At just 45 minutes in length, HEALTH turned in a furiously concise set last night that despite its brevity never once felt like a cheat.
Sure there were 20 minutes of ambient-electronic horseshit played at the beginning which only confused the North London crowd into thinking the LA four-piece were constantly arriving imminently. Plus there was an encore that lasted 30 seconds. Yep, 30 seconds. HEALTH left the stage for two minutes, then returned for a half-minute long shred before saying goodbye again. Ha ha ha, those fuckers.
All of this just adds to their irascible charm though. In between the playful ‘fuck yous’ there was a perfect set of tightly delivered favourites from their two proper LPs, various remixes, soundtrack efforts and new material from forthcoming third album Death Magic.
It all sounded fucking terrific.
Death Magic is out 7 August, and the gig tonight acted partly as a preview of the record, looking to become easily one of the best albums of 2015, and also a greatest hits showcase for a generation barely sober enough to stand.
With their latest singles ‘New Coke’, ‘Stonefist’ (released just yesterday) and a handful of other new album tracks, HEALTH have created the perfect bridge between their abrasive past and their other extra-curricular disco activities.
If tonight is anything to go by, Death Magic will see the tribal drums and metallic-screaming guitars share space with pulsating, sleazy rhythms, synthetic pop earnestness and a genuinely danceable stomp, all held together by Jake Duzsik’s vocals which have taken on an increasingly Neil Tennant-esque softness.
Although this evening Duzsik looks more like Bernard Sumner, with his unassuming normality and a focus on delivering a serious, if pop-led punch to the heart. Surrounding him are bassist John Famiglietti, whose flamboyant guitar moves and twirling hair flicks make up for the more serious end of the stage, taken up by guitarist/keyboardist Jupiter Keyes who stares into the crowd as if he’s about to murder every last person in the room.
The rest of the set is taken up with wall-to-wall smashes. ‘Crimewave’ is a masterpiece of aggressive percussion, ‘Die Slow’ sends the crowd into an understandable frenzy, ‘Death+’ and ‘We are Water’ are beautifully controlled yet bruisingly delivered’. HEALTH end the set with ‘USA Boys’ and ‘Tears’ (written for Max Payne 3 and therefore the best song ever made for a video game soundtrack) and its an unbeatable double hit of ace-ness that you wouldn’t want topped.
Again, this was a perfect set and HEALTH are truly becoming a phenomenal live band. Catch them while you’re still able to stand only a few feet away from them in a small local club as they look you in the eyes, willing your demise by eviscerating noise-pop.
Follow Christopher on Twitter: Christophe_Rock
