Wednesday 27 January 2016

EP: Tribal Dance - Live at The Grand Social

Tribal Dance Live At The Grand Social


Tribal Dance - Flongo


Info: Tribal Dance are a three-piece heavy math-rock band from Dublin who recently recorded a Live EP at The Grand Social in Dublin in late October of last year ahead of recording their studio version in 2016. It just dawned on me I've never reviewed a live recording in 4 years so this was a first and it's a different kettle of fish altogether! 

As a relatively recent convert and fan of math-rock I found the first track performed here, 'Flongo' to adhere solidly to the genre's principles of off-timing between drums and guitar and enjoyed it's punk edge when it came to the vocals. Like all good math-rock songs there needs to be a degree of deliberate chaos and this was certainly the case on 'Flongo' and third track, a cover of Foals 'Two Steps, Twice' (below), lead guitar wailing like an emergency alarm and fuzzed out effects with thudding bass and drums building to a dizzying upsurge, brief breakdown and finale. 

Tribal Dance - Two Steps, Twice (Foals cover)

Among the other tracks I quite enjoyed the instrumental breather of 'Medicine' and final track 'xxontrol' showed another side to the trio, with some 21st century indie fitting in well with their trademark sound. It's difficult to judge due to the sometimes patchy recording which is understandable from a live venue and we will be relying on their debut studio EP to fully grasp what Tribal Dance are all about, but this definitely provides some positive indicators and these guys sound like they are assured enough to give a good account of themselves when it's completed.

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