Little Death

The Social,

London

23/04/08

Aaah The Social, the most stupidly shaped gig venue in the world, where you have to barge past the band if you want to go for a piss. But it’s not just this wee quandary that’s lending everyone a look of anxiety tonight, as Little Death’s ear-ravagingly loud, feedback-smothered brilliance starts to eat into heads and hearts from the tiny stage.

‘The Slow Yes’ is first, splurging its super-sultry Cure bassline around the room with a trouser-tightening sexiness while guitarist Nathan delivers some otherworldly, Mogwai-like murmurs and frontman KC burrs vocals so husky that they make Yan British Sea Power sound like Aled Jones.

Next they dive off through shimmers of Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins and super-swirling noise-riffery with ‘Tough Lover’, a neo-noir burst of noise that leaves The Fly’s mouth agape and our mind full of saucy images of Thurston Moore.

Then, before we know what way is up, the set is drawing cataclysmically to a close with a new song that sees KC leaping delightedly from the stage and onto his back in a whirl of spiky noise and twisted wires.

It might be a stupid shape, but tonight The Social is a room with a very good view indeed…

JJ Dunning