Keith Jobey has a lot to be proud of. My mate from Leicester (via the North East) has been touting LIFE for as long as I’ve known him. I think I saw this fine band from Hull a few years ago at a festival and saw little special yet Keith bought the T-shirt. I was wrong and he was right.
In an altogether odd turn of events, I’m now standing in the back room of the iconic Marathon kebabs on Chalk Farm Road. LIFE are about to play a press show in advance of their second album release. And Keith should be here. But he’s not. I message him on Facebook to say that I’m having a lovely time. I’m a cunt like that.
My initial aversion is long gone. Any lingering doubts were put to bed in Brighton this year at the Alternative escape. LIFE’s late night Sunday night set up at the out-of-town Admiral will surely go down as a thing of music folklore in years to come. And I was there. As was Keith. I wrote about it here.
This room is exciting.
Marathon Kebabs is a venue steeped in popular culture history. The staff are ace and the kebabs fab. It’s an early show but I still eat the meat; my taste buds are confused by having such delicacy before midnight when sober. Once the late-night haunt of all manner of decadence, it’s a calmer space these days. But not necessarily right now.
The back room at Marathon Kebabs has a crazy artex ceiling whipped up like upside-down gooey yet solid meringue. You fear that Mez, LIFE’s energetic frontman might do himself a serious injury as he jumps ever closer to the white spikes. He climbs onto chairs and benches, throws himself totally into it but ultimately avoids any danger. Promoting the album, A Picture Of Good Health, has only just begun and it’d be foolish to incapacitate yourself so immediately.
And what an album it sounds like it’s going to be. The whirlwind tour through most of the tracks that we get tonight suggest that the band continue to develop both sonically and lyrically. Lydia’s pumping bass lines move things along with pace whilst Mez’s gnarly charm whilst singing is a wonder to behold. They’re embracing the personal and the political now; ‘Half Pint Fatherhood’ and current single ‘Bum Hour’ both draw attention to the plight and delight of being a single parent in Hull. Both are stand-out moments of the gig.
There’s no stage at Marathon kebabs but that seems to suit LIFE just fine. They’d only break that fourth wall from the off anyway. This is a band that delights in community and interaction. They’re in your face and in the crowd so much that there are no boundaries. And it’s this, alongside the fact that the songs are bloody good that makes you want to see LIFE succeed.
The gig ends as quickly as it began. The four from Hull have laid on their fodder in London. Sweat drips from the walls, the ceiling and from our brows. It’s been a sprint at Marathon. I text Keith a ‘Wish You Were Here’ and head to the pub.
sonicbreakfast 