I’m going to be totally honest – I had absolutely no idea who Welly were when I agreed to review them but after listening to their music on Spotify and watching a few videos of them playing live on YouTube, I was quite excited to go see the Brighton based group.
First up was Vincent’s Last Summer, who appeared on stage looking like a mid-2000’s Nu-Indie band. Their performance was rowdy, loud and party ready. The song Hotline reminds me of Girls by The Dare – borrowing the squelchy synth lines and shouty vocals, each song they play could easily soundtrack a party scene in an episode of Skins.
Next was Polly Money, who arrived on stage to an almost full room – possibly due to her being a touring member of The 1975, but justified as her delectable brand of dreamy, luscious indie-pop has the audience mesmerised from the go.
Despite explaining that it was her and the band’s first tour together, they’re clearly well rehearsed, talented and show a level of synergy you normally reserve for more experienced bands. A rendition of her latest single Milk & Honey was my personal favourite but each and every song Money and her band perform sounded amazing.
Welly
“Ello Ello, does anybody speak French?!” yapped Welly – After arriving slightly late and to the tune of Tony Christies Is This The Way To Amarillo. Their first track It’s Not Like This In France sounds like Blur’s Girls & Boys albeit instead of chanting about girls and boys, Welly and co are chanting about how “It’s not like this in France”.
Lead singer, Elliot Hall conjures up a striking resemblance to a young Damon Albarn in both looks and mannerisms and the rest of his band could easily pass as extras in an episode of The Inbetweeners. They jump around the stage relentlessly, pulling warped facial expressions and pointing their instruments towards the audience like guns.
They are young, energetic and unwaveringly confident in their performance, but it’s hard to tell if it’s completely satirical or not – their songs are atypically British, tongue in cheek anecdotes of sub-urban life spat across a backdrop of jangly, distorted indie guitars and pumping, 80’s style drum machines.
While they play with a drum machine rather than a drummer these days, it’s the absence of resident lawnmower-starter Hannah that is felt the most, leaving it to the audience to yank the imaginary cord and get the next track started. Hall at every opportunity engages the audience with sarcasm and slapstick wit, leaving me at times feeling a bit like I’m in the middle of an inside joke I don’t understand. It’s these moments, however, that the audience, made up predominantly of neon-drink sipping students seem to enjoy the most.
Aside from the comedic segues between songs tonight, the live renditions of tracks like Shopping, Me and Your Mates & Big In The Suburbs are tight, excited and explosively energetic. My personal favourite, however, was Soak Up The Culture. Preceded by audience tales of gap years, the song is genuinely quite funny, I mean, we all know at least one suburban kid that has posed in Cambodia and a Holly from Crawley that likes good wine, right?
It’s easy to understand why Welly are building a steady following amongst younger audiences – I’m intrigued to see where their careers take them, possibly a side-step into the comedy circuit?
Photography by Holly Hemingway.
