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MELTS

Apr 30, 2024 By Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive

It says a lot about a city when there’s four high profile shows happening on a Sunday evening and all are either sold out or as near as can be. Across the other side of Nottingham city centre, Orbital are taking rave heads on a nostalgic journey through two of their most revered albums in Rock City while Jane Weaver’s cosmic pop has drawn a large crowd to its sister venue the Rescue Rooms. Just around the corner, Fat White Family’s weekend of album launch shows sees them entertain a jam-packed Rough Trade while here at the Bodega, Dublin’s MELTS are bringing their darkly tinged electronica to the city for the very first time. Hot off the back of their excellent second long player Field Theory, its to their credit that even on this rain-sodden Sunday night they’ve managed to pull in a healthily sized crowd, some of whom have travelled from other parts of the UK such is the growing buzz around the quartet’s wares at present.

Opening the show are two of Nottingham’s finest up-and-coming new acts. Although Rain Age are still only in single figures when it comes to live shows, they’ve already made a notable impression with their incendiary racket set to disturbing film projections that conveys a bleak message about the times in which we currently find ourselves living. The trio - Kieran Poole (guitar/vocals), Jim Allen (bass) and Joe Maguire (drums) - are all regular faces on the Nottingham scene having spent their formative years in other bands but its when the three come together as Rain Age that the magic starts. Playing a set consisting of nine songs (Rain Age songs clock in around the two-and-a-half minutes mark on average) that includes two brand BRAND new numbers suggests they’re also one of the most prolific acts treading the boards right now when it comes to writing. Recent single “WPD” caused a stir when released earlier this month and for the band to throw it out there after the first song in the set also demonstrates the confidence they have in the rest of their material. Comparisons to The Fall, Protomartyr and The Walkmen aren’t wide of the mark and in tunes like “Islanders” and “Ease-Up” there’s a razor-sharp intensity not to be messed with. Ignore at your peril.

Fellow city dwellers Bored Marsh have also been steadily making a name for themselves despite only having been together for just over eighteen months. As with Rain Age, the four members of Bored Marsh - Joe Need (vocals), Brad Westby (guitar), Jade Bowman (bass), and Paul Mason-Smith (drums) - have also been regulars on the local circuit for a while before forming. Nevertheless, Bored Marsh have become something of an inimitable presence on the local scene that’s about to embark on other territories soon so tonight’s rehearsal for next week’s Focus Wales slot reinforced the belief they’re ones to watch over the coming months. Not least due to the band’s forthcoming EP Idiot from which three songs were aired this evening. Emerging from the darker side of the anthemic post-punk spectrum (think Interpol, The National, Chameleons and Slow Readers Club), Bored Marsh are a transfixing experience in the flesh. Whether it be in the shape of opener and debut single “The Grind”, or forthcoming likes of “Come Around” and “Alright, OK”, both bangers-in-waiting off the aforementioned new EP. One thing’s for certain. Bored Marsh are a force to be reckoned with and one that’s going to be unleashed across the UK soon.

For Dublin’s MELTS, their elevation to 6Music favourites thanks in no small part to Field Theory and its choice of radio-friendly singles means they’ve already amassed a loyal crowd of devotees on their travels. Signed to esteemed independent label Fuzz Club alongside such esteemed company as The Jesus & Mary Chain, New Candys and The Telescopes has undoubtedly given the band fresh impetus whilst also creating a wave of anticipation around them, and rightly so. If the likes of “Altered” and “Figment” - both despatched at the start of the set - have elevated them into the hearts and minds of universal music buffs then that has to be a good thing, particularly as this tour also provides an opportunity for audiences to discover Field Theory‘s 2022 predecessor Maelstrom. With the set split 50/50 between albums one and two, MELTS’ ability to transcend genres with consummate ease (post-punk to goth to electronic dance to psychedelic rock) makes them an insatiable listen that’s even more enrapturing in the flesh.

Singer Eoin Kenny is a hyperactive focal point whose on-stage mannerisms pit him somewhere between Sparks’ Russell Mael and Suicide’s Alan Vega while the music recalls the likes of Cold Cave, Gary Numan, The Horrors and Gilla Band (whose Daniel Fox produced the new record) in equal measures. As a collective, MELTS make for an engaging listen and one that will serve them well in the future. Or as closing number “Wldng” so eloquently puts it, “Gazing miles off into space, filled with ever loving grace.”

Say hello to your new favourite band of 2024.