“I love it when shit goes wrong,” says Wunderhorse’s Jacob Slater, midway through his outfit’s rip-roaring set, seemingly referring to drummer Jamie Staples breaking something on his kit. There’s a certain irony to his words, of course.
Wunderhorse was born from the embers of exactly that – shit going wrong (for want of a better phrase) – after Slater’s former band Dead Pretties disbanded in 2017. The same visceral energy that had led to the South London trio burst onto the scene was the same that ultimately tore it apart, in a tale as old as punk-rock itself.
That may well have marked the end for Slater, but something in his soul ultimately still beckoned, and found its resting place in Cornwall, where the singer took on jobs as a labourer and surfing instructor, recovering from the hard-and-fast entrance to the music world.
Gig-goers at the band’s sold-out Brixton O2 Academy show knew this, of course. Since their 2022 debut album Cub, Wunderhorse have developed a cultish following, many of whom are keen to remember such lore. The most remarkable aspect of this story, however, is Slater’s attempt to get back on the horse (pun intended) in a way that straddles both the raw ferocity of Dead Pretties with some of the tranquillity of his surf-instructing days.
Recent album Midas was a step-up in this balance to strike a chord between grunge-laden rage and soft poise; a sound which lies somewhere between Cub and Slater’s delicate, Nick Drake-esque solo record, Pinky, I Love You. Having songs ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ followed by Beck’s ‘Loser’ blasting through the speakers at this gig, ahead of the band’s appearance, seemed a subtle nod to this line that’s been tread.
The stage setup was a no-nonsense arrangement, with Slater – also flanked by guitarist Harry Fowler and bassist Peter Woodin – watched down upon by the figure of the band’s devilish logo. But no one was here for the pyrotechnics or mirrorballs.
Opening with Midas’ self-titled opener, the band pummelled into action from the start. Okay, there was a bit of discernible audio stuttering, with the levels not quite figured, but nothing to stop the vigour of Slater motoring through. This track sets the tone for the band’s latest album – a sonic concoction where Dylan meets Nirvana, a beat poet armed with an electric guitar – and it did so here too, in the flesh.
Second track ‘Butterflies’ marked another opener of sorts, being the first track on Cub. These back-to-back tracks signified a setlist that would dovetail between Wunderhorse’s two albums to date and showed how their output is so evidently devised with playing live as the first point of call. (Much is of course made in music circles, and the industry’s plentiful press releases, of production that “captures a live sound”, but Wunderhorse can lay a genuine claim to that prestige).
There were plentiful moments where the band flexed their musicality beyond simply playing album tracks, too, with a riveting, Zeppelin-like intro to ‘Leader Of The Pack’ and a boisterous addition to ‘Girl Behind the Glass’, where Staples bashed so hard on his drumkit, any kind of breakage was almost inevitable.
It’s a shame this meant the band were forced to remove Midas album closer ‘Aeroplane’ – my personal favourite on the record – from the setlist, as fixes were duly made; but the fact they could replace it with solo Slater track ‘One For The Pigeons’ is testament to the band’s versatility at this stage already.
Indeed, Slater is a frontman with a second stab at it all, in an industry that rarely even gives one. And thank god he’s been granted a second coming, with a US tour, forthcoming support for Fontaines D.C. (also for a second time), and a mammoth Ally Pally show next year. So much for shit going wrong, eh.
