Another sell-out crowd at The Triffid. With the audience congregating for The Jungle Giants (18 August), I was taken aback by the fan base; they were different to what I expected.
Frontman Sam Hales exuded warmth the moment he bounded on stage; it radiated from him like a campfire. ‘She’s A Riot’ was a surprising start (what happened to the predictable stereotype of delaying your most acclaimed music until the end?); it was strong and infinitely energetic, a level of dynamism that only increased as the set progressed.
2013 gem ‘Anywhere Else’ made for a sparkling transition, twinkling guitar lick a shining example of the riffs that first separated their music from your standard indie rock. The lyrics are so utterly HAPPY, textbook definition of the term; the room felt awash with joy as punters surely associated the chorus ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else’ with their current proximities.
It proved simple to pick Jungle Giant’s new releases from their previous; ‘Used To Be In Love’ is palpably different to their early work: less noise, more structure (two elements I find hugely prevalent when analysing bands’ recent music versus debut). The light-heartedness was replaced with heavier guitar solos (more rock than pop) and lyrics delved into more emotional depth.
The quartet first breached ‘experimental’ territory here, bridge embedded with what sounded like a harpsichord; very peculiar. Darting from album to album the band jumped back to 2015’s ‘Kooky Eyes’, crowd squealing with gleeful recognition. As the title suggests, the track truly is kooky: ‘All my friends think you’re a psycho, that kind of makes me like you more though.'
‘You’ve Got Something’ is underrated among The Jungle Giant’s shining discography; here, they’ve dug deeper, slicing through the surface of cutesy, feel-good sentiments; you can detect an ache, but what’s more is that it’s articulated more so instrumentally than lyrically.
While I’ll usually criticise bands for crawling into electronic/ dance territory (why abandon your roots for a genre more widely accepted?), 2017 album ‘Quiet Ferocity’ has arguably taken a creative leap for the better.
I would NEVER have guessed that among three records’ worth of music, the band would select ‘In The Garage’ in the setlist. Some listeners seemed slightly confused by the choice, though I can’t applaud the band enough for it; it’s a wicked tune, executed brilliantly, erring on the side of mysteriousness with all members exiting the stage bar bassist Andrew Dooris and drummer Kellan Bisker, lights dimmed.
The track eventually evolved into ‘Bad Dream’, another dance-influenced release, before The Jungle Giants backtracked to animated ‘Learn To Exist’ number, ‘I Am What You Want Me To Be’.
“This is going to be our last song,” Sam announced. “Though that’s before we play the songs that we’re apparently supposed to be secret about.” ‘Every Kind Of Way’ preceded the band’s inevitable (though humorously jabbed at) encore; it’s ‘Speakerzoid’ in a nutshell, wacky and almost void of a specific genre.
2017 record’s title track ‘Quiet Ferocity’ made an appearance before ‘Feel The Way I Do’ closed the set.
It’s fascinating, I can’t help but get the impression that The Jungle Giants fell into fame by accident; I highly doubt the band expected to receive such a positive response from listeners, but despite the unanticipated success they’ve transitioned into the profession smooth as butter.
They’re ADAPTABLE, and evidently do all that they do for their fans. Though what’s most impressive is their impeccable treading on the fine line between changing too much or too little between albums.
As mentioned, I was stunned by the crowd; each audience member glowed with pure admiration, many jumping and dancing throughout the entire performance. More specifically, however, I was shocked by the crowd’s ability to recite every, single song, instead of merely the major singles.
To me, it appears The Jungle Giants have the music industry (as fickle a mistress it may be) wrapped around their little finger and I’m not even mad to be as equally transfixed.
