LIFE

-Yes, Manchester –

Young people matter, young people matter, young people matter… Walking into the pink room tonight at Yes, I look around and the place is full of them, young people. Leather jackets, dungarees and even a couple of mullets, LIFE have a voice for our generation and it’s relentless.

Straight off the back of a three-week tour around Europe promoting their new album ‘A Picture of Good Health’ LIFE have returned to the UK, just in time to turn their clocks back and pile down more motorways across the country.  Accompanying them on the Northern leg of the tour is Manchester based ‘Faux Pas’ an interesting quartet, that bring energy to the Pink Room on this cold Sunday night, they have a strong resemblance to early Placebo.

LIFE hit the stage with ‘Excites Me’ a track backed by a strong repetitive drum beat, frontman Mez takes no time unleashing his miming dance moves and immediate charismatic stage presence to the crowd. The first couple of tracks don’t seem to grab the crowd’s energy straight away, it’s not until Mez dedicates the track brilliantly named ‘Half Pint Fatherhood’ to his young son Gus and all the lone parents out there, that I get a real feel of punk from the band. The chorus crashes through the pink room and erupts the front rows of the crowd, after last seeing the band in an almost empty Gullivers in 2017, this straight away puts into perspective for me how far this band from my home city have come.

This band from Hull have really stepped it up a gear in the past 18 months, to the recognition of important ears, having been hailed by BBC 6 Music and being recognised by fellow punk rockers such as Slaves and Idles, touring as support acts over Europe for both. They have released their second album straight after a long summer of festivals, including big call ups such as Glastonbury.

During the set it is hard to take your attention away from front man Mez, his stage presence is captivating and at points bordering on weird… in other words its fucking great. The bassline in the track ‘Never Love Again’ stands out, this track is where I realise that the band do at times sit on the fence between early 2000’s Indie and punk, the chorus of this track sounds like it could be taken straight out of a Franz Ferdinand banger. Although the oncoming traffic of short, punk laden tracks, reminds me that this is still a punk gig.

A highlight of the set is ‘Its A Con’, a track speaking up against the 20th century fast food culture we live in, the lyrics remind us of world of false advertising we’re surrounded by daily. Mez and drummer Stew both come from backgrounds of youth work, it’s clear from the lyrics in tracks that the band recognise the struggles young people face. The lyrics from the single ‘Bum Hour’ hits hard on the subject of lack of motivation “I just wanna lie and sleep in” are words I’m sure all of us can relate to. The track ‘Hollow Thing’ takes a look at the vane society we live in with the lyrics “I look so much better than you, I look so good in black” sang from a front man posing in an almost ironical manor dressed in black and looking rather photogenic in front of the moshing crowd.

The night comes to an end with the tracks ‘Moral Fibre’ and the unforgettable ‘Popular Music’ from their first album. Sang from the shoulders of a fan, the repetitive nature of the song sums up the set. The tracks played are fast, in your face, the lyrics are repeated until they are drilled into your brain and this brings me to a downfall of the set. The band have spent most the year as a support act or on festival stages where sets are usually no longer than half an hour. As captivating as LIFE are live, I can’t help but feel this set was just a few songs short of an epic headline set. It’s a natural transition

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