Live Review: Last Hyena, FES and XPLDR | The Louisiana, Bristol | 11/09/21
It's the last night of tour, the boys are back on home turf and drinks are flowing en-mass; we recently popped down to Bristol's Louisiana for a night of math rock with Last Hyena and excellent company.
XPLDR
Of course, with any tour of this size – especially amidst current events that do not need specifying – there’s abound to be an issue or two. For this tour, such an issue manifests as tonight’s opener Intechnicolour having to drop out due to medical reasons. Thankfully, Brighton’s XPLDR are on hand as an eleventh hour stand in, and going from this set, it’s a surprise they weren’t originally included on this run in some way. Fruity and as flamboyant as their bassists neon pink Mr. Sparkle vest, the trio fly through content from their handful of singles and extended plays in a fashion that’s haplessly charming and playful.
There’s a notable air of childhood excitement and mania in their take on the math rock sound – which is to be expected from the company they’re performing with tonight – but what separates them from their peers is how they articulate such joviality. With tracks such as ‘Castle House’ and ‘Thrillhouse’ the band fully lean into the midwestern emo and twee pop sensibilities that are subtle within their sound in that’s bashful yet not sloppy or teetering upon collapse. Granted, there still may be blemishes of rust from where the band have just very recently re-emerged from a hiatus, but going from this set and it’s respective reception tonight, it’s clear that XPLDR are going to find their footing within the modern math rock scene with complete ease.
Score: 7/10
FES
Whilst it’s been a difficult 18 or so months for the band – with the cancellation of their first European run and the postponement of studio time – math poppers FES are, as always, on fine form tonight. Having already well and truly blown the cobwebs off their equipment, the Cambridgeshire trio indulge the now full Louisiana with a set primally composed of material from their forthcoming and to-be-announced new record. As expected, the group’s set is a flurry of bouncy and hyperactive math rock that carries the irrefutably catchy hooks of sugar laced pop yet is still technically proficient. Some of the new material is more composed than some of the group’s more unchained and sidewinding material from the past, but with FES presenting such content with the energy they’ve become renowned for, it slides in perfectly with choice cuts from their back catalogue so far.
But as expected, it’s the bounce and rush of tracks such as ‘Microwave’ and ‘Inside Out’ that get the best response from the increasingly rowdy crowd tonight. These tracks are the perfect soundtrack to the excitement in the air prior Last Hyena’s biggest hometown show and are clearly met with love and admiration from those who where uninitiated with FES before tonight. Even with many in attendance using this show as a preface for a post-lockdown night out on the town that will undoubtedly end in dodgy kebab meat and regret, FES manage to keep the room’s apt attention; and even if those heading out after will lose some memories of this evening in the process, there’s no doubt that they will awake in the morning with some of these hooks in their sore heads.
Score: 8/10
Last Hyena
Understandably, tonight’s headliner waste no time pandering in introductions. After all there’s no real point in doing so; everyone here is either well versed in their sound or know Last Hyena at least somewhat personally. But for all intents and purposes, this is a celebration for numerous things; the return of live music, the return of Saturday nights as we longed for them – and most importantly of all as the band dive straight into math rock at it’s most cerebral – the release of Last Hyena’s debut LP on home soil.
Related: Last Hyena – How Soon Is Mars? | Album Review
It may be the end of their tour in support of their debut How Soon Is Mars? but the band show no hints towards fatigue or anything of the sort. Instead, Last Hyena just emit pure unhindered energy as they tear through tracks from the album, often adapting and reworking time signatures on demand and on the fly in the process. Material from the record such as ‘Terra’, ‘Programmed To Lose’ and the zig-zagging ‘Where’s Laika?’ sound phenomenal tonight, with the band’s trademark sense of progressive fluidity being fully flouted almost effortlessly during performances of such songs. Even cuts from their initial extended plays, such as ‘Yeah You’ sound revitalised and infused with a sense of electric and fervent vigour, exaggerating their already sporadic natures. The record they, and the Louisiana as a whole, are celebrating may be a wild exercise in erratic math rock unpredictability, but it almost sounds a bit limp-wristed compared to the way the band are performing tonight. Last Hyena are in great spirits but perform with reckless and furious abandon, sounding totally haywire yet hardwired, tight yet fluid and controlled yet stampeding in the process.
The only minor downside to this set is how the more atmospheric post-rock ambience within the record is lost in the fury. But still, it’s not a problem. Tonight’s focus is truly on rapid technical time signatures and unstable chord progressions played with near perfect finesse and it’s more or less impossible not to find oneself awe-inspired by the group’s technical and collective skill. Even tracks from the record that have long been part of the band’s setlist, like ‘You Still Look Tired’ for example feel like they’ve been made anew and refocused in their delivery tonight, ultimately sounding totally electric and mentally lashing. Granted, math-rock as a whole may be a genre often typically perceived as stoic, but this evening shows that the genre can be even more wild, hyperactive and just simply exciting than a lot of it’s counterparts. As Last Hyena finish their set by bringing their chaotic take on the genre into the crowd itself, there’s no denying the future of the genre is indeed in safe hands.
Score: 8/10