Factor 50 | Dirt Sharks | Battery Point
The Louisiana, Bristol
1st May 2024
Photography by Kazuo Chaed (@kazuochaed) + GOSH (@goshgoshgoshgoshgoshgoshgosh)
George Ward
Freelance journalist and online editor for CLUNK. Can be found out and about in Bristol, finding cheap records or having a pint on King Street.
Bristol art-rock group Factor 50 return to The Louisiana as headliners, showing off their impressive unreleased material
Last year was a big one for Factor 50. With the release of their fantastic debut album ‘Tourist Information’ and a big reshuffle in the band, their live set is made up of entirely unreleased material, with new tracks coming to life in front of us days after they are written and older tracks morphing over time.
The first support of the night came from Bristol’s Battery Point, whose edgy post punk is always worth a watch. Their sound is made up of jazzy keys, off-kilter guitar lines and unpredictable song structures. What’s most impressive about the band is just how much they make the most of their 6-string bass, noodling all the way across the fretboard with incredible ease.
Next up were Dirt Sharks who, despite their name, were not in fact an Aussie surf-punk band. In one of the biggest surprises of the night, their tight indie rock eased us in before two violins were whipped out and played with all the ferocity of an electric guitar, fitting in effortlessly with the more conventional rock instrumentation.
Factor 50′s set becomes tighter and tighter every time. With guitar pedals providing Squid-esque droney, mind-bending interludes, frontman Eddie Akers is spared some of his loveable in-between audience chat. Luckily, the band have lost none of their charm, with their wonky, dancey and lengthy tracks being the best of their career so far.
Boldly, they opened with new track ‘Manifesto’, making us the first crowd ever to have the pleasure to hear it. The joy of listening to a local band multiple times is coming to recognise each track, long before the rest of the world will ever get the chance, and allowing loyal fans to find favourites early on.
One of these is ‘Comfort’, an indie banger complete with sax and trumpet from Tom Oliver and Zach Kendall and gorgeously soft backing vocals from new member Florence Stirrup. ‘Comfort’, like most of the new material, is a multi-phased track, inventively swerving your expectations with each verse. With the band sharing mics as they shout the emotionally confused lyrics, they narrowly miss each other with their guitars, adding to the connected family feel of Factor 50.
It is clear that their influences have widened since the release of their album, with the group experimenting with more guitar and vocal effects and embracing the lo-fi sound of early 2000s groups such as Grandaddy and Sparklehorse. Akers loses the guitar sometimes, crouching over his pedals as his voice echoes, rippling with effects. When combined with the visuals, warping live footage of the band, we are sucked into their world for the length of their set.
The highlight of the set came from the closer, ‘Foundations’. Opening as a fairly conventional indie track, you soon know something is slightly off as Kendall’s trumpet fires up mid verse in a chaotic barrage of noise. The track feels like the best example of what they are going for with their new sound; big build ups, lots of phases and emotional climaxes. The guitar and bass sound huge here and the drums drive the track along with a pounding dancey beat.
Towards the end of the lengthy runtime, the instrumental cuts out, leaving only Akers’ voice, fragile and alone, before it is joined by Florence’s backing vocals. One by one, each instrument re-enters, with sax and trumpet providing real emotional depth to the buildup and the drums spare but vital. As a closer to the set, it hits with the weight of something like BC,NR’s ‘Basketball Shoes’.
Wherever Factor 50 go next, we will follow. For a band to shake their sound up like this so soon after the release of their debut is a bold move, but, seeing them live, you will see just how smart a move it was. They have lost none of their early energy but, with more ambitious writing and experimentation with their sound, they have come out better than ever.
Check out the full gallery below:
Photography by Kazuo Chaed (@kazuochaed)
Listen to ‘Tourist Information’ here: