Life Among People.

Lev 1 Esquires Bedford. 2nd November 2007.

Tonight Danny's Bar receives a visit from LIFE AMONG PEOPLE, who are playing the first date of an extensive nationwide "No-one Gets Out Alive" tour. Sponsored by Big Cheese magazine, it sets out to showcase six of the best breaking alternative British bands in the UK at the moment.

Life Among People hail from Manchester and comprise Tony Erland (vocals, guitar, synths), Jim Cattel (drums) and Martin Wilson (bass). They ply a rock sound that lends loose comparison with Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro etc. It's a first visit to Bedford for the band in their 3 1/2 year career.

Opening songs "Point and Shoot" and especially "Thankyou May I Have Another" offer a rudimentary, but a certain visceral thrashing that is not entirely appreciated by a rather underwhelmed audience! The band are a long way from home and they feel it. However, resigned to this fact LAP engage in a cheeky retort with a section of individuals during "Skyblind". The mood does lighten a little with "Endeavour", a ballad which illustrates the direction that the band are moving ever more into. It is reprised soon after with "A Lesson in Stimulation".

The blend of samples that skirt around the set show good imagination, which demonstrates best on "Relate", although it's disjointed finale makes for an uncomfortable listen. The expertise of combining awesome power with a certain degree of melody is carried with due aplomb on "The Minute I Live is the Minute I Die!", a song incidentally that has gained LAP some well-deserved recognition in Metal Hammer magazine, and is also my favourite of their ten song set that is not to everybodys favour this evening.