Hard-working, noisy but relentlessly proficient: Snayx have a fearsome reputation. Their set at The Bodega, partnering with Safe Gigs for Women, was characteristically respectful if very sweaty...
I’d been thinking about this Snayx gig for a while. Over the last couple of months, it’d been a fixed point in my mind, a night where I felt reassured by the absolute certainty of how it would all go down. Sweat, noise, moshing. Those three things seemed as inevitable as a Westminster donations scandal. So did it live up to the expectations?
Of course it b****y did.
Snayx have been an assured proposition for a long time now. Relentlessly hard-working – in the last year alone they’ve toured with Kid Kapichi, Billy Talent and Royal Blood – they’ve tirelessly honed their particular brand of mayhem across Europe to a razor sharp edge, underpinning bedlam with undeniable musicianship.
And so they roll into Nottingham, into a room that it feels they’ve outgrown already. The Bodega proudly list their alumni in lights at every gig; the xx, Yard Act, Amyl & the Sniffers. It feels like that list will get a bit longer soon.
Support tonight comes from shortstraw. ("all one word, all lower case, don’t forget the full stop"), who sound like what might happen if Kae Tempest and Soft Play moved to Coventry and started a family.
Expressive, exuberant, expletive-ridden. Spiky both in bleached hair and in acerbic, acid-tongued wit, Erin West is magnetic onstage. Constantly prowling, eyes wide as she spits machine-gun lyrics both with venom and the truth of lived experience. There’s something about her words and demeanour that feels utterly vital as she rattles through the set. And yet between songs she is effervescent, charming and properly cheeky; nicking an ornamental stoat someone had brought along (no, me neither) to dance with onstage. She seems too youthful to be this world-weary, too kind-hearted to have to confront the injustices of society. But confront them she does, head-on and with endless conviction.
The energy of it alone is enough to make you feel revitalised. Punk is as vital to the music industry now as at any point over the last 50 years; an outlet for both howling rage and hope, born of the fringes of society, a guiding light for the dispossessed and a haven for the marginalised. On the evidence presented by shortstraw. the fires of community and speaking truth to power will continue to burn, to inspire. The world is a better, brighter place for them.
Right then, Snayx. Let’s go.
It’s wild from the off. Work is a proper teeth rattler, the trusty speakers of The Bodega thankfully holding it together in order to pelt the room with wicked, fuzzed-up bass and furious drum fills. Tonight is going to be a party; the band knows it; we know it. And so it comes to pass. Concrete and I’m Deranged stoke the fires, the crowd responding as the inimitable Charlie Herridge unleashes every ounce of his charisma, coaxing the atmosphere toward chaos.
I mentioned community earlier, and as the gig rattles along, it’s the word that sticks in the mind most. It’s something that Snayx work uniquely hard to foster, both through their songs and through their actions.
Tonight, as with every night on tour, their most dedicated of fans - shout out to the Belly Crawlerz - meet up before doors, the band rewarding them with merch and hanging out with their people, fostering that togetherness.
Special mention also to their partnership with Safe Gigs For Women, who since 2015 have been tirelessly campaigning to rid gigs and festivals of misogyny and sexual harassment. This is their second tour with Snayx, and the cause is clearly deeply important to the band. Before things get too crazy tonight, Charlie takes the time to ensure that any moshing is considerate, that men behave themselves, that women are given the space to enjoy themselves without fear - "Make sure it’s inclusive." It’s a nice touch.
Halfway through the set, and things are only getting wilder. People are jumping, hair is slick with sweat as the lyrics to Better Days are belted out with abandon. Ollie Horner is a demon on bass, his playing dynamic and restless, creating havoc with the filthiest of tones, goading the crowd as he leans over the front of the stage, grinning. That bass is supported by the most stable of bedrock, namely Lainey Loops’ incredible drumming. Frenetic but always controlled, providing a metronomic spine to Ollie’s boisterous playing.
Completing the trifecta, Charlie’s impassioned, sometimes half-shouted, sometimes more than half-shouted lyrics paint a picture of a Britain that’s bleak and broken, yet has a kernel of something worth fighting to nurture and protect. Pithy and upfront, confrontational and urgent, they are encapsulated brilliantly by the cover of the Better Days EP, which shows a hand jutting out from bin bags, clutching a Union Flag.
Near the end now, and there is not one static body in the place. Boys in Blue and H.A.N.G. are a hell of a one-two punch, relayed by the crowd word-for-word, with glee. A cover, next. A tricky one, too, as acknowledged by Charlie as he introduces a rework of Breathe, by The Prodigy. They pull it off, the energy that’s so vital to that most classic of bangers preserved and presented to us full-force.
As they roll on toward the climax via Fayx, the band is triumphant. They have achieved their mission; to mix politics with partying. The end of the gig comes but there’s still dancing, the band leaving the stage by the front, bouncing to the music piped through the PA.
In a time where the grassroots music industry is under so much strain, Snayx create a haven of chaos and community that stands as a potent symbol of what there is to protect. We need more like them, and now the gig is done, I think I'll still be thinking about it for a while yet.
Snayx performed at The Bodega on 10th October 2024, with support from shortstraw..
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