The finest export from Ashby De La Zouch since Space Raiders and Hula Hoops, brotherly duo Young Knives are tonight at the splendid venue that is Birkenhead’s Future Yard, partway through a UK tour in support of their recently released, knowingly titled Landfill, their first long player since the dark days of 2020.
It’s an unseasonably cold walk from the train station, even for February, but one of the many delightful things about Future Yard is that when you get there there will be a lovely alcohol-free IPA on draught (take note, 95% of other venues) for those of us trying dry 2025 rather than just bailing out after January, as well as a very healthy Thursday night crowd.
9:00 rolls around, and to a massive cheer the two protagonists enter the stage (Henry on guitars and vocals, the always fantastically named House Of Lords on keys and guitars, supplemented by Michael the drummer) and rip into ‘Fit 4 U’ from their second album, 2008’s Superabundance, followed by ‘Here Comes The Rumour Mill’ from their Mercury-nominated debut Voices Of Animals & Men and we are instantly transported back to early evening slots at V Festivals gone by.
But this is in no way any sort of nostalgia trip tonight, in between tales of Lily Allen, Pete Doherty and their server at the local Harvester (Martin), who was not happy with them at their pre-gig meal this evening, they tell us that we are in for a “healthy mix of old and new” material, before inviting support act Max Blansjaar back onstage for a couple of newer tracks.
One of their many should-have-been-massive singles ‘Terra Firma‘ incites the first singalong of the evening, before a real change of pace with the band showing off their weirder sounding side with tracks from Barbarians, an album they describe as “their mid-life crisis record”, which makes full use of the excellent sound in the room this evening, a fact they make reference to later in the set.
As well received as the older stuff is, the real standouts tonight come from the new record. There’s a stunning version of the album highlight ‘Fresh Meat‘, which see Henry waving a flag made of a net curtain with the song title daubed upon it. This is typical of the infectious onstage joy from a band that have nailed the humorous inter-song chat and look genuinely delighted to be there, which is more of a rarity these days than you would think.
‘Cause And Effect‘, another newie, even includes some Mike Skinner-esque rapping, which they are quick to self-deprecate, before early banger ‘The Decision’ – which is unfathomably 20 years old this year – sees them ask an audience member to come onstage to help to sing the high notes due to tour-based exuberance which is playing havoc with Henry’s vocal chords.
And it’s this impairment that works in their favour on the first of the closing trio of songs, the ballad ‘Your Car Has Arrived’, with his broken voice adding even more pathos to the already heart-breaking melancholy, “I wait for you to return, but the driver drives on”.
They end with the fantastic ‘Turn Tail’ and a raucous ‘She’s Attracted To’, which sees them give a mic, and then a guitar, to the audience so they can join in. It’s a joyous end to a joyous evening
They may not be the youngest knives in the drawer, but their musical sharpness is still on point, and with a great new album and a back catalogue to be proud of they deserve to be as big again as they once were.
