Supersweet

These New Puritans

Bush Hall, London: 25 January 2010

Emerging in late 2007/early 2008, it was easy to view These New Puritans, with their savvy, semi-bothered approach and their self-assured intellect as, well, kind of annoying. Their debut album, Beat Pyramid, was and is a good selection of songs - but things like the chain mail costumes, the ridiculously considered announcement of being the “anti-avant-garde” and a particularly impressive lacklustre approach to live performances were not quite justified by said album. Fast forward a couple of years, TNP are back with their significantly better second album, Hidden, and - tonight - the task of successfully exhibiting their worth in a live setting is upon them.

As a packed and excited Bush Hall gathers around the stage, the opening instrumentation of 'Time Xone' begins to float out from the brass and woodwind ensemble, creating an absorbing sense of intrigue and curiosity. Eventually, the neo-tribal drum patterns of lead single 'We Want War' crackle over the continually tense French horns and the waspish vocals of Jack Barnett reveal the frontman, and the band he seemingly embodies, to be in real fighting spirit.

The set, almost exclusively made up of material from Hidden, continues largely in this vein, with each song building upon the already tangible sense of occasion. Menacing themes run through the band's second album like blood thickly rolling down the blade of a knife and, tonight, these reoccurring ideas are even more prevalent. The sound effect of a knife being sharpened which is always on the peripheries of the gig, the tribal drums and sinister arrangements all bring to mind the sense of a great, ancient ritual. Likewise, the fact that tonight we have a selection naturally and contemporarily trendy London music fans juxtaposed with the grandiose setting of Bush Hall - with its chandelier, intricate wall carvings and high ceiling- seems to neatly reflect the very essence of These New Puritans and their largely unparalleled talent of combining the instruments of, oh let's say...the 16th Century with the very modern beat ideas of Dubstep. The whole gig has a feeling of some sort of dark magic ritual, or tribal celebration. Yes, it's theatrical, but it's also sincere.

Tonight, These New Puritans seem more self-assured than ever but, for once, deservedly so. Jack Barnett continually spits out his vicious vocals- arching down to the ground and then jumping back up and spreading his limbs like a man possessed, while the band around him create an intense configuration of noise which is relentless to the end. The set ends in a suitably chaotic style. As Barnett lets his genuine gratefulness to the crowd, the band and the superb brass and woodwind ensemble known, he stamps on his effects pedals until the room is left in a reverberating, haunting loop of the singer's thanks overlapping again and again. Tonight, These New Puritans have shown themselves to be a band of genuine, breath taking talent. All the posturing and pretentiousness of old is now rendered irrelevant as, quite clearly, we have on our hands here one of the most intelligent, original and creative young bands in existence.

Words: Gavin Williams
Photography: Elinor Jones