Impeccable Energy: Krooked Tongue Rock the Stage at Signature Brew
Photo by Josh Aberman
In light of the STRAND’s recent interview with Krooked Tongue’s frontman, Oli Rainsford, it was exciting to finally get to head down to the band’s London headline show on the 5th of May. The Bristol-based alternative-rock trio is made up of Oli Rainsford on vocals and bass, Dan Smith on guitar, and Harry Pritchard on drums. With their debut EP, No Vacancy Hotel, having only just been released this February, their London appearance was a highly-anticipated one.
We stepped under a railway arch and into Signature Brew Haggerston, a reinvented place that fuses bar with artistry. It is another venue that Gotobeat has partnered up with to bring out underground artists and bands. Being a relatively new band—formed in 2019—it was amazing to see such a strong stage presence from them that night. As they came on stage, the bar was immediately heated up by the fuzzy, distorted sonics of their instruments. Songs like ‘Dance Like the Bull’ and ‘Girls with Knives’ were gloriously charged with Dan’s hypnotic guitar lines and Harry’s headbanging drum fills.
Their rock ’n’ roll spirits only grew stronger as the band proceeded to perform the more sophisticatedly-crafted songs from their new EP. The EP’s second track, ‘Freaky Love’, has an addictive chorus alongside its grunge-fuelled guitar, which drove the crowd into a frenzy. Not only were Krooked Tongue good at generating hooking sounds, their lyrics were also exceptionally poetic. ‘It's the call of the beast / Rise up all the deceased / Take the blood off my hands, celebrate, delegate in a magical feast,’ sang Oli in one of our favourite tracks, ‘Vampyre’, his voice oscillating between soft croons and vigorous stabs. The song as a whole was inflamed with well-placed rests and bursts of catharsis, where the audience could not help but vividly feel the tension captured within.
Krooked Tongue exited the stage leaving the audience absolutely stunned. The band clearly demonstrated great potential to venture out to bigger venues and share their impeccable energy with alternative-rock lovers. If you haven’t yet seen Krooked Tongue live, you won’t want to miss out on their upcoming gigs.
Photos by Josh Aberman
Check out Gotobeat’s website for more gigs near you. They put on over fifteen live shows a month, all of which you can attend for just £15.99 (paid monthly).
Edited by Talia Andrea, Music Editor
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