One of the things I have always found as a point of pride in this city of ours is the plethora of independent music venues that call the Steel City home. Each one with it's own unique charm, each a place to experience a night to remember, whether that's seeing your favourite band in your own backyard or discovering a new band to be added to your rotation. These are venues to be adored, cherished and celebrated and we recently did just that as part of BBC 6 Music's independent venue week.
Independent venues give a platform for independent bands to strut their stuff and they become intrinsic parts of each other's DNA. If you speak to most anyone in Sheffield about our famous sons Arctic Monkeys, chances are you'll hear someone claim that they were there at The Grapes or at The Boardwalk in the early days. Local venues promote the best local bands and we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of this in action for IVW 2024 as Sheffield's Floodhounds smashed a co-headline set with Geordie rockers Ten Eighty Trees at Yellow Arch Studios recently, ably supported by fellow Sheffielders, Spaff.
The support slot from Spaff was deliciously furious. The four-piece ran through tack after track with an intensity and tempo unlike much I've seen recently, only slowed down by the occasional dad joke to entice the crowd further. Luckily their music is the reason they're talked about in the Steel City, and rightly so. Post-punk is one of the genres having it's day at the minute and Spaff are surely the next band to break through as one of the most exciting bands in one of the most exciting genres around.
Floodhounds themselves are a band that have been on our radar for a while now, and they really should be on yours too if they aren't already. We caught their set on The Library Stage at Tramlines last summer and we're blown away, stating that they "wouldn't look out of place at all" on the festival's larger stages. The trio are only further cementing this opinion the more we see if them.
In what felt like a quickfire set in their co-headline slot, the band powered their way through their catalogue of singles, unreleased work in progress tracks and even hit us with a cover or two. The pick of their released tracks for me was absolutely 'Psychosemantics'.
A song that has been in my rotation since it's release just over a year ago, it truly shows off all the strengths of this band from Jack's pounding riffs and infectious choruses, Anna's chugging yet effortlessly groovy bass lines and Lauren's driving force of a drum line, it's a track that has you wanting to start it again before it even finishes and one that has to be experienced live for the full effect. That's just the tip of the iceberg as well and when placed in a setlist alongside singles like 'Panic Stations' and 'Quicksand', you're left contemplating just where the limit is for this band
The three-piece also gave a sneak peak of what is slated to be their next single, 'Near Life Experience' which we don't want to spoil too much, outside of confirming that it is a banger. The release is set to come in the next couple of months according to Jack and to us it shows a band in supreme confidence, one who are set to make 2024 their year.
We couldn't tell you about this show without giving a shout-out to their cover of 'Omen' by The Prodigy either. A formative song for many who began discovering music in the late 2000s, the band do it justice translating the intensity and iconic riffs perfectly. It's an ideal fit for their setlist, it doesn't sound out of place and with the fuzzy, piercing guitar lines, thick and heavy basslines and punchy drums, you'd say it has all the hallmarks of a Floodhounds song as is.
Floodhounds firmly have our attention for 2024 after this gig. Sheffield has again gifted us with an artist to champion and be proud of and we highly recommend familiarising yourselves with the outfit for the year ahead. The trio are set for huge things this year and we cannot wait to see the successes ahead. We'll see you down the front for their next one.
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