Photo: Ray Ho
The irony of Heaven, is that its gig space lies deep underground: a dark, smoky basement pit starved from light and invisible from the streets above. No one outside has any idea of what’s going on beneath – the pulsing energy, whirring guitars and angelic tones turned piercing screams of this very exciting four-piece.
There’s an urgency in ‘Storms’, with its crashing opening, that acts as a clear statement of intent. Lead singer Ellie Rowsell is blessed with a voice of both Laura Marling calm and near satanic punk spirit, and she oscillates between both with disconcerting ease.
“Where are your friends?” gets sung so menacingly that even the biggest it girl would scramble for the contact book. Crowd awoken, no time is wasted launching into ‘She’ – sped up noticeably by guitarist Joff Oddie and bassist Theo Ellis. The frenzy rubs off on the crowd, taunted by Ellie’s vocals that bolt into full throated roar. But the breakdown, temporarily angelic and defiant in “living free” – in contrast to the angst of the song – separates Wolf Alice from other noise acts such as Joy Formidable. A diversity that serves them well, even if crowd control ends up a similarly hapless task.
‘Your Love’s Whore’ adds a sprinkling of shoegaze depth but is equally brash. Yet to be put to record, it’s a ballsy live number that could be a festival favourite in time, featuring a mid-section countdown that’s a recipe for mosh disaster amongst the layered wall of sound. Yet seconds later Ellie whispers a sweet “thank you” and exchanges “I love you” declarations with a girl at the front.
New songs are given an outing. ‘Turn to Dust’, an interesting minimal number, and ‘Swallowtail’ affording drummer Joel Amey a chance on acoustic guitar. ‘Lisbon’ is another that points to a promising debut album that could cut through the mounting hype. Bands are often raised on pedestals before they are ready, but as Wolf Alice burn through the rest of the set, ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ causing flailing limbs, you can understand the fervour. The encore leaves time for one last blast, ‘Fluffy’ seeing the band jump into the crowd.
Wolf Alice deserve to be massive. They want it, we want it. It’s only a matter of time.
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