Live Review: Mclusky Turn Up at The Sinclair
Thank you, Mclusky. Thank you for figuring out how to get around the debilitating aural issues that sprung up unexpectedly for Andy Falkous and pulled the plug on the long-awaited reunion tour in 2022. Thank you for making new music and not just coasting on some past legacy. Thank you for that particularly sarcastic Welsh humor. Thank you for inviting two of Boston’s best rock bands to lend support. Most of all, thank you for the joyous night of raucous rock music.
The trio successfully pulls off the feat of fusing frenetic noise rock to catchy melodies, all wrapped up around fiendishly hilarious lyrics. Not many bands can hit two legs of that triangle, never mind nailing the trifecta.
(If you haven’t read the interview I did with Andy prior to this show, now’s the time.)
Starting out with the loping melody line of “Fuck This Band”, which was also available on a t shirt at the merch table, Falkous didn’t have the rifle range ear protectors around his head, but they were soon pressed into service. I’m sure a fair number of the audience who were unfortunate enough to bring ear plugs was secretly wishing for them to be a merch table item. Volume is a prime ingredient of their delivery, and no one needs to see an acoustic Mclusky show. Thanks for figuring out how to keep ears safe and still destroy audiences in the live setting.
The big songs ripped through the hall, resulting in a wave of writhing humanity. “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues” will never fail to jumpstart a crowd and tonight was no different. The jaunty lines of “Collagen Rock” were an early fist in the air moment, and “To Hell with Good Intentions” has the best use of a playground retort I can think of.
When someone yelled out “Jack!” Falkous admonished them, “Don’t address the drummer until song 14.” He also did a multiple-choice song request bit, relaying that “No Covers” was released as a B-side since the bass line was nearly identical to Nirvana’s “Dive.”
Bass player Damien Sayell did some heavy lifting too, his gym-honed arms laying down massive, distorted bass lines and then ditching the bass for a guitar on “She Will Only Bring You Happiness.” I wished I’d written down some of the funnier Falkous banter (full disclosure — it was all funny) but I was too busy having fun and taking it all in. Anyone in a 100-mile radius of upcoming shows knows what to do.
Martha’s Vineyard Ferries played before Mclusky, and boasted some severe cred. Bob Weston’s bass lines anchor Shellac’s songs from drifting off course, Chris Brokaw is well-known for his work with Come and Codeine as well as a multitude of other projects, both as a six-string slinger and a drummer as he was tonight. Guitarist Elisha Wiesner not only knows his way around a guitar, but he also makes his living building them too. A knowing nod to the local past came via The Proletariat’s “Decorations,” a scathing anti-war song that still carries all of its weight. Speaking of local, there were more than a few familiar faces of the punk & noise rock scene from Boston in the room tonight.
Minibeast opened the show, Peter Prescott leading the charge with the dynamic rhythm section of Niels LaWhite and Keith Seidel forming a most formidable wave behind him. The surge of rhythm while Peter howled, ran around in the crowd, looped keyboard parts and strangled his guitar is always a hoot, and it was the perfect way to get the night started.
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