Stuffed Foxes @ The Strongroom, London, 21.02.25

Evoking memories of the much-missed Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, a double hit of Continental space rock forms the top end of the bill at The Strongroom. Named after a vintage newspaper headline when the titular vat caused a flood in Boston in 1919, despite Huge Molasses Tank Explodes moniker suggesting a deluge of treacly guitar action, a la Dead Meadows, the outfit are Krautrock adherents.

Adding layers to each track as it progresses, the quartet really hit their stride midway through the set with a Meddle era Floyd style cut which is succeeded by a motorik, Stereolab-esque missive that thrums along on a simple keyboard patina which allows the quartet to venture out melodically. Admist the straight ahead tempos hints of New Order-style basslines and subtle vocal interjections supply melodic ballast. The mix is slightly uneven in places, not giving the four piece the emphasis they need as songs rise and fall, but overall this sugary combustion is suitably sweet.

An outfit who thrive on the interplay between members, honed in countless hours of practice room sessions, headliners Stuffed Foxes are one of those bands who seemingly communicate via telepathy. Boasting a four guitar line up at points, which miraculously don’t see the players merely doubling up what the other guy is doing, the visceral impact of the French psych rock maximalists reaches gale force conditions at points.

On the road to plug excellent debut LP Standardised, the Tours-based group navigate the song structures barely having to look at one another for cues. Anchored by a bassist stood in front of a visible-from-space amp stack, the sextet’s superlative drummer, crammed on to the edge of the stage steers proceedings.

Merry Xmas highlights their skill at interlocking guitar motifs, riding along on a succession of Sonic Youth-style figures with sporadic noise rock detonations, while the album title track is a howling, MBV inspired rampage. With the rhythm guitarist and bassist switching to keys to provide additional textural washes, at several points, the addtional instrumentation coaxes out the space rock elements of the LP. Underlining their fondness for clangrous noise rock meanwhile, the set concludes with a cover of Collapse by groundbreaking (quite literally) Berlin Industrialists Einstürzende Neubauten.

While a few more moments of their calmer, reflective side to showcase the breadth of their sound would have been welcome, as a statement of intent the concluding show of the 'Foxes debut UK tour is a hugely impressive psych rock spectacle.