“I think everyone’s a little stained...Mother Teresa was probably stained”
Once upon a time, some utterings amongst various media outlets, namely NME and The Guardian, predicted the London-based glam-rock band HMLTD, to be “ones to watch” for the future. Yet for tonight, London’s intimate club XOYO hosted the sold-out show for this evidently underground band as the main question remained: has their reputation been tarnished over these years, or perhaps stained? Having featured in my Top 10 EPs of last year, the external hype surrounding this band ultimately lived up to its full potential - for their live show was something of a rave-filled throwback to the New Romantic era of the 1980s.
In conjunction with their quirky repertoire fusing together elements of glam-rock, art-rock, and new rave, HMLTD inevitably began with the wolf-howlings exuded from a naked woman on stage - shortly followed by the arrival of their illustrious entourage. Sporting silver wings, gimp masks, and ushanka hats, HMLTD imminently brought about glitzy synth flashes and simmering basslines encased in ‘Music!’. With dramatic vocals reminiscent of Robert Smith of The Cure, their frontman Henry Chisholm delivered a staggeringly animated performance from the first wolf whistle.
Yet the real dramatism came about in the ensuing tracks ‘Loaded’ and ‘Proxy Love’, with the former exuding its scratching riff scraping away at our auditory senses and the latter seemingly featuring The Chemical Brothers’ infectious ‘Galvanise’ sample. Sustaining a tangible upbeat trajectory in a whirlwind of frenetic showbusiness, the crowd unequivocally reciprocated this - engulfed in a world reminiscent of The Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran.
As all things 80s-related inevitably become, the successive track ‘Satan, Luella & I’ offered a dreamier ballad reverberating in its synth-heavy, slower-paced facade. Yet as we’ve come to learn with this band, stranger alterations were in store - namely from the sporadic changes in pacings of ‘Kinka-Ju’, perhaps one of the most jolting tracks witnessed in a while. With its incessant build-ups of increasing intensity, then ecstatic relief, it became a mere matter of seconds and beats between which these two extremes of art-punk and art-pop.
From this sea of sporadic timings, HMLTD eventually arrived at one of the true pinnacles of the night, ‘Flex’. Offering a Charli XCX-esque, glitch-pop sound wrapped with a tangibly bassy hook at the chorus’ core - the 6-piece band filled the entire underground venue with an inescapably encompassing sound. Invariably offering less gravitas, though, ‘To The Door’ and ‘Stained’, still yet managed to showcase this act’s knack for earwormy hooks peppered throughout their illustrious repertoire. Blood, sweat, and tears consumed these musicians on stage as the blaring distortions amalgamated their way into the final notes of the last track for their adored sold-out audience.
Whilst parts of HMLTD’s homecoming set seemed over-illustrious tonight, this act ultimately proved their artistic expression - not only visibly but sonically, too. Their elusive debut LP is yet to be released, however, this may be the secret ingredient to their aforementioned hype in 2017, for tonight marked HMLTD’s statement within the underground scene. Clamouring together various different genres over a variety of decades, this band shouldn’t be taken lightly by critics, for we were all delightfully ‘stained’ by HMLTD’s set confined in the intimacy of XOYO.
8/10
HMLTD's latest EP, Hate Music Last Time Delete, is out now and can be found here.
Photos are courtesy of Rebecca Cribb, whose work can be found here.
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