Live Review | My New Band Believe @ Rough Trade, Bristol

My New Band Believe treat Bristol’s Rough Trade to a performance of their debut album, far heavier and more chaotic than the record

‘My New Band Believe,’ the debut album from ex-black midi bassist/vocalist Cameron Picton is one of our favourite albums of the year so far. Its acoustic folk instrumentation, string arrangements and gentle vocals are a far cry from Picton’s earlier work, filled with mathy riffs and distorted guitars. So, it would be fair to expect his live show to follow the same formula.

This, however, was not the case. Following a gorgeous opening set from Kiran Leonard, armed only with an electric guitar, the band – at least this version of it – took to the stage. Immediately it became clear that Picton and the rest of the four-piece had no intention to try to recreate the delicate acoustics of the album, considering the band wielded not one acoustic instrument. With two electric guitars, a bass, and drums, they began to play.

In the packed dark room, these tracks are entirely different beasts. ‘Target Practice’ was transformed from an unnervingly sweet death threat to a full blown attack. Picton’s vocals are no longer the softly spoken ones of the record, now having to compete with a heavily distorted electric guitar barrage, unpredictably leaping from yells to whispers, like a manic dog. It’s fascinating to watch live and will surely satisfy the black midi fans, who’ve been desperate for the chaos of their sound to return in its members solo projects.

Songs are stretched into hectic, fuzzy jams, never once stopping for breath. In its new form, album highlight ‘Love Story’ hits extremely hard, its build up far louder and more dramatic but equally emotional and romantic, despite a few repeated lyrics about beans and tomatoes. Standalone single ‘Numerology’ truly came to life in this form, its breakneck pace and playful lyrics yelled by Picton into the crowd, while the band tried (and succeeded) to keep up.

The set closed with ‘Heart Of Darkness,’ the longest track on the album. In the studio, the track’s outro is a creeping, sinister and uneasy crawl – live, it’s even darker. With each repetition of the unnerving melody, a wave of distorted bass erupts over the crowd, more of a crushing giant’s stomp than a mischievous creature’s tiptoe.

What makes My New Band Believe such an exciting project is its unpredictability. With no fixed collaborators, performance style or genre, Picton’s new project is bound to appear in all sorts of shapes and sizes over the coming months. The fact that these tracks can be just as enjoyable gently plucked on an acoustic guitar as they are blasted in a sweaty venue should tell you just how fascinating and complex they truly are.

Read our interview with My New Band Believe here.

Listen to ‘My New Band Believe’ here: