Live Review: Bad Sounds - Heaven, London 25/10/2018

Bad Sounds are lucky that Boiler Suits are in for A/W 2018. And beanies. These two clothing items are a big part of the band’s stage presence – and image more generally – so at least as they take to the stage at London’s Heaven nightclub, they can be safe in the knowledge that the look is ticking the right fashion-related boxes. If that’s something they happened to care about…

Few bands would be able to get away with a booming, mental health-based voice over instructing the audience to do as their debut album title suggests - ‘Get Better’. But this added element of theatrics (and/or counselling) works with the quirky vibe that Bad Sounds give off. So if you imagine an evening of boiler suits, beanies, quasi-therapy, balloons…and so much confetti we might now have a national shortage…you’ll get a pretty good idea of what can be expected from a Bad Sounds’ live show.

And while you do have to be impressed by the sheer spectacle of the performance, the music would speak for itself either way. They managed to sell out Heaven, which speaks volumes as to the following they’ve managed to achieve in a relatively short space of time – and it’s well deserved. Not only are they clearly talented musicians, they’re incredibly creative, which shows in every aspect of this gig; the stagecraft, their image and most notably the songs themselves.

Unsurprisingly, it was the best known songs that the audience responded to with the most enthusiasm. The band kicked off with ‘Wages’- clearly a crowd favourite – but ‘Zacharia’, ‘Avalanche’ and ‘Meat on my Bones’ were met with similar fervour. Personally, however, I was more won over by lesser known album tracks from ‘Get Better’ such as ‘Honestly’ and ‘Banger’...which I have now been listening to on repeat for the past five days.

It’s a shame that the band had to battle against technical issues during their set, forcing them to leave the stage half way through the set. But this didn’t diminish the energy of the night, nor did it dampen the proverbial spirits of the audience who remained hooked for the entire set. Honestly, I was not prepared for was just how young the crowd would be; Bad Sounds have really cornered the hip-teenage market, which is no bad thing at all…aside from me having to accept the fact that I was definitely at least ten years older than approximately 80% of the audience. A pretty tough pill to swallow, but also very much my own problem.

Anyway, this is band that’s anything but derivative. The songs are upbeat and eccentric; they’re straightforward pop, but not in any sense mundane – you’d be hard pushed to find a band operating in the same space as Bad Sounds right now.

Words and Photography by Hannah Ellison