The crowd’s as happy as a you know what as Newcastle’s Pigsx7 sell out Edinburgh’s Liquid Room, showcasing new album Land Of Sleeper.
There’s a wee hog-roast takeaway in Edinburgh’s Victoria Street, just across from the Liquid Room, its shop front emblazoned with the words Oink Oink Oink, as if to taunt tonight’s headline act Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. Thankfully the Newcastle stoner-metal five-piece avoid a roasting and blast on to the stage, ready to suck us into their vortex of crushing riffs and coiling rhythms, delivered under the wit and charm of vocalist Matt Baty.
Supporting the Pigs tonight is the riotous Luminous Bodies, who released their 2020 album Nah Nah Nah Yeh Yeh Yeh on Baty’s Box Records, which specialises in the UK’s underground sounds such as psych, folk, doom, noise and punk. Like tonight’s main act, Luminous Bodies don’t take themselves too seriously when performing live, with echoes of the inimitable Butthole Surfers, not surprising really with vocalist/guitarist Gordon Watson also a member of Terminal Cheesecake, which was back in the late ‘80s deemed the UK’s answer to the unruly Butts. With the relentless assault of two drummers, the band’s chaotic circus of psychedelic noise-rock and sardonic sludge rips through The Liquid room, Watson a joy to witness as he shakes his long, silver strands about like a bewildered Woodstock relic to numbers such as F**k The Beatles and Sykes. It’s hard to avoid being swept up in their euphoric enthusiasm, putting on an illuminating set which is a refreshing finger up to a world swamped with over-polished meh.
With a sound nodding heavily towards the sludge of the Melvins and doom of Black Sabbath, Pigsx7’s set kicks off with a breakneck dose of Mr Medicine, lead single from new album Land Of Sleeper, which has outsold Pitbull’s Greatest Hits “for one week only” according to Baty. It’s short by Pigsx7 standards but they seem to be trimming the fat a bit, possibly becoming more accessible as a result. Baty dazzles, barefoot in a Thai boxer-shorts ’n’ vest combo, claiming that the band are in fact holograms. Na, I’m not buying that Matt, I mean such peak physique surely can’t be emulated? With bassist John-Michael Hedley also shoeless, he sports some knee-length pedal pushers, as tight as the set itself, straddling and lunging the night away, quite a feat for someone whose facial straining points to a lack of fibre in the diet, a look which could become the norm during the current fruit and veg crisis.
There was no opportunity to showcase previous album Viscerals at the time of its release during 2020’s lockdown, but tonight the crowd appears to be as happy as a …yeah you know what, as the revolving riff from the album’s Rubbernecker grinds against its uplifting melody. Baty squats and trots around stage, punching the air and cavorting with his mic, at one point sticking his butt in the direction of our photographer, cheeky pig. It’s hard to disagree with his admission to being a ‘Poundland’ Freddie Mercury, but I would throw in a dash of the exquisite Mike Patton too.
Land Of Sleeper’s second release Ultimate Hammer is already a fan favourite, its savage riffs smashing through the walls of The Liquidroom again and again, shifting tempo as guitarist Sam Grant contorts his body around his guitar, fellow guitarist Adam Ian Sykes quite detached from the band’s energetic antics, cooler than the bottom of the deep blue sea. As Baty snarls “what a time to be alive”, the might of the track bears down on the swinging heads in the mosh zone, and with Ewan Mackenzie back on the scene after a five year absence and key to their evolving sound, it’s his drums and Hedley’s bass that hold the onslaught together, weaving through the turmoil with majestic ease.
Big Rig’s low slung groove spirals deep into the vaults of Edinburgh’s old town before bursting through the surface once again as Baty spits angry words about some “god forsaken English town”, continuing to crawl and sprawl towards its frenzied finish. But the highlight for me is the corrosive Terror’s Pillow, Grant’s gloriously eerie guitar solo drilling though the night, its brilliance undoubtedly the bleakness which unfurls before Baty’s raw, desperate vocals ricochet around the walls of the venue. As the sound broods and builds like a procession leading us to the gates of doom, Grant’s stark drill cuts in once more, cascading off into airy space.
A couple of classics from 2018’s King Of Cowards complete the set, the audience drenched in a hypnotic swirl of psych-rock as GNT unravels, layering fuzzed-out fury with a relentlessly addictive groove before A66’s expansive offensive rampages through the crowd, expelling trough loads of rage for one last time.
As fan clubs are pretty much a thing of the past, Baty invites us to join their secret society which will allow us to feel like a Pig for a day which is apparently both a blessing and a curse. Of course, most of us are only cursing because the gig’s now over and our ears will be ringing well into March. But in all honestly, I don’t think the smile left my face throughout the whole set, and although we’re only two months into the year, I’m already wondering who could possibly outdo this performance in 2023.
With their tour set to take them across the UK and over to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and beyond, I hope the Pigs leave Victoria Street under the cover of a blanket… just in case.
Land Of Sleeper is out now on Rocket Recordings https://rocketrecordings.bandcamp.com/
Words: Shirley Mack @musingsbymarie
Pictures: Calum Mackintosh@ayecandyphotography