice relief within this sonically and lyrically heavy set. 

This was contrasted nicely with the heaviest track on the new album, 'Fake', a grungey and angsty Milk Teeth-like song with some cool gang vocals. This was simply a rager from start to finish. Proclaiming simply "I don't wanna be fake" towards the end of the song, Em's voice screamed wonderfully throughout, ending with her throat about shredding alongside intense guitar feedback and utterly furious drumming. This is perhaps the simplest song on the whole album, but it's also the most rollicking by far, and this gave the crowd a cool 2 and a bit minutes of early 90s angst to bang their heads along to. I very much hope that larger crowds in the future could give this song the wicked mosh pit it truly deserves, cause this was an awesome few minutes of noisy alt-rock. 

Flicking the switch once more, it then was back to Everything Dies for the album's first single 'Sick Sad World', another mathy indie-punk anthem about not having a grip on your life that is always utterly infectious to listen to and experience in the live environment. That soaring chorus was once again punctuated by Paul's wonderful tinkling keyboard lines which floated between major and minor keys so fluidly you would hardly notice how much of an impact they make to the song overall. Alongside the last song that would get played from this album later on in the set, this euphoric track undoubtedly got the largest singalong from the crowd, further proving just how wonderful that album still is one year on from its release. Criminal that the band aren't playing to bigger crowds with tunes like this one. 

Before getting to the last of these awesomely huge anthems, it was finally over to the earlier suggestion of 'Where'd You Go' to bring things back down to earth for a bit with the most poignant songs of the night. Beginning with a swelling, slightly mournful piano and restrained guitar chords, the 5 minute track which speaks of the hopelessness of global world crises was a particularly resonant one which had the room almost entirely silent throughout. Reaching the mid point where the song builds to give a huge layered heavy sound, this sounded utterly incredible live. Feedback from the guitar squealed wildly while the drums pounded heavily and Paul thudded on the piano more forcefully than the song does on record, giving the already intense song an extra level of tragedy. All in all, this perfectly reflected the scope of the pained lyrics it was referring to. I'm already looking forward to seeing Nervus play this song again in the future after this performance here. 

The band could've ended the set there and then with such a huge, conclusive sounding track. But it wouldn't be a complete Nervus show without 'It Follows' to bring some more joy back to proceedings in its awesomely anthemic manner. Back to those infectious chirpy indie-punk vibes, singalong "woah"s and Paul's wholesome dancing, it really is hard to imagine the band playing any other song to end their sets now. Thoroughly excellent stuff to end off a pretty excellent gig. 

As I will no doubt go on to explain in my upcoming album-round up, I wasn't too sure about some of the newer material here upon initial listens. The conviction and intensity of the band which was more than evident throughout the songs here though has made me go back to those songs and see them in a new light. God, I love it when a live show can make an album click for you, and Nervus are one of the bands I'm most grateful for this happening to me. If you haven't managed to catch this band yet and are at all a fan of indie-punk tunes which have a lot of heart to them, then you really need to see this band when they are next playing near you. 

One of the best and most interesting rock bands this island has to offer. Period. 

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