WH LUNG - live review

It’s either the cyclical nature of Rock n’ Roll or our Uber driver had some surreal sense of gigs listed at the Manchester Academy, proudly zipping us right past the large, applicably named supermarket ‘WH Lung’. The Manchester trio, who have no qualms with sharing how their band appropriated the name of the Chinese superstore, were back in the motherland after a run of UK shows celebrating their superb debut: Incidental Music 

Ruma warmed up the crowd with some hearty, ambient techno. The vivid combination of Ruma’s impressive mad-scientist modular synth set up and the dark progressive nature of his music made it look as though he was soundtracking his own film in a bomb disposal scene. One to look out for.  

Barely a minute behind schedule WH Lung cruise onto their podium for the night. Behind the respectful cheers for the band, I felt a real calm energy from a crowd that knew, bar any sound system fuck up’s tonight, we were going to be treated in one of the finest ways a music lover can! The band wasted no time in locking us into the reminiscent tight grooves of the album, producing a truly immersive experience from the very first beat. Tom S, often using his guitar like a lap steal, was able to drown the audience in a rich pool of sound, while heavy shooting synthesizers just about kept you breathing. What I particularly enjoy at gigs, and what WH Lung did so smoothly was the seamless transitions between songs, always keeping some form of sound moving. I mean, with most songs on their album probably needing radio edit, I didn’t exactly think they were going to be the sort of band to shout into the audience every 3 minutes “How we doing Manchester?”. In fact, I don’t think they uttered a single word the whole evening. Lung’s gliding melodies were accompanied by the urgency of an angsty post-punk down pick on guitar and the ‘endless straight’ drumbeat which Klaus Dinger of Neu! describes as more than just ‘motorik’; it’s an idea, a philosophy, the feeling of driving down a long open road... In this case, it felt more than appropriate to be witnessing their stellar performance on Manchester’s very own endless straight: The Oxford Road.

If forced to pick a favourite track of the night, I’d have probably sided with Bring It Up, a tune which perfectly encapsulates the bands multifaceted set up, and also highlights Joseph E’s billowing David Byrneqsue vocals. All in all, a truly worthwhile experience from a local band who are in complete control of their own destiny. An absolute must-see live.

Slider & The Goose