Music Editor Alfie Warner reviews The Snuts world tour for their third album ‘Millennials’
The Snuts are a Scottish indie-rock band comprising vocalist and guitarist Jack Cochrane, guitarist Joe McGillveray, bassist Callum Wilson, and drummer Jordan Mackay. The Snuts have had considerable success in their relatively short existence with all three of their albums debuting at the top of the UK Album Charts on release; W.L. even made UK number one.
Indie-rock is an oversaturated genre, too often filled with artists that make songs that all sound the same in a very Strokes-esque approach. The songs aren’t bad at all, but they often blend into one another and lack distinction. Refreshingly, The Snuts don’t have this problem.
I had caught the end of The Snuts’ set over the summer at Truck Festival, but I still wasn’t sure what to expect from them. The energy in the O2 Academy was electric; they opened with ‘Millionaire’, one of their best tracks from their newest album, Millennials, and the show just soared from there. The stage also had a set which you don’t see much anymore – the band were surrounded by a horseshoe of CRT TVs flickering various stills from the Millennials artwork.
So often do the vocals of a band make or break their success, and I think Cochrane’s voice is a large part of The Snuts’ distinctiveness above the sea of indie-rock artists. His Scottish accent is completely lost in his singing voice, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that this would detract from their individuality, but what’s there instead is somehow even more piercing and pleasant. Many Scottish rock bands often keep their accent – Declan Walsh and the Decadent West immediately springs to mind – but it’s nice to know that both can be done successfully.
Cochrane’s voice is a large part of The Snuts’ distinctiveness above the sea of indie-rock artists
The show continued on with ‘Pigeons in New York’, ‘Yoyo’, and ‘Fatboy Slim’. By this point, the crowd was ready to go, which I must say surprised me – I was fully expecting a standstill concert dancing on the spot, but it was all systems go. ‘Pigeons in New York’ was an unexpected favourite of mine – there’s something about hearing a song that you always skip in the album until you hear it live and realise what you were missing out on.
I was surprised by just how many songs I recognised; going into the gig, I listened to Millennials to get acquainted with their newest material, but I recognised so many of their older songs despite them being a band I historically listened to peripherally. ‘The Rodeo’, ‘Zuckerpunch’, ‘Always’, and ‘Hallelujah Moment’ were one after another and all instantly recognisable. The run was capped off with ‘Elephant’, my all time favourite Snuts song.
The Snuts ended their show on a banger, and left a tremendous impression
The show ended with Millennials other big single, ‘Gloria’, which was a brilliant finisher. I think bands have been moving away from the ‘fake finish’ where they leave the stage, only to come back for an encore. Personally I love this move, as it gives the show a lot more cohesiveness – oftentimes it can come across as pandering and padding, and can really disrupt the end of a show. The Snuts ended their show on a banger, and left a tremendous impression.
The Snuts was a band I had not been paying due attention to, but they demanded it the moment I set foot in the Academy. I implore anyone who is writing The Snuts off as just another indie-rock band to take a deep dive into their discography and discover just how wrong you are. Their presence and the atmosphere they cultivated was refreshing, and is a reminder to cherish live music in the fleeting moments we can afford it.
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