Out of the concrete jungle of the streets of our capital and into the commuter belt of leafy Surrey, our national bright young things are hawking their wears to those outside of the M25 cyclical carpark. It’s a triple header with Glossii opening up, Sorry are in-between them and HMLTD, a band The 1975 wish they had the balls to be, unfortunately, I’m not even slightly concerned about the headline act as quite frankly Sorry have already done enough to suggest music is in safe hands.
In November, Sorry will be alongside Fontaines DC supporting Shame on a tour that showcases the best that the UK and Ireland has to offer. Named probably because in the height of summer it’s a sweating mass of human life, the Boileroom in Guildford is exhibiting a South London extravaganza of young bands vying for the mantle Shame is grasping. Whilst the competition isn’t causing fights, the pie has appeared around Brixton and everyone wants a piece.
Sorry’s is a style that leans on the Pixies angular bent, lead singer Asha Lorenz exudes a casualness in delivery not dissimilar to Courtney Barnett with a snarl that comes off as antipodean in origin. She occasionally curls her top lip in apparent disgust as she rattles off barbed lyrics such as “And I make lies like we should be together”, and then signs off with a sly grin as if she has a picture in her mind of who she is singing them to.
There is an air of nonchalance that teeters towards arrogance but then melts away under The xx style harmonies between Asha and guitarist Louis O’Bryen, not that arrogance in a rock band is a particularly bad thing. A Sorry song can be a multi-layered event, tangents suddenly flying off, converging and then going off at another angle, but underneath it all lies a deep melody, underlying melancholy and a knowledge that they really know what theymini-tour.
This mini tour with HMLTD comes off the back of their third 7” single, ‘Showgirl/Twinkle’ and they choose to leave the latter off the setlist despite calls from the baying hordes. They’re outwardly laissez-faire but cut from what appears to be the same cloth as the Shame boys, right down to the guitarist Louis looking the spit of Shame bassist Josh, to their spiritual home of the Brixton scene, The Windmill, they, like their compatriots, are deadly serious about making brilliant pop music, hooks everywhere and sharp as a razor blade lyrics. It’s not just catchy, it’s clever and it’s proof we’re not destined to a future of identikit indie pop purgatory from Absolute Radio and Radio X’s stable of earth-shuddering shite.
Signing off with Lies, it’s an exhilarating kiss off. They’ll get round to releasing an L.P soon. A handful of 45’s and demo tapes will tide us over. You won’t be…..Sorry.
