Live Review: Otherkin - Camden Assembly, London 26/10/2017

In the dark upstairs room of Camden Assembly, Dublin four-piece Otherkin blow the roof off, bringing everything great about raw rock ’n’ roll music. Full of swagger and fun-loving nature, the boys play a number of vibrant guitar-driven songs from their new album ‘OK’.

The crowd cheers them onto the stage and doesn’t stop for pretty much the whole set. Kicking off with ‘Bad Advice’ everyone was urged into a dance. With a high spirited and fiery atmosphere, Otherkin begin to blast their bubbly bangers.

Swelling with heavy riffs follows ‘Treat Me So Bad’ creating a infectious and refreshing sound that traveled throughout the wild audience. Similarly track ‘Come On, Hello’ oozes with rock ’n’ roll confidence. Bulky bass guitars drive endless energy, unleashing a dose of blistering garage pop punk, sending the crowd off the edge with everyone crashing bumping into each other.

When all warmed up and adrenaline running sky high, bouncy ’Feel It’ only happily drags this energy further as Luke’s gritty vocals sing, “Called at you all night / Starting to feel it”. The contrasting sounds embrace the raucous aspects of the band’s musical influences, whilst ‘REACT’ is a fun, lively track. With a pop-rock chorus and squealing lead-guitar, the pace and unceasing vitality is so frantic, everyone seems to go out of control. Lead singer Luke Reilly jumps off stage into the crowd multiple times, holding the mic aloft and urging everyone to join in only encouraged the effervescence further.

Blazing energy, morse code guitars and deep drums, favourite ’AY AY’ erupts. Perfectly encapsulating Otherkin as a band, their songs are definitely made to be played live. Ending in mosh-it galore ‘So So’, it’s easy to see why there is recently so much hype surrounding these guys.



Review and Photography by Lauren McDermott