For a band that started in 2012, around the same time as similar sounding bands Palma Violets and Slaves, Baby Strange have managed to create an impressive following and body of work in not very many years.

Having not seen them since the release of their debut album ‘Want It Need It’, I was excited but also slightly sceptical to see how their more poppy new EP, ‘Extended Play’, would sound alongside their older, grittier songs. When I walked into the half empty room, I have to be honest I didn’t have the highest of hopes. After the first couple of songs dragged along, it felt as if neither the band nor the crowd really wanted to be there. However, this all changed when frontman Johnny Madden urged everyone to come forwards and fill the inevitable void that there always seems to be at gigs.

Following this with newer track ‘Bring Me Down’, the band brought energy to their set with a new-found charisma, playing their instruments as if their lives depended on it. The delighted crowd couldn’t help but respond. Set highlights included the fan favourites ‘Pure Evil’ and ‘Distance Yourself’, with boisterous mosh pits emphasising the loud, bass-driven choruses. Newer tracks such as ‘Bring Me Down’ also held their own amongst the older, darker tracks, proving Baby Strange’s evolution to be a natural one, and that their old sound had not been lost.

Despite the half-filled room, the band’s enormous sound and the crowd’s enthusiastic response made the room feel full to bursting, and I’m sure that it wasn’t just me who left with a feeling of pure anticipation for what the Glaswegian trio will release next.

Rosie Simmons

 

Photo credit: Tom Adam (Getintothis)