When Two Gallants came to Brighton a couple of years ago they played a jam-packed blinder of a gig at Sticky Mike’s. At the time SOURCE was incredulous that the California duo hadn’t made more of an impact here since their first proper album came out in 2004 (you can read the review here). Not much has changed it seems; this time round the venue is bigger, but it doesn’t feel like many more have latched on. That’s not to say it’s empty, only that a trip to the bar doesn’t involve spilling pints over anyone (which is especially welcome, given the venue’s prices).
An initially muddy mix is quickly sorted when frontman Adam Stephens turns up the guitar, but the result is that the vocals are slightly obscured from here on in. This isn’t as much of a problem as it should be. Stephens’ lyrics are more involved than usual (you’d expect a band named after a James Joyce short story to have something literate to say), but it seems most of the crowd know most of the words anyway.
We soon get ‘We Are Undone’, the first single from the last record, and it’s a glorious blast of upfront angst – not something you’d necessarily expect from a band on album five. While the high-end blues rock riff is reminiscent of The White Stripes at their most populist, the father-son format of the lyrics, depicting the futility of art in the face of business, calls to mind Kurt Cobain at his most scathing. “You sing to the choir and they know every line,” goes the middle verse, sandwiched between squealing guitar breaks. “But when they leave your world, they return to mine.”
‘Despite What You’ve Been Told’ starts with a tick-tock palm-muted guitar picking out a deceptively catchy tune about the guilt of giving in to easy and empty sex. By this point we’re starting to realise why Two Gallants’ brutally honest and world-weary nihilism might not be for everyone. We see someone in the front row mouthing the words to their partner and we worry. All that aside, it’s one of the band’s best songs.
Of course, the lyrics are only one part of the appeal. Stephens is a great guitarist with a rigid stance allowing him to fingerpick his way through both ballads and full-throttle garage rock. Meanwhile, rhythm section Tyson Vogel does everything you could ask from a drummer: sympathetic flourishes, tight rattling beats and powerhouse pounding. However, despite constantly drawing our attention we still don’t know what he looks like; he’s always bent double, hair over face.
Fighting the limitations of their line-up, the duo mix it up later in the set by swapping the guitar for a keyboard and bringing out a head-brace harmonica for some of the bluesier tracks. Things take a mellow turn at the midway point when Stephens gets out his acoustic and Vogel joins him at the main mic for ‘Broken Eyes’. It’s an affecting moment, and the song is somehow lifted by the sense that these friends of thirty years are never happier, embattled but still at it.
An enthusiastic fan gets up on stage to give each of them a beer and he’s rewarded by a drum solo which leads back into the second rocky side of the set. After the ‘encore’, we’re treated to a cover of Hank Williams’ ‘Settin’ The Woods On Fire’ which perfectly meshes the two sides of the band’s country/rock influences and provides a novel opportunity to see hipsters in the audience headbanging to a root-fifth thigh-slapping bassline.
Another grunge stomper later and it’s over, the band heading off the audience at the merch stall while we try to track down friends to convert to the cause. We don’t know when they’ll be back, or where, but you should be there.
Two Gallants, The Haunt, Friday 9th October 2015
Words by Ben Bailey
Photos by Matt Knight
