Iggy Pop likes False Heads and we learned when we were LeftCub not to disagree with Iggy so we were down the front at The Chameleon when they came to town
First up is Luna Rosa from Northamptonshire and fortunately, Crosa Rosa weren’t around to fight them for the use of “Rosa” in their band name. They play dark, epic indie, which is angry and exciting, much like Cabbage. They save recent single Fear, Filth, Dirt & Death for near the end of the show (even if you don’t like the track, grab a copy as all proceeds go to the Grenfell Tower victims. They close with Spread My Ashes Anywhere But Here, a song about their hometown of Corby.
Five-piece Youth Hotel from Nottingham are next, begging the question, who wears a coat at The Chameleon?! It’s the warmest venue in town! They open up with recent single Candyflip, probably their best song but the real highlight of the show is the bassist’s mum. She is in the audience, is very drunk, and is now my spirit animal. At their best they sound good but there are a couple of times when the individual band members influences don’t quite gel and it sounds like they are all playing a different song from each other. They big up Cucamaras and then cover I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. At least they practise what they preach by actually heading to the cocktail bar (hey, don’t judge, we all went there when we were younger!)
False Heads, a trio from London are all the rage at the minute, evidenced by the fact that they were being interviewed by Drowned In Sound before the gig. As you might expect from a band with a bleach blond frontman playing a Fender Mustang, they have a post-grunge sound. At times it’s intense, during You’ll Never Learn, frontman Luke hits his guitar strings with his forehead. The highlight of the night is the awesome Steady On Your Knees. It’s an exciting set that ends with Luke up on the speaker stack. It’s easy to see why Iggy is such a fan but if you’re still on the fence then the fact that Jake, the bassist, looks like a young Stephen Malkmus should swing it. This will be the last time that we see False Heads at such a small venue.
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