Photo Credit: Evie Smith
Words: Izzy Hayden
What an unreal weekend. From supporting grassroots venues, to promoting the best upcoming talent around, the festival never misses. Fans love to be able to say they were there from the start and Sound City have a knack for spotting the very best before they’ve blown up.
Opening The Shipping Forecast, a tightly packed basement venue, Fletchr Fletchr gripped the crowd with songs themed around both love and loss. Their music thrives on indie-rock guitar hooks and raw vocals that feel under polished in the best way. One of their most streamed tracks ‘Jet Black’ is a crowd pleaser, getting the audience giddy for the day ahead. Switching between moods and teasing unreleased singles, frontman Rohan Fletcher dedicates ‘Life’ to his dad who passed three years ago, explaining that the track focuses on “getting over grief.” From Fletcher’s now delicate vocals and a crowd watching teary-eyed it’s obvious that this one is a hard hitter.
Catching only the first half of Gurriers set was enough for it to be clear that they know how to hype up a room. Frontman Dan Hoff leans over the front of the stage and manically waves his hands to signal the crowd to open up a mosh pit. From the second they begin the room is alive. During ‘Des Goblin’ a riff-heavy track, Hoff gets in on the action, getting off stage and putting himself in the middle of the mosh pit. Ferocious and loud, very loud, Gurriers mixture of throbbing bass and blaring drum patterns could be heard from down the street, not to mention the cheers of an audience more than satisfied.
Trying to get into Brooki’s set at Tunnel was almost impossible, with people spilling out, even standing on the stairs leading into the room, the group’s fanbase was clearly underestimated. Starting slow with haunting riffs, frontwomen Sarah Brookfield’s angelic vocals bleed passion. Something about their music is so pure and earnest, they aren’t trying to be like anyone else, just doing their own thing and it’s working. Having everyone sing the words to unreleased tracks is extremely impressive and closing song ‘Amber’ doesn’t just have a few people singing along, it becomes almost hard to hear Brookfield for a moment over how loud the audience is. If that isn’t a testament to how quickly Brooki are blowing up I don’t know what is.
Basht. and Keyside took to Grand Central Hall on the headline stage. Having both performed at Sound City last year in EBGBS and The Arts Club Loft, they are prime examples of artists who have quickly skyrocketed in the last year. The Irish quartet Basht. began with tracks from their recent EP ‘Bitter And Twisted.’ Laced with attention grabbing riffs, the audience is already hooked but the energy really comes with ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Dirty White,’ singles from their 2024 EP ‘Dirty White Lies.’ Bouncing to a completely different vibe, Keyside’s set is feel-good and upbeat with festival made tracks like ‘Angeline’ and ‘Nikita.’ Their unforgettable intro’s are the type of music that will send an intense wave of nostalgia across gig-goers in 20 years time.
With dedicated fans battling for the barrier, Ben Ellis was a standout act on Sunday. Despite a few technical difficulties interrupting his set, the Welsh singer-songwriter keeps spirits high. While his music is much lighter and more delicate than other bands at the festival, it pulls in a big crowd. Nearing the end of ‘No One Sleeps In Hollywood’ fans all scream in unison, something that’s obviously done at all of his gigs. Ending on ‘Still Be Friends,’ a serotonin heavy single infused with his polished vocals, Ellis offers a taste of what to expect from his upcoming album ‘The Train Where The Time Slows.’
While It would be easy to go on and on about every band that shone at Sound City, Saturday headliners Keo definitely stole the show. Grand Central crammed with a sea of fans wearing Kangol hats (the same one frontman Finn Keogh wears on stage), it’s almost unbelievable that a band with only 5 songs released can have packed out the headline slot but Keo proves that it’s possible.
Electric from the moment they begin, you can tell the band has a growing confidence. Both frontman Finn and guitarist Jimmy Lanwern leap from the drum platform, bruising their knees as they hit the ground all while making the most complicated guitar riffs look simple. “Hazel is on the setlist!!” a girl shouts looking over the barrier so excited that she’s actually trembling. The track has often not made it onto the setlist despite being an evident fan favourite.
Using personal hurt and suffering and turning it into something special, Keo yearns on ‘Spent On You.’ “I wonder if you’re ever coming back, I remember every time you do” his vocals are heartbreaking backed by slow, intense chords, the song is heavy. ‘Black Dress’ showcases a darker side, eerie and unsettling with riffs that lodge themselves into your brain ahead of ‘Thorn’ and ‘I Lied Amber’, Keo‘s first releases which sent the venue into an excited frenzy. Their set is made up of a mixture of their EP ‘Siren’ and their unreleased tracks but every single song has the audience belting the lyrics back at the stage.
Taped Magazine 