An Australian-American double header proves quite the finale to a week of top quality hardcore at the Inn!
Truly, Real Life Presents has been on a roll recently, with a week of great hardcore shows now coming to a close with a beast of a double header from Terminal Sleep and Spaced. If anyone out there made it to the full week of shows, you win at life; meanwhile, we’re still recovering from last Friday’s Fentanyl gig as we haul arse back to the New Cross Inn this evening. Hey, stop laughing – you’ll be old too, one day!
Newcomers Headstone are as heavy, bleak and foreboding as their namesake. As their guitarist (and, briefly, resident pit-starter) admits, they’ve only got about 12 minutes of music to their name, so they crack on with a feast of punishing riffs and blast beats. New track ‘Joker’s Edge’ is just as intimidating as anything they serve up from their recently released (and excellent) demo, and they leave us feeling glad that we decided to show up early. Be sure to check out that demo.
From the moment Still In Love kick off with a blisteringly intense ‘Tell The Truth’, there’s the feeling that they – perhaps more than any other band playing this evening – embody the idea of music as catharsis, a fact underlined by their vocalist’s heartfelt speeches about troubles with addiction and mental health. Sure, the likes of ‘The Peace Of Exhaustion’ and ‘Preserve And Cherish’ deserve the furious pit action that greets them, but more than that, the quintet’s set is a reminder that its sense of community is hardcore’s greatest strength. If there’s any justice, you’ll be hearing plenty more about Still In Love in the future – and not just from us. Check out their newly-released ‘Inherit’ single – it’s the work of a band to believe in.
“You look like you’re half-asleep! WAKE UP!” That’s Spaced vocalist Lexi Reyngoudt, who rivals The Bronx’s Matt Caughthran in the frontperson-as-personal-trainer stakes – constantly urging us to go ever harder and crazier, with spectacular results. This is the Buffalo crew’s third time at the Inn, and they absolutely lay it to waste, with the groovesome ‘Big Picture’ and ‘The Difference’ sounding even more powerful and passionate than on record.
They debut two new songs (‘Cause And Effect’ and ‘How Did It Come To This?’) tonight, and as great as last year’s ’This Is All We Ever Get’ LP was, trust us when we say that Spaced have something even more special up their sleeves. For now, a reminder about the power of community in the face of oppression, a blast through ‘Prove You Wrong’, and it’s over almost as suddenly as it began. Essential.
Whereas Spaced prefer short, sharp bursts of hardcore, Terminal Sleep prefer to pummel our eardrums into submission with a brutally heavy metallic attack. The Melbourne quintet make us fear for the Inn’s foundations as they unleash the likes of ‘Spineless’ and ‘A Liars End’; vocalist Bec Thorwesten was ill last time they hit the UK, y’see, and clearly they’re very much a band on a mission to prove themselves. Do they succeed? Well, that’s kinda subjective, but we find it hard to argue with the mass of flailing limbs that greets the breakdown of ‘Death Therapy’. Again, their set seems to fly by in minutes, and the sweat-soaked carnage they leave behind is proof enough of a job well done. Your listening homework is the newly-released ‘They Circle Below‘.
Cheers to all involved tonight and over the past week, particularly for proving once again that quality hardcore and the New Cross Inn go hand in hand! We have a feeling we’ll be back again soon enough; in the meantime, check out details of future Real Life Presents shows on the links below.
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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