On the evening of Friday the 26th of July Manchester was treated to something a little different, as the American trio Lifeguard put on a brooding show of Chicagoan post-punk in Yes Basement.
Manchester is no stranger to a music scene, some would say it’s the encapsulation of the term, but it was a different city being put on display that evening. ‘Hallogallo’ is the term coined by Kai Slater (guitar and vocals) for the accumulation of punk music emerging from Chicago.
Feeding from bands such as Sonic Youth, Pavement, and The Clean, it’s an artistic DIY scene, and people around the world are starting to feed off it.
Horsegirl are leading the charge when it comes to wider exposure, but a strong core of equally talented bands such as Lifeguard, Dwaal Troupe, Post Office Winter and Friko are what’s allowing them to thrive. It’s a close community of friends and even family, with Lifeguard drummer Isaac Lowenstein’s sister playing bass in Horsegirl.
Tonight however, it was the turn of three fearless teenagers to take on Europe for their very first time, and the Yes Basement was a fitting location for them to do so.
They went about this by launching straight into their new single Ministry / Energie followed by the B-side, a cover of Telepathic Love by Wipers. Delivered with the power and noise you’d expect, it was a fitting start to their English debut. There are noticeable early punk characteristics on these two tracks, reminiscent of what we are used to here with Buzzcocks and Wire, and Wipers illustrate this too.
It wasn’t the typical raucous melee that Yes Basement is known for, it was noticeably sparser (which can happen over the summer months). Instead, it was an engaged crowd who wanted to take a chance and see what they were all about.
As the set progressed, they were shown exactly this. They went on to play two of their biggest tunes in I Know I Know and 17-18 Lovesong. For a young band, they have some very strong material behind them.
Their influences are apparent, they come across to the crowd as composed and confident in their art. They know what they want to do, and they delivered exactly this to the audience, the self-assured yet conceded semblance synonymous with other alternative bands from across the pond, that were always so well received in the UK and Europe.
The intimate environment allowed for some entertaining call and response between Slater and the crowd, it has to be said the young Americans dealt humorously with being heckled by some much older Mancs, considering their lack of experience with this situation.
This brought us on to the highlight of the show, Typecast is a great example of the band’s sound, raw guitars and dynamic structures are displayed and this live rendition will stick with those watching.
The studio recording already contains an impressive instrumental, but the live delivery was captivating. The changing rhythm and styles with Asher Case (bass/guitar) down at his amp creating screeching feedback gripped the room. It was an extended period of crashing soundscapes that led to the biggest ovation of the night.
Penultimately, they introduced a cover of In The City by The Jam. Their rendition was recorded and released last summer, and it fits with their punk influences, the band are clearly fans of The Jam’s earlier work and it was joyfully received by the crowd.
New Age was the final song, and it rounded off a powerful, raw and noisy 40-minute exhibition. Those who were present were visibly impressed, proved by the line for their self designed t-shirts and records on sale at the back of the room.
Slater sported a hefty foot brace and limped on crutches to the back of the room to join his bandmates chatting away with audience members.
“Yeah I was doing parkour with my friend” he explained, “but that’s just the punk rock lifestyle I guess”.
The short EU tour is wrapping up, but it’s undoubtedly valuable experience for the young group.
The sheer volume of noise and soundscapes is impressively impactful for just three members. The layering of guitars combined with Slater and Case’s paired vocals is the lasting impact on any viewer, matched only by the sheer volume of their hair!
The experimentation and unprocessed techniques such as Slater playing above the neck of his guitar is pure of the no-wave art scene that they pull from, they delivered the audience with a true teenage riot.
We can only hope for more from Chicago, but for now, keep an eye out for Hallogallo.
