God Damn seem to be one of those bands noted as “up and coming”, “ones to look out for” and so on. So here we are half way through their tour and beloved Max Raptor have had to unfortunately pull out. Tonight only sees two acts on the bill in one of Cardiff’s favoured clubs.
First on are Cardiff’s own WaLL. It’s like having a random bag of cats thrown at you. Some of the melodies are courageous and the vocals fierce while some dwindle between erratic and playful.
The singer jumps and perilously stomps around the club screaming down the mic, at one point singing face to face with the floor. And it goes from this unpredictability to sudden calm. Here come the post-culture kids.
After possibly the quickest change over known to man, God Damn kick off their hour long set (I’ve seen headline acts at bigger gigs play less than this, so kudos) which in itself, sets in stone their commitment as a committed band as a duo. They mean business. Despite their eagerness, God Damn play to a handful of people in Clwb but that doesn’t deter their spirit. Singer Thom throws himself into the crowd and doesn’t for one second care for boundaries screaming into fans faces.
Their sound is just pure guitar and drums and you forget at moments that they’re just a two piece in this overpopulated rock world. They sound huge yet distinct.
We can’t help but feel if there were a bigger crowd their performance would of only amplified. This band was made for playing live.
8/10
