Rechargeable hand warmers. The Ninja Air Fryer. Asda. The Pushin’ P emoji. CBD. Superfood powder. Yard Act’s debut LP ‘The Overload’. All of these esteemed products have made it onto myriad top 10 best things of 2022 lists. With a nomination for the Mercury Prize and a place on the BBC Sound of 2022 shortlist, James Smith’s band of Leeds-born brothers can rightly claim to be one of the acts of the year. They even almost beat Olly Alexander to Number One. Why are they reaching such heady heights? Quite simple. They’re really good. And in singer James Smith they have a frontman for the ages. Chalk sold out a long time ago and as the lights go down the place is absolutely stacked.
It would be wrong to claim that Yard Act is all about the Ryder-esque Smith though. The band that surround him are built on rock-solid drums, deceptively simple metallic bass lines and Sam Shipstone’s squealing, squalling guitar. Less nu punk and more olde indie, the sound recalls the 90s and, at times, second album-era Supergrass. That is until Smith appears in his geek-chic NHS specs/trenchcoat combo. With a laconic northern drawl and a mischievous look in his eye, Smith is sardonic and witty company. He wears his politics proudly and tonight’s set is a diatribe and a polemic as he rages against the Tory machine. Early on SOURCE spots a synth and a saxophone which are quickly deployed by a mysterious new fifth member, adding a sheen and a shine to the previously caustic sound.
The band rattles through the set, stopping off briefly to cover (confusingly, but rather splendidly) The Osmonds’ ‘Crazy Horses’. Smith is a kinetic performer, punching and kicking the air and at one point lying prostrate on the stage floor. Shipstone is a great watch too. His jerky and angular guitar matched by his jerky and angular body. Only a band who have spent the year almost perpetually touring can sound this good. And only a band this popular can get a call and repeat going as they do during ‘Rich’. Smith finishes the song proclaiming that “maybe you will become rich, but the chances are you won’t want to be”.
And therein lies the question. Yard Act are getting big. But big means money. Big means air fryer sponsorship and hand warmer tie-ins. Will Smith be able to console his obvious disdain for the avarice of capitalism with the need to put food on the table? Let’s leave it to the best of 2023 lists to decide.
Chalk, Wednesday 30th November 2022
Words and photos by Jason Warner
