HOLY REEFER 420 FEST
BOSTON MUSIC ROOM, LONDON
might be founded on artfully edged missives orbiting the punk and hardcore worlds, but tonight’s showcase reveals that the most genuine of mission statements are open-minded at heart. Openers might be fully aligned with massage desert rock into a host of different forms. Adam Wrench’s vocals range from Jeff Buckley-esque lilt to bluesy holler as songs layer on riffs to mantric effect, descend into doomy lurches and do everything they can to rise above the sum of the parts. If they’re not always tight enough to weave outright magic, there’s a room full of devoted, nodding heads testifying to the power they are able to sum up. ’s debut London show has already ratcheted up the anticipation to breaking point, and the crowd explodes the moment they lurch into . Unleashing a potent combination of thick-set sludge and nerve-frying grind, the Pennsylvanians’ sheer heft reels you in as if they have a particularly uncooperative Great White at the other end. Evan Moray’s coruscating vocals pull at huge, heaving grooves determined to club you repeatedly into submission, and it’s a frighteningly fun overload of aural roughage that leaves everyone in a state of battered euphoria.
