Now expanded to a live 5-piece (featuring keyboards/saxophone) the Leeds outfit tore through a set that comprised mostly of material from their Mercury Prize nominated ‘The Overload’ album. Meanwhile new tune ‘Petroleum’ maintained the healthy mosh-pit momentum while hinting that a more sonically diverse second album was on the way.
Occupying that unique space where the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, playwright Alan Bennet and Damon Albarn meet, frontman James Smith delivered punchy post-punk hooks with comical asides that comedian Stewart Lee would be proud of.
While last year’s Dublin debut gig at Whelan’s was the stuff of legend their return at Vicar street displayed a band destined for even bigger and brighter things.