Live Review: Shelf Lives - Moth Club, London 23/10/2024
The London-based duo Shelf Lives kicked off the release of their EP No Idea with a headline show at one of Hackney's (and London’s) most beloved venues, MOTH Club on Wednesday evening.
With support from Irish artist YINYANG and Isle of Wight girl band The Pill, Shelf Lives' headlining gig made for a sweaty night at MOTH Club.
Kicking off the evening was the one-woman show, Lauren Hannan, better known as YINYANG. Hailing from Ireland with her eclectic mix of alternative hip-hop, dark electronics and heavy punk, YINYANG’s live shows are one hell of an experience. Blending her distinctive sound with her self-programmed light show, YINYANG is the definition of cool. Her show was one of controlled chaos, opening with her track Happy Money followed by her latest single, Not Bad For A Woman, which is an absolute powerhouse of a track. Hints of something big being on the horizon were dropped between performing new tracks, including the punchy Dumped Me In The Smoking Area, which she closed her set with. YINYANG got the crowd well and truly warmed up before Shelf Lives. She is already making waves with a sound that is very much her own, and is definitely one to keep an eye.
The Pill, an iconic duo consisting of Lottie Massey and Lily Hutchings from the Isle of Wight, continued to keep the show rolling after YINYANG. A band that fans of Lambrini Girls and Amyl and The Sniffers would absolutely eat up, their set was quirky, heavy and straight-up really good fun. The pair were constantly giggling with each other and interacting with the crowd in between songs that were the perfect blend of heavy drums, fuzzy bass, chaotic guitar and witty lyrics. Opening their set with their latest single Scaffolding Man, a song about being caught naked by a scaffolder, the duo turn an awkward situation into something relatable and hilarious with synchronised dancing and lyrics such as “was it creepy? was it nice?” With tracks dedicated to getting freaky on the online gaming site Club Penguin to being a questionable driver, The Pill were a breath of fresh air to watch.
The electro-punk duo Shelf Lives took to the stage with a crowd already sweaty and raring to go after those two solid opening acts. With the release of their latest EP No Idea coinciding with this headlining gig, their show was guaranteed to be loud, heavy and energetic and quite frankly, it was all of that and more. Sabrina Di Giulio and Jonny Hillyard start their set with the beloved All Grown Up, the first track from their 2023 EP, You Okay? The blend of extraterrestrial beats and demonic guitar amongst Sabrina’s vocals immediately get the crowd two-stepping. Their performance becomes heavier, grittier, rawer, with the crowd pushing closer to the stage as each song progresses. The bubble of composure is well and truly burst when the duo both don a pair of sunglasses and proceed to launch beach balls out into the crowd during their performance of PVC Real Estate. The beach balls continue to sporadically float across their audience for the rest of the evening.
The London-based duo have an electric, infectious stage presence that captivates the audience from the beginning. Guitarist and vocalist Jonny grooves along to his own beats and simultaneously playing the guitar, while Sabrina has no qualms about getting down and dirty in the mosh pit. Psycho, a grungy new track from their new EP No Idea, is followed by I Don’t Think I’ll Go Out Today, with Sabrina putting herself into the middle of the crowd for the duration of the track. A circle forms around her as she screams “Everyone’s trying to save me, everyone’s trying to save me.” Climbing back onto the stage, the frontwoman asks the crowd “Should we turn it up a notch?” before they play the opening track from No Idea, Where Did I Go? - a skull crusher of a track with Jonny’s whispering voice “how do I say get outta my face” repeatedly, building up the crowd before Sabrina comes in with some biting vocals and lyrics to boot.
The electric energy that has been building since the beginning finally reaches the famous glittering gold ceiling of MOTH Club when the duo performs their ferocious track Bite. A song with just enough wild beats, dirty riffs and powerhouse vocals from the pair to keep the mosh pit going.
The party certainly didn’t stop there with the heavy dance beats of She Gon’ Kill Ya adding to the already sweaty ceiling, while Sabrina got right into the thick of the pit during Fighting That Bitch. The pair closed out the show with KIDS, a heavy drumbeat, scratchy guitar and harmonising vocals singing “we get fucked up on a Sunday Afternoon” left the crowd clapping along and craving more by the end of it.
Shelf Lives show was feisty, sweaty, messy, funky fun and the duo had the crowd in a trance from the get-go. Anyone looking for an evening mixed with grooving, throwing themselves into mosh pits and occasionally headbutting a beach ball should get themselves to a Shelf Lives show ASAP.
Words and Photography by Angela English
