The House of Love @ Hangar 34, Liverpool, 30.11.24

As kindred spirits who toured the same circuit and almost, but not quite appeared on the same editions of Top of the Pops back in the day, The Primitives are ideally placed to warm the stage for The House of Love.

Trading in similar territory, jangle pop with psychedelic hues, the Coventry crew benefit from the venue’s spot-on sound, which sees Tracy Tracy’s pinpoint vocals pushed high in the mix. Paul Court on guitar behind VU-esque shades steers the chordal riffs of prettily effervescent rendtions of Stick With You and Petals, while You Are The Way, co-written by a notable member of this parish Lightning Seeds supremo Ian Broudie, given additional underpinning by a vintage drum machine loop. Buzz Buzz Buzz powered by Paul Sampson’s relentless helter-skelter bassline and battering ram versions of Really Stupid and Stop Killing Me perfectly showcase the Prims’ noise pop credentials.

Out of Reach is a rip-roaring recent set addtion, while a venue-wide chorus breaks out for Crash. A short, sharp, thoroughly enjoyable blast, for some unknown reason the theme tune to The Sweeney plays over the PA as the four piece depart the stage.

Arriving to the strains of Some Velvet Morning (not The Professionals to continue the 70s cop show theme), the Eastern influenced groove of Cruel gets The House of Love’s set underway. Effectively a vehicle for the formidable songwriting talents of singer / guitarist Guy Chadwick, THOL were ahead of the curve in the late 1980s with their resolutely modern take on cosmically inclined indie rock.

Their hallmark element, the gorgeous sonic tapestries weaved by Chadwick and feted lead guitarist Terry Bickers proved to be hugely influential on the upcoming wave of early nineties shoegaze bands. With Chadwick the sole remaining member of the original line up, the new players match their antecedents. An outfit who have always rocked harder live than on disc as their 1980s Peel Sessions demonstrated, their current incarnation is no exception, drummer Hugo Degenhardt powering the quartet in forthright style, with the insistent riff of Marble given whiplash guitar interjections by lead axeman Keith Osborne.

In contrast psychedelic voyage Burn Down The World glides along beatifically and sixties homage The Beatles And The Stones patters along gently on brushed snare and guitar shimmer. “Still the greatest band ever. The Beatles that is”, Chadwick says at the conclusion to a cheer.
The music box arpeggios of The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes and the anthemic I Don't Know Why I Love You meanwhile are hit singles from a more-just alternate galaxy.

Having already established their bona fides as a cult group during the main set, the closing stretch is an absolute masterstroke. Keeping their powder dry where the hits are concerned, the final four songs showcase why THOL were placed alongside The Stone Roses as the band most likely to at the end of the 1980s. Shine On, the track that invented the indie fascination with the word, or “Sh-iiiiiii-iiiii-nnn-eee” as a certain group of former Creation labelmates would have it, creates an instant pavlovian response as a polite but enthusiastic moshpit comes to life as the opening riff strikes up.

Returning for the encore Christine is as lovelorn as ever, while Destroy the Heart is delivered with blistering force, the rhythm section making the most of the gear shifts between verse and chorus. Given a recent profile boost via its appearance in the Netflix adaptation of modern classic One Day, a heart bursting rendition of Love In A Car played last, is like everything else heard here tonight, timeless, iridescent guitar pop.