The Exchange – January 28th | Photos: Albert Testani

Supporting their first full length release, The Things We Do To Find People Like Us, Beach Slang, fronted by James Alex, formerly of the pop punk band Weston, took the stage and charged through their set with an energy that broke strings and pedals and even drew blood from relentless drumming.

Their anthemic brand of punk rock is an addition and revitalisation to a genre that seems left behind by punk and indie rock. Droning and driving guitars strive for juxtaposition with the lyrical themes of something between timelessness and an extreme degree of self realisation and the present moment.

A band with charged guitar riffs, crashing drums, and emotive lyrics normally take the stage with an air of confidence and cool that washes over the crowd and creates a divide between the performers and the audience. It’s no coincidence that Beach Slang do everything to destroy this divide, the title of their record is evidence enough for this, but the energy and shout-along choruses in their live performance leave little doubt.

The connection that Beach Slang strive for in their music feels genuine because the reason we, the audience, go to the gigs, is the same for they are at the gig, connecting with people even if it’s only for a few minutes as you shout the lyrics of your favourite song. Nearly every track echoes the theme of what to do after you find yourself. Being an individual is great, but without people like you, being an individual is solitary and lonely.

Whether in the form of their equipment kick out at a moment too perfect to script, a pedal cut out on the opening chord of the track ‘Filthy Luck’ which opens with James Alex shouting, “This guitar wants to die” ringing out or in their musicianship, Beach Slang filled the room with an kinetic energy that transported the audience to the present moment and then rang out to a quiet din, that might just have been the tinnitus, so we could remember that moment with them for an extra hour.

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