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May 10, 2023 By Andy Robbins Photography by Andy Robbins Web Exclusive

On a weekend when King Charles III is coronated while wearing a golden cape and a crown that even Elton John would consider a bit gauche, Saloon Dion turn up to the Boileroom dressed like it’s 1994 down the youth club.

It’s not just their fashion sense that is rooted in the 90s. Described by some as post-Britpop, they don’t have the drama of a band like Suede or the storytelling nous of Pulp. Instead, the Bristolian-quintet probably land nearer the shouty Northern Uproar end of the Britpop-barometer. In reality though, they sound more in tune with contemporaries like DEADLETTER and LIFE than bands from 30 years ago. Either way, they’ve got plenty of catchy choruses that they don’t hold back in belting out.

They’re full of livewire energy that suggests they’re a bunch of mates here for a good time rather than a long time. They tell jokes between songs, gee up the audience and predictably make their thoughts clear on the impending coronation (hint: they didn’t pledge their allegiance).

They jump and jostle amongst themselves, before one especially playful encounter between band members leads to a spillage of beer that spreads ominously beneath cables and effects pedals, adding the tension of possible electrocution to a feel-good one-two of recent single “Happiness” and then “You Want More” which close their set on a rabble-rousing high.

Talk Show are a much darker proposition. Literally. They take to a dimly lit stage, shrouded in a cloak of shadows that barely lifts, bar a few perfunctory flickers of saturated blue and red spotlights.

Singer Harrison Swann’s t-shirt is removed faster than a holidaymaker’s on touching down in Benidorm, before the band launches into their funky, slightly grimy post-punk. The tight rhythms and spikey guitar of “Cold House” sound fantastic, echoing The Rapture and Radio 4, but with Swann’s flat northern-vowels being barked over the top. There’s no shortage of takes on this sound among the current crop of British post-punks, but “Cold House” is up there with the best from the latest cohort.

We’re given a glimpse of what’s to come on the band’s upcoming debut record, which promises to be well worth the wait based on new songs stacked with more angular riffs and snapping vocals.

“Underworld” is a heavier beast that evolves into a funky banger from its stomping intro, as Swann cavorts and contorts his body through a series of twists, before the equally enthralling clatter of “Leather” rounds out the planned setlist.

Calls of “one more song” leave the band frantically glancing at each other, clearly not expecting such a reaction. Accepting the adulation, they return before they’ve really had chance to leave and unleash the still vital sounding debut single “Fast and Loud”.

There’s no doubt Talk Show are riding the current post-punk revival that has been inspired in no small part by the recent success of bands like Idles. The signs are promising though and tonight’s performance serves to whet the appetite even further for an album that already sounds like it will deliver in spades.