Victory Pill, Losing Sun, The Modus Vivendi, The Perfect Crime.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2 13th April 2007.

THE PERFECT CRIME are playing to an almost empty room when they begin this evening, but you couldn’t tell; in spite of a small, rather lack-lustre crowd this band give the lucky few paying attention their very best performance, and from the shapes that the bass player is pulling you’d think he was performing to a stadium full of people. From somewhat tentative beginnings you might not have been expecting the kind of fabulously exhilarating, familiar-sounding soaring melodies that grow into ear-piercing screeches alongside pounding drums in the latter half of The Perfect Crime’s set. Although clearly still finding their feet, The Perfect Crime are a band whose metal sounds still aren’t enough to shake off their ability to write great melodies that demand to be heard.

THE MODUS VIVENDI inadvertently seem to steal the show tonight; their harsh mix of metal and indie-type beats, chugging hooks, all mixed with layers of sung and screamed vocals carefully intertwined with raw instrumentals of passion and pain seems to win them new fans every time. As they stagger around the stage spilling off onto the dance floor and into the crowd spinning in dizzy little circles they ooze a sound and an attitude that no one else locally has yet to emulate in quite the same way. Their post-hardcore, free-jazz reggae-noise is something that obviously strikes a chord with tonight’s headliners, making a lasting impression on Victory Pill’s Kieran Pepper, who informs me excitedly that The Modus Vivendi are his new favourite band.

LOSING SUN are scary. Brilliant, but most definitely unnerving. Their songs are singable but intensely dark and heavy. The lead singer pogos in circles, somewhat maniacally as he tries to motivate the crowd. Losing Sun have not only grown noticeably in confidence since their last performance at Esquires, but are evidently growing in notoriety, and it’s clear from the now swelling crowd that they have definitely found a place in the hearts of the Esquires audiences.

There’s a mixture of emotions taking place on stage as tonight’s hotly anticipated headliners start their set. In some respects the band come at this as old hands; for Jim Davis, years of touring with The Prodigy and Pitchshifter have made gigs like this a piece of cake, yet it is obvious that Victory Pill is still a relatively new venture for even these experienced musicians, and the waves of excited-tension are almost tangible. If you’ve been aware of the hype surrounding Victory Pill (largely due to the past lives of front man Jim Davis and bass player Kieran) then you might be been a little disappointed… Ultimately, Victory Pill play very accessible, electronic rock. But don’t let that put you off; taking over the lyric writing and the vocals for the first time sees Jim bringing a personal sense of drive and intensity to songs like ‘King and Country’ and ‘Set in Stone’ that can’t fail to excite. With a mix of catchy rock melodies and electronic samples, Victory Pill are hard to dislike. In many ways, this is another landmark performance for Bedford Esquires; remember, this is only Victory Pill’s eighth gig-proper under the new name – you can’t help but feel that with all of their previous experience behind them, this could be a gig to remember from a band who could easily achieve big things in the mainstream rock scene.