Jellyskin took to the small stage at Milo Bar and played an intense set of dreamy shoegaze. The atmosphere they conjure up is in equal measures romantic and brooding, and the two are blended between and within songs.

One of the band’s strongest assets is synth player Zia Larty-Healy’s innocent yet seductive voice, which gently soars over waves of distortion whilst driving the melody forward. Her voice contrasts and compliments Will Ainsley’s deeper snarl, which evokes the garage-psychedelia of Anton Newcombe and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. These two distinct voices blend and harmonise at key moments, but when they don’t the songs are driven by either of their respective vocalists. The majority of the band’s rawness and bite comes from the more vitriolic Ainsley while Larty-Healy grounds the chaos unleashed by the boys in the band.

Ainsley and drummer Olly Neville gradually wind each other up into a sweaty frenzy towards the end of the band’s set and they end with a sinister piece of drone rock. By this time both men are topless and panting and the audience is left with their ears ringing.  

Samuel Dillon

Image: Facebook