Music / Review
Review: Young Fathers, Rough Trade – ‘The most unshakably cool band around’
It’s only the beginning of February, but I already know I won’t see a better gig this year.
Young Fathers are the most unshakably cool band around, and as they take to Rough Trade to perform their new album – the first music they’ve put out in five years – no one can quite believe that they’re back.
The trio have always been elusive: their poetic lyrics difficult to unravel, their sound impossible to pigeonhole.
is needed now More than ever
Someone immediately heckles Alloysious Massaquoi about where his shirt is from, and of course, it’s from a charity shop with no tag. The crowd cheer anyway; Massaquoi could say anything and we’d be hanging on his every word.
Their new album Heavy Heavy celebrates the joy of music making, seizing spontaneity and roughness at every turn.
In the studio they improvised, avoided retakes and embraced background noise, and as usual, were unbound by genre. On stage, the process is exactly the same.
The art of playing is as important as the actual sound: the band stand amidst a structure made up of unidentifiable synths and speakers, crowd round the same microphone, and pick up various interesting instruments only to discard them a few seconds later.
Leading single Geronimo is a particular highlight, its results utterly rapturous. Gospel highs are punctured by heavy spoken word, and it feels like an open prayer as the band raise their arms to the sticky Rough Trade ceiling.
They exit the stage after just half an hour, disappearing again in true Young Fathers style.
The queue to meet the band after the gig is relentlessly long, and I face my defeat. Somehow, I still manage to run into Massaquoi later that evening in Mickey Zoggs. It feels serendipitous meeting him, but it makes sense that if I was to meet him anywhere, it would be here.
He slots in perfectly with his vintage velvet shirt amongst a space that combines a radio booth, blue lighting and a kitchen serving giant arancini.
He shakes my hand and asks my name, and I’m speechless; I’m still not sure he actually exists. Young Fathers are hard to pin down, but when you do, you can’t let them go.
Main photo: Mia Smith
Read next:
- Review: The Little Unsaid, The Folk House – ‘Utterly life-affirming’
- Review: Maja Lena, The Louisiana – ‘A night full of cosiness, beauty and connection’
- Review: Jadu Heart, Rough Trade – ‘The pair are just deeply deeply cool’
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
