Attention 6Music Dads: your new national anthem is here. Gang Signs, one of two fistfuls of new songs Thumper unveil at their sold-out Latitude Festival warm-up show in East London, is introduced by frontman Oisín Furlong as a song for "anyone who's getting old and falling apart", the howl of recognition which follows from men of a certain age telling its own story. But while it's easy to understand why the group - self-described, amusingly, as "Dublin's most balletic" band - might appeal to those whose teenage years were soundtracked by '90s alternative rock, given the traces of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Weezer, Pavement and Cop Shoot Cop in their mighty wall of sound, the enthusiastic, energetic crowd packed into The George Tavern are largely 20-somethings, very much living in the moment, not mired in nostalgia.
It speaks volumes about Thumper's confidence and forward-facing outlook that they preview no fewer than 10 new songs in their 14-song set tonight. And while it's always risky to draw too many conclusions from a first listen, particularly when roars of approval drown out some of the more subtle nuances of this new material, we're going to put in on record right now that, on this evidence, the follow-up to the band's 2022 album Delusions Of Grandeur is going to be an absolute monster.
You have to respect the sheer chutzpah of a band who, before airing a single recognisable song, will teach their audience the chorus - "I thought that I could change, and I thought that you could too" - of a new tune they've never heard before, and then casually mention that the song in question, Middle Management, is 10 minutes long. Earlier, the super-infectious Bad Mood is jokingly introduced, for "the suits", as the band's "money maker", My New Blade has a sweet QOTSA-riff spine and an impromptu mid-song clapalong, and The Drip sets honeyed melodies against a glorious three-guitar sheet of sound. Elsewhere there are choruses Kurt Cobain would have been proud to write, vocal harmonies that could be Teenage Fanclub at their most sublime, and riffs that could punch holes in mountains. At one point, Furlong's over-enthusiasm causes him to crack a tooth, but his band never once lose their bite.
For a victory lap, Thumper serve up singles Fear Of Art, Topher Grace, a wild The Loser and their gleeful cover of Natasha Bedingfield's 2004 single Unwritten, their sweat-soaked frontman in the middle of the pub, surrounded by shiny, smiling faces. The fecund Irish music scene is having a genuine moment right now, and when Thumper decide to deliver their second record, you might just have a new favourite band.
