Physique Sort

Physique Sort @ YES Basement, Manchester, UK, July 6, 2023,

Jul 11, 2023
By Andy Von Pip
Images by Andy Von Pip
Net Unique

Being in a band should mess along with your head, significantly. One minute you’re trying to find fish fingers in Aldi, and the following you’re taking part in the Sydney Opera Home, supporting the Pixies. A number of months later, you end up taking part in to an enormous crowd at a handful of fantastically curated European festivals. You then’re off to the UK to play at a basement venue in Manchester. It may actually be a rollercoaster journey.

And Australian band Physique Sort actually don’t let the dimensions of the venue or the placement dampen their fiery ardour and unwavering dedication to their craft. They offer it their all, regardless of the place they’re taking part in or who’s watching. (You’ll be able to learn a few of the band’s clever phrases on conserving sane whereas touring through our interview HERE.)

After they hit the YES basement in Manchester, their solely UK gig outdoors of London, they unleash a efficiency that oozes energy and fervour. Now, I received’t resort to the well-worn cliché and say they “blew the roof off” (it’s a basement, mate – it might be carnage! , however they undoubtedly left little question in anybody’s thoughts about their electrifying expertise.

Whereas all of the band members contribute vocals and harmonies, it’s the tousled-haired singer and guitarist, Sophie McComish, who grabs your consideration and provides the much less follicly endowed members of the viewers some critical hair envy. Physique Sort are a whirlwind of fizzing power, kicking off with the hypnotic “A Line” earlier than unleashing a relentless trio of adrenaline-fueled tunes within the form of “Holding On,” “The Brood,” and “Intercourse and Rage.” There’s a slight breather with “Couple Music” from their 2022 debut, Every thing is Harmful however Nothing’s Shocking illuminated by Annabel Blackman’s nimble guitar work and Georgia Wilkinson-Derums’ driving bass strains. It owes extra to the hypnotic agit-pop of The Au Pairs than their present brilliantly idiosyncratic grunge pop discovered on their newest album, Expired Sweet.

Their setlist is a well-crafted combine of recent album tracks, and older tracks guaranteeing longtime followers have an opportunity to sway alongside to previous favorites like their great 2018 debut single, “Ludlow.” It’s an exhilarating, coruscating efficiency peppered with flashes of riot lady rage, wistful magnificence, fierce intelligence, and acerbic good humor. If that they had time for an encore that includes “Expired Sweet,” “Free To Air,” “Shake Yer Reminiscence,” and “Stingray,” it might have been absolute perfection. Nevertheless, you’re going to be hard-pressed to discover a higher approach to spend a Thursday night than within the firm of Physique Sort who’re a must-see dwell band.