YAK are back and are sounding as mighty as ever, elevating their sound to something bigger and darker. Live, their new sound shines through creating chaos at the Green Door Store.

After seeing many rock/indie bands in my years it does sometimes get tiresome and you crave something to shock your numbed system. YAK provided that shot of adrenaline I so desperately wanted. From the moment they came on stage at their sold out show, it became apparent things would kick off. The real hero of their sound has to be Andy Jones and his bass. It cuts through the room and provides a thick skeleton for the rest of the band to build on. At times it’s what dominates the sound but this isn’t a bad thing, as it keeps things on a very high level throughout.

The crowd are all incredibly energised by the band and giving into peer pressure you can’t help but swing your head like an indie sheep. They don’t manage to let a moment slip throughout their live set and, with the exception of ‘Wait and See’, every song is cranked up and thunderous. There’s incredibly little said by the band, thinking back I’d go as far as to say nothing is said, but it doesn’t need to be. Their show has a no bullshit ‘let’s party’ vibe to it. It takes one or two songs before frontman Oliver Burslem throws himself into the audience.

Whilst nothing is said to the audience, that doesn’t mean the audience aren’t involved with the show. There’s several moments where I look away for a moment turned my head back and see Oliver missing in the audience. Another moment, I think during ‘Victorious’, the microphone is just plopped in the audience for anyone’s taking to just scream the chorus into it. At some point the beer drinking breaks me and I have to go to the loo mid-set. I’ve never been at a urinal and felt as though I’m still in the live room before. All silliness aside, the sound they have onstage is simply incredible. They have everything in the red but there’s no eardrum damage to be had. Their onstage sound is stellar and clearly they know what they’re doing.

For my money, YAK do straight-up rock better than anyone else around at the moment. They have all the grit and, more importantly, they have the vision in their music. Their music isn’t confined to any genre clichés and their sound is their own. Songs like ‘All I Need Is Some Sunshine In My Life’ manage to build up a certain level of excitement and head bobbing merely listening through some laptop speakers. I’d normally turn my snob’s handkerchief about them being dubbed the best live band in the UK but, honestly, it’s very hard to argue otherwise.

Chris Middleton

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