LIVE REVIEW: PULLED APART BY HORSES, SCALA, LONDON 28TH MARCH

We’re no newbies to the Pulled Apart By Horses live showcase, every single time we’ve seen them perform it’s been absolutely outstanding. Filled with such powerful raw energy and sound each time you wonder how on earth it’s even possible for them to top the previous gig. Despite the odds they not only topped last time, they peeled that memory off the cold beer soaked floor, dropped it in a blender, obliterated it to smithereens, poured it in a glass and threw it at a cats head. ABSOLUTELY fucking nailed it!

"Each note, scream and crash was inch perfect and their showmanship is an art form in itself."

Fresh from the release of their brand NEW album “The Haze” Leeds noisiest rock band Pulled Apart By Horses packed their bags and prepared to spend some quality time together in the confined space of a sweaty, fart drenched tour bus. First stop was Oxford before they head to our countries glorious capital for the second night of their tour. We caught em’ red handed sinking one of the capital’s finest venues, Scala into a state of pure bedlam. The whole show was a real spectacle they had no right pulling of a wild night like that on a Tuesday. We’re sure there would have been a few sore heads (and necks) in the morning, potentially a few dodgy phone calls into work just after the dreaded early morning alarm rudely interrupted our beautiful slumbers and dragged us back to the real world again. To the fools that didn’t get themselves down to the show …… sit back and think about the shire encapsulating nature of their fuzz laden basslines, growling guitar, electric vocals and dooming drums. It was everything you’d probably imagine it to be x1000. We came out quite literally buzzing from what we had just witnessed. It’s been almost 7 years since PABH first burst down the doors and introduced themselves with that self-titled debut album, they’ve had their fair share of big stages and adoring crowds over the years and that was clearly evident in their water-tight set. Not a glimmer of falling below anything but top class professional standards from the lads. Each note, scream and crash was inch perfect and their showmanship is an art form in itself. Show stopping, “High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive” was the evenings final song, the untameable James Brown climbed up on top of the PA System towering above the crowd like curly haired rock god wielding a weapon of sonic love and destruction. As the song broke into its final heavy surge of breakdown he leaped from the huge speaker, crashing to the ground like a special attack in a Dragonball-Z video game. The bouncer didn’t look to please with his anarchic actions!

They opened with title track and album introduction “The Haze” wasting no time kicking things into top gear. Starting with this song was like smashing your face into a plate full of chocolate cake, there’s no time to fuck around with teasing build up or foreplay you just wanna get this motherfucker on ya’ taste buds ASAP. The setlist showed absolutely no sign of mercy for those enthusiastic moshers, up next we had “The Big What If”, “I Punched A Lion In The Throat” and “Prince Of Meats”. Three tracks that make the SAW trilogy look like a light hearted rom com starring Jennifer Anniston and Hugh Grant. They’ll put hairs on your chest fo’ sure! BOLD riffs and energy was the neutral theme up to this point, lead singer Tom Hudson had already declared his love for the crowd saying that this was “one of the best shows they’ve ever played”. The sweaty Haze of steam was rising, if it wasn’t for the AMAZING air con system at Scala the venue would have been hotter than the earth’s core. Already it had started to smell like that block at college where all the MCR/ Bullet For My Valentine fans sit and eat their tuna sweetcorn sandwiches. NASTY! You can’t beat it though a room full of loyal music fans all present to let their hair down and listen to the sweet, sweet sounds of rock and roll’s finest. It may not have been sold out but that venue had more energy and charisma than plenty of full capacity gigs I’ve been to so far! No pretence, no little hipster kids twirling their handlebar moustaches and eating vegan skewers. Just a bunch of sweaty, friendly folk banging their heads and raising their devil horns to the sky. Absolute bliss!

They interacted with the crowd throughout; it wasn’t long before the token sarcastic heckler among us decided to stand up and make his voice heard. He exchanged some pleasant dialogue with Tom and lead guitarist James so they decided to dedicate the next song in his honour. It was so unbelievably fitting that it almost look setup, “This song’s for that Flash Lad” shouted Tom Hudson before they broke into the albums seventh track, yeah you guessed it ‘Flash Lads’. You can’t write that shit. The remainder of the set was packed with a mixture of both old and new tracks including “Lizard Baby”, “Hotel Motivation”, “Lamping” and “Back to the Fuck Yeah”. They even managed to squeeze in a cheeky Beatles cover of “Helter Skelter” towards the end. Yeah I know what you’re thinking PABH doing The Beatles? Well, you heard us right and it was fantastic they really made it their own.

"Their style hits a sweet spot, that very few (if any) have managed to do before."

PABH have a real strong network of fans, we saw people sporting band tee’s from Slaves and Turbowolf to Foals. That’s the great thing about their music they conjure up such a wide variety of styles in their chaotic mixing pot, it draws in fans from bands at opposite ends of the rock and roll spectrum. Their style hits a sweet spot, that very few (if any) have managed to do before, it’s has punky drive, it’s got a bit of indie flair, it dips a toe in the realms of soft metal, it’s melodic, it has bold riffs, it’s energetic, it has bluesy attitude and more important than anything it speaks to people of so many different levels. Without doubt they are even better live, their studio recordings are amazing but they really don’t do them the justice they deserve. I suppose it’s hard to encapsulate that raw energy and borderline euphoric vibe into a mastered studio mix. Maybe the release of a live album on vinyl somewhere down the line might be a good next step for Pulled Apart By Horses? Hint hint, nudge nudge!!

PABH have three dates left on their current tour in Manchester, Newcastle and a homecoming gig at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on Saturday. Leeds is, understandably, sold out but there are still tickets available for the other dates so get ya’ wallet out you tight arse, buy a ticket and thank us later. They have a busy summer ahead of them aswell this year with plenty of festival dates penned in, we’ll be seeing them again at Truck Festival in July and we can’t fucking wait. If you’re going to that one look out for the guy jumping around like crazy little fanboy infront of his bedroom mirror. There will be air guitar the lot. Come say hello if you’re not too embarrassed to be seen with the likes of us. Oh and……. GO BUY THE HAZE!