Live
< Health at The Scala, Kings Cross
words by Danny Canter
Before we spoke to Health for issue 2 of Loud And Quiet, we presumed they were something of chancers. We’d been captivated by their self-titled debut album – ferocious, fragmented, aggressive and completely original to its hardcore… erm… core – but despite being one of our favourite albums of the past 12 months we thought the LA noise troupe had to have been winging it.
Then we met them, were told, in no uncertain terms, that every note, squeal, thud and crash was planned and thought out to precise accuracy, and we fell in love with the record even more. Because once you’ve seen the whites of this band’s eyes as they enthuse about spending a whole day anally hitting one snare drum you can totally hear in the record just how focussed these musicians are; even more so when you see them live.
Inter-song gaps are Polyfilled shut with manipulated feedback and sparse, bursting drum thwacks from BJ, heightening anticipation of what’s to follow. The lullaby outro of ‘Heaven’ morphs into the relentless crunches of ‘Perfect Skin’, which sounds – as does every track with vocals in the band’s 30-minute set – fragile beneath its bravado confidence, thanks to singer Jake’s angelic and crisp zombie chirpings.
Swapping between bass and a box of wires that control samples and screeches, Jon thrashes about centre stage throughout, even if the whole of the Scala are too scared/mesmerised/confused to budge an inch themselves. Sometimes he appears to be retching into a mic, controlling some otherworldly sound no doubt, even if we’re not completely sure.
Often the Scala is fairly criticised for its poor sound and yet tonight Health sound amazing, especially when unveiling new (whisper it) radio-friendly tracks, which have something of a pre-desperate Bloc Party about them. Only more interesting, of course.
No Age, a grunge duo playing conventional blues rock, then come on. And we’re not the only ones wishing that the bonkers, ear-assaulting, noise-core air-strike of Health hadn’t ceased.
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