Slutface, Abattoir Blues & more declare ‘Hello 2016’ at DIY Presents show

For a couple of precious weeks, the big names back down with their surprise releases and all talk turns to new music. ‘Sound of’ hype takes centre stage and there’s a newfound fever for the future. For the past few years, DIY’s ‘Hello’ nights have been rowdy, sweaty, exciting glimpses into the year ahead. We’ve had Wolf Alice, Girl Band, Spring King and Honeyblood playing early shows at London’s The Old Blue Last for this yearly series. Now 2016’s rolled round, and the year already belongs to Norwegian giants-in-waiting Slutface.

The in-your-face pop punk force haven’t always been instant heroes. They played an impressive debut London show for DIY Presents in this very venue two months back, but it was nothing akin to the headrush stage invasions taking place tonight. Haley Shea must’ve been reading up on commanding a stage for several years, because she fronts the lumbering four-piece like it’s an instinct. Every hard-hitting track in their locker is a shock to the system. ‘Bad Party’ is a standout, prompting madness when the year’s barely had a chance to get out the starting block.

Preceding Slutface is the strongest cast these ‘Hello’ nights have witnessed in yonks. Abattoir Blues have been bit-by-bit rising to the top, pegged alongside The Magic Gang and other Brighton gems. But there’s a new step in their stride. Frontman Harry Waugh arrives in London after a few sleepless nights, and madness creeps into the process of the group’s brash post-punk dystopia. Like Eagulls with an extra melodic edge, people have been sleeping on this band for too long - 2016 ought to see them stepping up.

Former Let’s Wrestle man Wesley Gonzalez is in a world of his own. Debut solo gambit ‘Come Through and See Me’ is a playful tour through bleak backstreets and amusement arcades. But it’s the least extreme of Gonzalez’s introductions, tonight. Hip-shifting dance moves and witty lyricisms give an instant charm, and even at an early stage it’s clear this exists a thousand miles away from the Let’s Wrestle days. Bonkers, but utterly enthralling.

Openers Shame attempt to create the same furore as Slutface. The South London force are exactly that - a fully-charged electric shock of adolescent energy. It’s a tops off affair for the Fat White Family associates. Their music is part boozed-up Protomartyr, part politically incorrect Parquet Courts. It’s early days, but they already feel a couple of missteps away from self-destruction (nobody calls a song ‘Golden Fisting’ and gets away with it, chaps). No doubt that’ll go hand-in-hand with the mythology that’s already swarming the unsigned group. They’ll split opinion as swiftly as they undo their top buttons. But they complete an exciting crop of new bands playing tonight’s show, brushing off the post-Xmas cobwebs and giving indication that 2016’s going to be a winner.