Scala, London
“You never expect to get to this point.”
Cometh the hour, cometh the band: English Teacher prove to be the latest promising product of this country’s beloved art-rock/post-punk scene; steadying themselves for their largest headline show to date.
In recent years, our fellow British and Irish compatriots have been spoilt with a gluttony of acts spewed from all corners: Squid’s boppy art-rock; Black Country, New Road’s heart-torn semantics; Fontaines D.C.’s brazen poeticism. Whilst the main act tonight, a distance from their hometown of Leeds, have invariably pulled strands from such contemporaries on their debut EP of last year, Polyawkward, consistent hints and of an eclectic, upcoming debut full-length record remained inadvertently on the horizon.
An explosive entrance, courtesy of their leading post-punk single, ‘The World's Biggest Paving Slab’, incites a full-frontal abrasiveness - surging into an ethereal, dream-pop chorus before initiating an Oasis-esque culmination: “I am the world's biggest paving slab, So watch your fucking feet”. ‘Mental Maths’ jerks and writhes in its alternating rhythms, accentuating frontwoman Lily Fontaine’s candidness to Fontaines D.C.’s deadpan delivery, forever inviting the audience to their cagy cauldron of post-punk-fuelled euphoria.
One thing remains apparent through tonight's pedastool: English Teacher is a newly-born product of our burgeoning alternative scene over the past several years. The latter track writhes with purpose a-la Tyler Hyde’s spoken word poetry; ‘Nearly Daffodils’ brilliantly captures the swelling sounds of Fontaines D.C.; ‘Good Grief’ invites a symphony of bells and whistles tied to Squid’s recent art-rock repertoire. At certain points, such resemblance prove predictbly stale in their pastiche; in others, engrossingly exciting in their luscious extravagance, applauded by tonight’s attentive audience.
The future, however, promises new sounds and shades of the aforementioned. Unreleased material courtesy of ‘Albatross’ and ‘This Could Be Texas’ take interesting forms; underscored by piano-balladry, punctuated by keys and cello as an aura of heartfelt art-rock plays out to the adorning, swaying crowd. In these moments, the impressive breadth of English Teacher's sounds to date make themselves apparent: from the infectious, lightning-in-a-bottle energy of 2021's 'R&B' to the calmer, steadier slopes of their recent firings; this act's potential garners a tangible excitement from the audience, realising the cusp they currently reside upon.
Whilst English Teacher may not have proven to sting with the same creativity, intensity or prowess as their contemporaries, the sheer scale and promise of tonight’s set earmarks the band as one full of potential in their imminent midst. As lead singer Fontaine stares down the crowd with balanced authority and adoration, launching adorned daffodils into the audience’s orbit, one hopes this act finds a similar trajectory for their incoming debut LP which promises a ripened fruitfulness.
6.5/10
English Teacher's latest track, 'Nearly Daffodils', is out now via Universal Music and can be found below. Tickets for their upcoming show at Brixton's Electric can be found here.
Photo is courtesy of Holly Whitaker whose work can be found here.
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