Music
20 Nov 13

Drenge live at The Limelight 2

Drenge revel in their status as proverbial square pegs in a round hole. Too heavy for the hipsters, too “mainstream” for the metallers, the hook-laden, sludge-infused riffola found on their self-titled debut is tailor-made for people who don’t quite fit into any scene or niche.

Tonight, the brothers Loveless (Eoin, guitar/vocals and Rory, drums) give Belfast their very first taste of the live Drenge show and what a loud, lairy and at times untamed experience it is. Slightly grungey and dripping with attitude, ‘Gun Crazy’ and ‘Dogmeat’ worship at the altar of the riff. The whole set is played at tooth-rattling, ear-buggering volume. ‘Bloodsports’, which boasts a super-fuzzy Mudhoney-indebted lick, provokes a bit of pit action. In contrast, the eight-minute dirge that is the patience-testing ‘Let’s Pretend’ misses the mark.
Still, the Loveless boys stay focused on the task – namely mass decapitation by guitar – and impress with stuttering and incendiary single ‘Face Like A Skull,’ which closes the short, sharp set. While Drenge’s music is an undeniable throwback to mid ’90s American rock and won’t win any prizes in the originality stakes, their adoption of the Black Flag and Black Sabbath-inspired sound has yielded some truly killer tracks. Impressive...