Live Review + Gallery | Man/Woman/Chainsaw @ Sebright Arms

Amy Stuka

Illustrator, Animator and Photographer based in London.

London experimental band Man/Woman/Chainsaw take centre stage at the Sebright Arms, in partnership with SON Estrella Galicia

With their delicate soundscape of spoken word musings and kaleidoscopic riffs, Brighton 5-piece AtticOmatic ease us into the evening. In combination with their enigmatic though refreshingly down-to-earth stage presence, the crowd is immediately charmed and beckoned to lean in.

Amongst Kamran Kaur and Lorcan Forder’s shared vocal duties, with each track we witness an earnest, introspective exchange occur onstage between partners, humbly backed by the band’s recognised lush, layered instrumentation, courtesy of Marie Freiss (bass), Kai Raghunath (drums) and Ollie White (guitar).

The band’s sound resists adherence to a singular genre, with their catalogue uniquely blurring the divide between shoegaze, jazz fusion and traditional indie rock. To their credit, the liminal space they have carved for themselves seems pretty comfortable and, undeniably, it’s here which their sound is at its most precise.

They sign off with their latest single ‘Wait’ from their ‘Fold The World’ EP, a balanced cacophony of spoken word verses and ethereal harmonies delivered by Kaur and Forder, punctuated by explosive riffs and plucked strings. The track ebbs and flows until it washes over completely, only to be reined in softly once more during its concluding moments—a heady prelude to prepare the crowd for the pent-up energy to be inevitably expended.

As our headliners coolly saunter onstage to 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’, there’s a brief lull before we’re launched into the raucous opening notes of ‘The Boss’. From the outset there’s a determined ferocity and unchained quality to Vera Leppänen’s vocals which refuses to waver as the set transitions into the anthemic ‘Adam & Steve’, where co-vocalist Billy Ward joins her on the mic as they duet yearnfully over Emmie-Mae Avery’s wistful keys and Clio Starwood’s violin, piercing through with precision and prowess.

Toeing the line between grit and grace is the bedrock of the Man/Woman/Chainsaw ethos. As we reach ‘What Lucy Found There’, we’re drawn into a baroque-esque grunge hybrid fairytale with Leppänen’s fierce vocals undercut by Starwood’s chilling violin, veering between serene and sinister with each passing verse as Lola Cherry’s drums echo that of a stampede.

As they close with crowd-pleaser ‘Ode to Clio’, the track starts off tender, enacting a bittersweet farewell to see off the evening, up until the mid-point where things calm deceivingly, just moments before Starwood conducts, Avery revs up her synth and Doyle follows suit on guitar. As the track inevitably erupts for its final cry, the band’s stamina, much like the crowd’s, never falters– both mutually basking in the intensity, chaos and glory culminated over the span of the 60-minute set.

With well-deserved refreshments in hand, conversations flowing and high-spirits lingering in the air, the crowd filters upstairs for Warmduscher’s DJ Set. SON Estrella Galicia have committed themselves to keeping the spirit of independent music alive and tonight was proven to be nothing short of exceptional. You can catch them again at the Sebright Arms doing what they do best, as indie post-punk alumni Heavy Lungs gear up to take the stage, on August 22. Don’t miss out– grab your tickets here.