Fat White Family + The Growlers + The Wytches, Kazimier Liverpool

Every now and then a gig comes along which is guaranteed to be special. Tonight The Kazimier is treated to a triple bill of phenomenal talent, in the form of The Wytches followed by double headliners The Growlers and Fat White Family. It’s unseasonably cold for August but inside the quirky venue the heat is already rising, as the audience eagerly packs inside. It’s an exciting mix, from The Wytches who are just on the brink of releasing their first LP, to Fat White Family who have rocketed onto the radar over the last year, to well-established cult favourites The Growlers. The headliner for each date on this short UK co-headliner jaunt is allegedly decided by a toss of a coin, and tonight The Growlers are up first, followed by Fat White Family closing the night.

The Wytches’ particular brand of dark, grungy psych kicks off the evening. It’s loud and hypnotic, with the hair covering each band member’s face adding an element of mystery to proceedings. Singles Wire Frame Mattress and Burn Out The Bruise take inspiration from The Horrors to Temples to Nick Cave, all tinged with heavy riffs and screaming vocals. A large crowd has already gathered at this point and a few of the more hard-core fans are already moshing away at the front. It’s a captivating live set from a promising young trio.

Effortlessly radiating California cool, The Growlers take to the stage. Drawing on an extensive back catalogue, as well as tracks from their upcoming album Chinese Fountain, singer Brooks Nielsen’s sultry swagger perfectly matches the groups laid back ‘Beach Goth’ vibe. Tracks like Something Someone Jr. have an almost country and western rhythm, tied with surf rock guitars reflecting their West Coast roots. One Million Lovers and Graveyard’s Full are like a summery version of the blues, perfectly blending vintage garage fuzz with jangly guitar lines. Someday has echoes of the Beach Boys meets Black Lips, and a sense of delightfully bittersweet melancholy. New track Good Advice sounds slightly more polished then their previous efforts, but maintains their stoner groove and poignant lyrics of loneliness.

Years of touring and recording have obviously given the band confidence in their live shows, and they slide into each next song with no hesitation. Nielsen spots an overly keen fan in the front row and even lets him sing a few lines into the mic, laughing and joking. The Growlers sound and stage presence are hypnotic and the hour they are on stage for flies by. They are surprisingly underrated despite their prolific releases and number of copycat band which have sprung up in recent years. There may be many merits of a co-headliner tour but the time constraints on each band is not one of them, and it’s a shame The Growlers don’t have time for an encore.

It’s late by the time The Fat White Family take to the stage, but the crowd’s enthusiasm doesn’t let up. Despite one band member noticeably absent, they launch into Auto Neutron with the full power of their now infamous live shows. The raw energy of frontman Lias Saudi is reminiscent of Iggy Pop in his heyday, and their shambolic presence is enthralling to behold. Audience members are propelled onto the stage and then back again by a bouncer standing worriedly behind the band. Antics aside, the music is fantastic; Cream of the Young and recent single Touch The Leather are unsettlingly sleazy slices of 1970s rock’n’roll. The Fat Whites might be a buzz band but their live performance definitely lives up to the hype; an assault on all the senses with a sound like no other.

18th August 2014, The Kazimier Liverpool