Concorde2, 15th July

Battles are a tough proposition for the uninitiated. Whether you tag them with the whole ?math rock? label or not, on early listens they are the aural equivalent of the first time you try to do a simultaneous equation. So if you needed extra lessons to get through your maths GCSE, you may not take too easily to the four-piece?s time-shifting, dissonant sounds. However, rave reviews of debut album ?Mirrored? and a rammed, sweatbox Concorde2 on a Tuesday night are generally strong indications that something interesting is afoot ? possibly even something that can be enjoyed without the use of a slide rule.

The first five minutes of the gig were like being coshed on the back of the head by a sneaky burglar and coming round with a dose of mind-boggling concussion. Where am I? Who am I? Why has the drummer got one cymbal that?s five feet high? But gradually, the fog clears and parts of the music offer up something to cling on to. You can quickly see why drummer John Stanier sits at the front of the stage. He is a one man metronome of sweaty, throbbing beats. You could lose half a stone in sweat just watching him. It is, in its own right, a masterclass of the art. Beyond that, two synths, bass, guitar, a laptop or two and moments of pure genius mixed with stretches of head-scratching difficulty.

The crowd loves it, in all its avant garde glory. The whole math rock vibe is about off-kilter time signatures and rhythms and a clash of sounds, at times grating against each other uncomfortably. The changes in tempo make for a band that is wilfully difficult to dance to. Then they switch up and go near-thrash metal for a couple of minutes or hit a jazz vibe for a section. Everything is in there and it is all too much. But when it gets reined in, suddenly it makes sense and light floods through the murk. At times I thought I was in the presence of genius, at others I was reminded of a teen rock band rehearsing in a garage.

Simply put, this music goes against every moment of simple 4/4 pop training your brain has ever received. My advice: listen to the album, maybe five times. If you don?t like it then never see them live, but if you do then maybe they?ll become your new favourite band.

Words by Joe Owen
Photos by Sam Hiscox