If ever a single moment signified the death knell for Ireland’s bloodless gang of singer-songwriters, tonight would be it.
Out of the ashes of a fairly unassuming Dublin outfit called Listo, Humanzi have arisen, phoenix-style, to become our new Great White Hope and the frontrunner of a new music scene. It’s easy to see just why we would hang such expectations on the four-piece. Their music is a genre-hopping, curious mix of synth-gilded electronic, taut garage and punk. It’s energetic, uncompromising and urgent, in that Iggy-Datsun-Blues-Explosion kind of way.
There are certain things about this outfit – the fabled €1 million record deal, the impressive trajectory – that make some people want to dislike Humanzi. Such is the importance, then, of their live show; a show that affords detractors, naysayers and the plain curious to see just why this band are holding their own amid the current flotsam of indie upstarts.
Their opener, ‘Long Time Coming’, is a startlingly accomplished statement of intent, while ‘Help Me In The Morning’ is a crowd-pleasing short sharp shock. Tumbling on its own maniacal energy, the Humanzi set lurches between the skillful sheen of the grittiest of Killers tracks to the meaty thrill of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Frontman Shaun Mulrooney, all black leather and hunger, is certainly a sight to behold. He’s not so much art-school angular as he is playground boisterous, thoughtfully leaving the Iggy-style histrionics to his garage-punk peers.
Whether or not we’ve traded one cliquish, self-congratulatory scene for another is anyone’s guess. Still, something tells me that for some reason, we’ll always remember this particular 5th of November.