Drenge, Brudenell Social Club, review: Sabbath-like riffs, Sonic Youth intensity

The band's urge and desire is apparent on stage

Daniel Dylan Wray
Sunday 25 January 2015 16:06 GMT
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Eoin Loveless of Drenge performs at the Glastonbury Festival 2014
Eoin Loveless of Drenge performs at the Glastonbury Festival 2014 (Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns/Getty Images)

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Drenge have now expanded to a three-piece with the aid of bassist Rob Graham, and his inclusion adds weight and depth to the – still enjoyably primal and minimal – setup.

The slightly vacant and tinny tone captured on their debut album never really did justice to how heavy Drenge can be live, and tonight is a wonderful example of that as they flutter between Sabbath-like chunky riffs and Sonic Youth-charged intensity.

What the band offer, compared to, say, the often-associated Royal Blood, is a sense of fun; the urge and desire that got them together in the first place still seems apparent on stage and the new material delivered tonight already indicates a sense of development and expansion.

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