Bathing Fits
Shacklewell Arms, London
twenty second April 2025
Are Bathing Fits the oddest, most confusingly good, fucked up sounding band we’ve heard for some time? Keith Goldhanger has a brand new favorite band and appears to suppose so.
Initially, take a look at these. That is what a band ought to seem like. Take heed to them and you can argue that that is additionally what a band ought to sound like. One of many largest rewards any common gig-going music fan can want for is to stroll right into a room and uncover one thing that will not have been skilled earlier than. Music made by individuals who appear to know extra about what’s happening within the room than any observer understands. Chaos, confusion, songs that sound as if they’re about to disintegrate just for every little thing to abruptly come again collectively and trigger a packed room to react as one. Dropped jaws, early night mosh pits and fists within the air are as a lot as some folks request however hardly ever anticipate to get at a present however the possibilities of getting thrills corresponding to that is what a few of us do have at the back of our minds at any time when we exit the entrance door within the evenings.
Meet Bathing Fits from Leeds who ticked all these bins when earlier this 12 months they arrived on stage inside certainly one of London’s many nice small venues (Brixton Windmill) that we think about hosts acts corresponding to this extra typically than many people might learn about. It should be bands corresponding to this that hold promoters pursuits up. A perception that inserting these folks on this scenario is price each E-mail, phone name and blast of music that on this case make certainly one of us consider for half an hour we’re watching the most effective bands on the planet for this small period of time. Not too many individuals on this world are conscious of this bands existence to dislike them but but when somebody was to rearrange for these to look on prime-time TV earlier than the tip of the 12 months then setting the cat among the many pigeons could be one thing price observing. The possibilities of this occurring in 2025? – Not very excessive in any respect in fact.
A digital (hardcore) bass drum (singular) from a machine, two fierce, distorted guitars, dance alongside to brutal bass traces and a singer with lengthy white hair (in a showering swimsuit in fact) makes a Bathing Fits present a spectacle to savour. Listening to the band’s debut launch Awful Havoc elevated our enthusiasm much more when it arrived not too long ago and hopefully this can be sufficient to steer anybody who enjoys a little bit of loopy difficult music to expertise this themselves someday.
January’s present felt so good to witness that we needed to give them a re-examination simply to ensure this wasn’t merely a one-off. Tonight, we conclude that it is a band which might be actually are a thrill a minute to observe.
Bathing Fits produce an excellent, chaotic mess that stops, begins, slows down, quickens and crashes sufficient occasions for sporadic eruptions inside tonight’s viewers to interrupt out. They sound like how we think about PiL might have seemed like in 1978 had they found nosebleed Techno or possibly they sound like a Disco model of Eire’s Gilla Band? Atari Teenage Riot with Kim Gordon-like vocals ….? A fucked up twenty first century model of Siouxsie and the Banshees possibly? In a nutshell there may be little or no similarity right here to lots of the bands whose T-Shirts everyone seems to be carrying in 2025 and that’s fairly refreshing for a few of us.
Debut launch Awful Havoc arrives midway by means of tonight’s quick half hour efficiency. It’s extra thrilling than something you’ll hear in a giant area this summer time and the right soundtrack to go with any of our favorite small venues on the present time. I Is usually a Freak, as soon as they get this recorded and produced proper could possibly be their large hit (if such issues must exist for a band like this) and shutting quantity Lined in Shit feels as near The Virgin Prunes Caucasian Stroll heard this facet of 1983. This will likely imply little or no to some folks, however in case there’s a small probability that it does then you’ll be able to thank us for it later.
Tonight’s present is one other free present. East London at present boasts a couple of venue introducing us to a few of the greatest new bands obtainable on the present time (learn extra right here) that don’t require an entrance charge. This was one other one and featured two different acts we have to examine extra someday (The Kitchen Sink Band & Home Arrest).
Bathing Fits present one other flavour of Punk Rock carried out by twenty somethings who recognise how excessive the bar has been set for top of the range, noisy (dance) music in 2025. It’s as thrilling as something we heard a couple of years in the past on the Digital Hardcore label (Atari Teenage Riot/ Ec8or / Alec Empire) but additionally sits snuggly with the present-day listening habits for individuals who get pleasure from blasting out a couple of Gilla Band tracks the minute we get up within the mornings.
As already talked about, they give the impression of being nice as nicely – bringing again some glamour into our favorite music and are a band that may have precipitated confused dad and mom to ask their teenage kids awkward questions had they appeared on Prime of The Pops a couple of a long time in the past.
If you happen to’re trying to find your subsequent repair of music that you just really feel nobody else understands but (and as soon as they do might even dislike) then seize a slice of this and be ready to be reminded that there are fairly a couple of different bands on the market offering a few of the strangest, thrilling music not even our favorite radio stations have cottoned onto but. A few of these bands are nonetheless but to even launch something on the time of writing. They quickly will just do as Bathing Fits have not too long ago. At present with a few screamers obtainable, tonight’s present has confirmed that we nonetheless have so much to look ahead to.
Test them out should you get pleasure from a little bit of musical mayhem and hopefully, you’ll discover them simply as thrilling as these right here have in East London this night.
Bathing fits could be discovered on Instagram right here and Spotify right here
~
A Plea From Louder Than Battle
Louder Than Battle is run by a small however devoted impartial staff, and we depend on the small amount of cash we generate to maintain the positioning operating easily. Any cash we do get is just not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to suppose and write, or hungry shareholders. We all know occasions are robust, and we need to proceed bringing you information on probably the most attention-grabbing releases, the newest gigs and anything that tickles our fancy. We aren’t pushed by revenue, simply pure enthusiasm for a scene that every certainly one of us is keen about.
To us, music and tradition are eveything, with out them, our very souls shrivel and die. We don’t cost artists for the publicity we give them and to many, what we do is totally very important. Subscribing to certainly one of our paid tiers takes only a minute, and every sign-up makes a big impact, serving to to maintain the flame of impartial music burning! Please click on the button beneath to assist.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
