Sometimes it’s like that, sometimes a record sleeve, or even just the name of a band will catch your eye, draw you in and make you turn an ear. I often wonder just how much I have missed, just by not being in the right place at the right time, or even in the right place for a long enough time; but Undercut I did not miss. A unassuming email arrived last week, I liked the cut of it’s jib and so I gave them a looking at, and without reservation I liked what I saw. 

Undercut are a traditional rock and roll five piece from Bristol who have been garnering interest with their debut single ‘Soul Food Mother’ which was given a soft release at the end of last year. Other sources have tagged the track as ‘a killer hit’ and ‘as epic as it’s possible to be in three minutes and forty seconds’, and in formal journo back slapping mode I’d be inclined to agree. It’s an out and out sonic rollercoaster of guitar spewed mayhem, it’s only hanging on by it’s fingernails, as though the whole thing could collapse around their ears at any moment. But it doesn’t, and Undercut win out at the end. It really is something you should try.

And so, with a comfortable feel the quintet take to the stage, they are obviously a little older than a lot of the ‘new acts’ that the Night and Day promotes, but with those few extra years comes a maturity and a clearly defined skill honed through time spent on the circuit. Opening with the pumping, pulsating ‘Soil’ they set out their stall with passion and ferocity, with a definite call for the audience to sit up and take note. They are not here for the good of their health, and we know it.

‘Holding On’ is an aggressive, raw quasi-anthemic song which fades to a regimented drum and then explodes back into life, whilst ‘Delight’ is somewhere on a line drawn from The Cure, New Order, Lloyd Cole and Echo and The Bunnymen. Maybe that’s a little vague, but the writer can see elements of all those influences thrown in, thrashed about, beaten up and thrown back out again. No bad thing, no bad thing at all.

‘Take Me As I Am’ is utterly infectious, with chiming melodies overlain by a vicious wall of sound, the two doing battle until the bitter end. Current single ‘Soul Food Mother’ and ‘Crazy Too’ have more of the same, the delicate splashes and surges of melody seeping through the insistent, forceful layers of guitar. It really is something special. Whilst with ‘Butterfly’ the band exhibit a slightly rockier side with them sounding more like The Clash with every bar played, it’s urgent, it’s emphatic, it’s totally persistent.

Closing the set with forthcoming single ‘To Die For’ Undercut really leave the crowd with something to look forward to, the song builds slowly to an intense, deafening crescendo and then rides roughshod over all that has gone before until it crashes, explodes and fades like the last embers of a dying star. It’s truly magnificent.

Undercut may not be a name on your lips or in the NME just yet, but I assure you that they will be soon. The album due out later this year promises to be a real treat if tonight is anything to go by. Under-exposed, undercut.

Listen to tracks here.

Buy the single here.

Words by Johnny Mac
Photographs by Steve Devine

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