Yuck & Let's Wrestle @ Scala - Live Review

It's a warm summer night and avid punters quickly fill out the relatively small Scala, fans of all ages have come together to witness one of the most exciting new British bands in their element. Preceeding Yuck, are DIY-slack punks Let's Wrestle who have rushed to play straight after an instore at Rough Trade East promoting their sophomore effort "Nursing Home" They waste no time hammering out their distinctively British anthemic brand of angsty guitar music. They employ ludicrous lyricisms with scuzzy force, particulary with 'In Dreams Part II' and 'There's a Rock Star In My Room' in which Lead singer Wesley Gonzales barks his absurd fantasies of finding rockstars in his room into the mic with such conviction that the crowd seem to be hanging on his every word, despite the barrage of sound behind him. Let's Wrestle ooze fun, and have really bright ideas along with a sense of humour which is very refreshing considering how seriously a lot of bands at their stature take themselves,

In similar fashion to Let's Wrestle, Yuck begin by making their presence well and truly known with opener 'Holing Out' The grunge sensibilites that the band were originally likened with are thrust upon the crowd with a white-wash of guitar noise, while Daniel Blumberg yelps "Everybody says i cant get through to you" a rather ironic statement as the crowd's reaction is positively electric towards their set. 'Get Away' and 'The Wall' produces a similary euphoric reaction from the crowd, a lot of whom chant the words straight back to the stage in mesmerised unison. Yuck also show a more deep and poignant side, with early blog hit 'Suicide Policeman' and fan favourite 'Shook Down' in which Daniel Blumberg shows his softer side "You could by my destiny" shows a much more accomplished lyrical side to Yuck than just a supposed 90s grunge revival.  They end with the epic 7 minute slow burner 'Rubber', which is a stark contrast to the rest of the set but keeps the diehard fans happy, and Daniel kneels down and adjusts his pedals to create an immersive bombardment of feedback and scuzz. Yuck certainly seem like a much more comfortable band now, their earlier live performances were very rigid and souless whereas here they are charismatic and captivating, and are really looking like great prospects for being one of the best British bands about.

Toby McCarron