Since the departure of the previous members in 2011, the remaining members of This Town Needs Guns have had a fresh album on the horizon, ’13.0.0.0.0’, which is due out next year, and tonight will be a good insight as to what to expect from it. The show is initiated by instrumental three piece Cousin, whose grooving math rock sees the crowd quickly grow from a couple dozen to a mass twice that size. Delta Sleep appear next, unfortunately without their usual bassist. Consequently they decide to play a shorter set, but one that is still interlaced with spoken-word samples and as ultra-tight as ever.
Once the custom made speakers have been set up, This Town Need Guns decide to open with ‘Chinchilla’, where it’s clear that Pennines singer and guitarist Henry Tremain has taken the reigns well as new vocalist. After, he moves the band on quickly to introduce newer songs, ‘Cat Fantastic’, and later ‘I’ll Take The Minute Snake’, both of which show they’re taking a newly adapted approach to songwriting with the altered instrumentation in mind. Lead guitarist Tim Collis’ slippy and slidy guitar lines are all still present and correct, played with the accuracy and dexterity they are known for, whilst drummer Chris Collis is on powerful form behind them.
As their set comes to a close, they end with the classically TTNG twiddly ‘Baboon’ which, despite going down more than well, is followed up with jovial calls of six, seven or eight more songs. More realistically, the band take the novelty of heading to the back of the room before setting up in front of the merch table, book-ending their set with an acoustic version of fan-favourite ’26 Is Dancier Than 4’ whilst the audience sit around them quietly like children at a campfire.
This Town Needs Guns have persevered as a three piece for about a year. However, this is by no means a band bringing in other musicians to hold the cracks together, resting on their laurels by only playing their material of yesteryear without moving forward to something new. Nope. The fact the band can still manage to wow an audience like they have tonight is a testament to how, a year on, they’re still going solid and strong.
JAMES FOX