21 March 2024 (gig)
24 March 2024
Three months into 2024 it’s already clear that it’s going to be a good year for post-punk outfit Folly Group. After a four year drum roll, filled with memorable EP’s and accreditation from the likes of IDLES and Art School Girlfriend, they are finally on the road stress testing their acclaimed debut album ‘Down There’. I caught them at their rumpus London leg at Scala.
The group's sound is tricky to pin down. With a wide array of influences, it straddles many rock genres and is inflected with hints of dub, dance and jazz, leaving music journalists like myself scrambling for ways to describe it. Live, this made the experience immensely enjoyable. One moment you're head banging to booming vocals, next you're grooving to Afro-Cuban rhythms.
Speaking to Clash earlier this year, the band said they hope their eclecticism allows different music fans to relate to their music. Looking around the venue, it was clear that this is true. With no one tribe dominating the space, mullet owning Hackney types bustled up beside older punk rockers. It’s a testament to the fact that Folly Group has something for everyone.
Their set-list was proof that their propensity for fusion is not in sacrifice for the originality of their own sound. Songs like ‘Strange Neighbour’ and ‘Big Ground’ from their new album, 'Down Below', follow an irresistible structure of an Indie sleaze build up to a driving percussion climax. Paired with cutting and witty lyrical commentary on everything from the crumbling housing crisis to our desire to escape, it feels both exciting and own-able.
Other songs that were met with woos of recognition from the crowd include their first hit ‘Fashionista’, which was released in 2021 as part of a compilation by label Slow Dance of fresh talent to watch. It’s a slower track, but still has heaps of the group's charm, including foreboding bass and matter-of- fact lyrics about the fashion industry: ‘imitation of Christ, beauty has a price’.
Half way through the set vocalist/percussionist Sean Harper thanks us for sharing the band's journey with them. Being in such an intimate space, ahead of their tour across the pond, I felt lucky to embark on it in the early stages of what feels like imminent breakthrough success.
