YARD ACT + POLITE BUREAUX – CHALK, BRIGHTON 24.7.26
In the late 2010s, the gloomy post-punk of The Fall and Joy Division was revived in a scene dominated by the likes of Shame and Fontaines DC – an artistic reflection of Tory austerity. While spearheaded with the same anger, Yard Act’s 2022 Mercury-nominated debut stood out in the saturated genre. A post-COVID demand for dance, their half-serious lyrics were intent on tearing apart the minutiae of the middle-class. While the media hype for indignation in music died down with the changes in government, Yard Act kept evolving – adding disco influences for a hypnotically groovy rock sound. Tonight, they arrive (courtesy of Resident Records) at Chalk for their fourth visit in support of their third album ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’.
First up is Polite Bureaux. Like The Dare on a budget from Bradford, Polite Bureaux’s set-up is sparse as a shabby-chic Joseph Smith arrives on stage with only an Ableton and a MacBook for support.
Opening with ‘C*nt Monday’, the driving synths and loudspeaker vocals are caricatured post-punk bordering on parody. While the full live band has the capacity to capture the mood of a crowd, Smith’s energy is less convincing and more polarising to an open-minded crowd that is seemingly unfamiliar with his work. There’s a remarkable amount of patience needed from the crowd; ‘Lidl Fiddle’ consists of broken beats and listing of items in the LIDL middle aisle.
Moving from hard-bass to clubland familiarity, Smith’s stage presence is frenetically confident, even if the songs never land as anything more than ironically enjoyable. The entire set feels like a pastiche of sprechgesang with the audience not quite sure if there’s a joke to be in on.
A closing pair of the offbeat ‘Scratchcard’ rambles over restless electronica, while the euphoric opener ‘Broke Biscuits’ cyclically closes the set. Despite sharing the same mission and energy as tonight’s headliner, the crowd never quite warms to a solo Joseph Smith.
Polite Bureaux:
Joseph Smith – beats, vocals
Polite Bureaux setlist:
‘Broke Biscuits’
‘C*nt Monday’
‘Lidl Fiddle’
‘Bradford’
‘Dollars And Dimes’
‘Except Your Skint’
‘Bodyrocker’
‘Scratchcard’
‘Broke Biscuits’
www.instagram.com/politebureaux
“We are Yard Act” frontman James Smith states, before launching into the menacing irony of The Wedding Present-referencing ‘Empty Pledges’. “We’re very proud of this new album. We’re going to play it from start to finish,” Smith announces, setting up a full album run-through as society-baiting ‘New Beginnings’ is given the amped-up live rock treatment.
Rushing through the setlist, the bluesy, piano bounce of ‘Tall Tales’ feels like a chart-friendly Tom Waits, while ‘Fiction’ balances a light-percussive groove with harmonic chants of discomforting realities in a change of pace. However, ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’ best showcases their expansion from post-punk, as bursts of syncopated piano break up a spoken-word disco interlock in a set light on interaction but big on movement.
“This is the last gig of the promotional run for the album”, Smith explains, “Sorry we couldn’t fit Brighton in on the November tour.” This explains any feeling of rushing, with the set sometimes feeling like a sprint through an already concise album. ‘Cherophobe Rock’ brings drum-machine crunch and abrasive guitar, while the follow-up ‘Thrill Of The Chase’ restlessly marauds as Smith’s sprechgesang borders on rapping.
Slowing the tempo slightly, ‘Janey Said’ is all sombre cymbal ghost notes and melodic keys for the comedown. ‘Redeemer’ follows with a stop-start blues-rock smash-and-grab, viscerally rattling as Smith matches the intensity.‘Talky Talky People’ brings a discordant indie-disco riff, while the wonky piano of ‘Over The Barrel’ burns The Beach Boys with Queens of The Stone Age for sarcastic summery sludge.
With just one early track played in ‘The Trenchcoat Museum’, there’s a slight sense of disappointment. Album release shows are always a mixed bag, and this one leans towards new material; Yard Act earn singalongs, but the set does feel understandably fatigued. Playing ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’ in full highlights a rhythm section intent on disco-bastardising post-punk irony that has carried them through three albums and onto a major label. While calls for the likes of ‘Fixer-Upper’ are plentiful, the response to an album barely a week old is cementing Yard Act’s place as more than a one-album wonder but a band still sharp, still growing and still in demand.
Yard Act:
James Smith – vocals
Ryan Needham – bass
Sam Shipstone – guitar
Jay Russell – drums
Christopher Duffin – keys, percussion, saxophone
Yard Act setlist:
‘Empty Pledges’
‘New Beginnings’
‘Tall Tales’
‘Fiction’
‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’
‘Cherophobe Rock’
‘Thrill Of The Chase’
‘Janey Said’
‘Redeemer’
‘Talky Talky People’
‘Over The Barrel’
‘The Trenchcoat Museum’
