Relentless

Lives Of The Artists: Gallows

Sodium and water. The two don't go. Drop a lump of one into the other and the metallic element will react explosively, the bigger pieces igniting in situ, the smaller ones spinning off unpredictably like uprooted catherine wheels on bonfire night. Sodium is as volatile as they come. And so too are Gallows, except instead of water, use an unsuspecting American public. The equation for such an experiment reads as follows:

Gallows + Americans weaned on pop-by-numbers = Volatile and enraged portrait of punk rock soul

It's true, too. We would know, as we were there with the band as they toured the US for their chapter in the forthcoming feature-length documentary, Lives of the Artists. It's visceral, it's loud, it's uncompromising, it's provocative. But most of all, it's real. That's the thing with Gallows: they uphold their integrity at all costs, and they've done it since their debut LP Orchestra of Wolves shook British music by the throat in 2006.

In the film, we go from mosh-pit maelstrom (amongst festival audiences seemingly unprepared for such explicit performance) to inner contemplation, and because of that, we leave at the back end of the film a little ruffed up, sure, but soothed by the way the whole band reveal their true selves to the camera. We're given rare insight into the inner motivations of a fiercely driven outfit. The result, as the equation states, is a compelling portrait of punk rock soul. Science never lies.

To learn more and view the film click here.