Drenge, British Music Embassy at Latitude 30, Austin, Saturday 15 March 2014, SXSW 2014

2014 was the year grunge came back to SXSW in its steel-capped Doc Martens. There is only so much sound checking a two-man guitar and drums band needs, so we enjoyed a very thorough sound check of every possible drum strike.

This rocket-fuelled, loud and scuzzy, final (for us) set of SXSW kept the energy going to the last. The band are clearly influenced by Nirvana in their style. Interestingly, the vocal style was much cleaner though.

The guitar sound was heavy and at one stage the vocals had a touch of Jack White which made for an interesting combination. The singer seemed to be using effects pedals to have bass doubling what he was playing on guitar. The duo made the sound of a more bigger band; which is a skill to appreciate.

Other SXSW 2014 reviews from Broken Biscuit Records:
Damon Albarn
Gruff Rhys
Woman’s Hour
Wolf Alice