Live Review: Infinity Broke, The Tall Grass, Mark Moldre

Tonight's gig was a warm-up and testing of the waters ahead of all three acts heading off on tour to France.

The heavy lifting was firmly in the hands of Jamie Hutchings, drummer/guitarist Scott Hutchings and bassist Reuben Wills, who played in all three bands, and though there was a degree of ironing out the creases and in some cases feeling out the songs, this was a night of diverse and engaging music.

Mark Moldre is in the mixing stage of his new album, the follow-up to 2013's An Ear To The Earth, and he gave the audience a preview of what they can expect with a cluster of new songs that showed a noisier, looser and fuller band approach. His poetic phrasing and command of melody are still at the forefront of the songs but now they appear to have a stronger rhythmic focus and draw from a wider sphere of influences with folk, junk-shop blues and esoteric rock'n'roll all wrapped up together.

Peter Fenton and Jamie Hutchings' collaborative project The Tall Grass was fleshed out to a full band when they started touring their album and now with a new rhythm section of Scott Hutchings and Wills in place for this tour, they've taken it to a rawer sounding place without losing any of the melodic warmth in their harmonies and guitar interplay. A quiet and attentive crowd made for some awkward silences between songs and there were some minor equipment issues and a false start, but it all made for a fascinating glimpse of the newly convened line-up taking its first live steps on the eve of international tour dates. Moller hung wistfully in the cold night air, The Road Is Long dug its heels in with firm intent and Buyer Beware showcased the duo's wonderfully interlaced vocals before they finished with an elegant take on Crow's Halo.

The third set of the night for Hutchings and co felt like a cathartic release of sorts. With Infinity Broke the magic lies in the group's devotion to rhythm, both primal and detailed, as well as an embrace of noise, repetition and sharp edges. After the softer palette of acoustic guitars and poetic leanings, the physicality of Infinity Broke felt like an aural assault at first. Then the senses adjusted, audience stances were steadied and heads began involuntarily nodding. The endurance and precision of drummer Jared Harrison was hugely impressive and he provided the glue and foundation for the music, allowing the bass to sit in the pocket and hang on for the ride and enabling the Hutchings bros to embrace their inner noisenik with flailing full body feedback, angular, dissonant riffing and bent-out-of-shape rock'n'roll. A couple of new songs piqued the interest of those hoping for a new album, before they wound the slightly rough around the edges but wholly entertaining evening to a close with the epic kosmische weather bomb that was Monsoon.