The lights dropped and a prerecording blasted into the darkness. After a few moments the four boys from Manchester sidled into the shadows on queue. The punk-undercut singer raised a tumbler in greeting before raising a guitar strap over his head and strumming into The City. As expected half the capacity Mod Club crowd went a little wild. The other half raised their phones to take a picture of the bright white rectangular border that has been the band's signature on each of their well-received LPs that finally culminated in a similarly-adorned full-length this autumn.
Along with another guitar player, a big, bearded bass player and a singing drummer, plus some extra keys and synths (and maybe occasional backing tracks?) there doesn't seem to be any one thing that sets them apart. Yet they have a sound that does set itself apart despite its myriad influences, from hip hop to electronic to folk - perhaps it is more aptly due to the blending of these. Regardless of what it is they were doing a fair job of performing it while the strobes pulsed and the girls screamed. Undercut, aka Matt Healy, seemed to enjoy the attention as a young leading man is wont to do - receiving it with a wink and dose of bravado. That being said the music resonates with the male audience too as many young gentleman also jumped up at each new song and belted out the lyrics.
Not only is Chocolate one of the singles, it is also one of the stronger songs and received the biggest response, hands down, getting everyone's attention. Some brazen folk near the front lit up so it smelled more like pot than chocolate and Matt spooked them by yelling "Security! Run!" but unfortunately nobody ran by frightened. At the conclusion of the song rather than the requisite pause for an encore they acknowledged this would be the time and then launched Sex. Personal fave it went over quite well and to wrap the trifecta, and the gig, they played EP-only You closing in an epic breakdown in the blinking darkness. Promising another show next year they left the rabid crowd happy and hungry for more.
"Are they Amish?" whispered somebody as a bearded fellow stepped to the mic beside a young lady in a matching wide-brimmed hat. They cooed out the first few lines before the rest of the fledgling Linus Young band appeared behind them. It was an enjoyable set of indie music not entirely dissimilar to the headlining act. Only a couple times did the female sing on her own, preferring to blend their voices. They did City of Sin early in the set to try and gain some traction which they seemed to do successfully. In a slight departure the final song heavily featured the electronic drum set and still went over well. Not a bad outing.
