Skelta @ The Lab (07/06/25)

Bedford's own noise makers Skelta, along with their friends, Second City Sin, Head Cloud, and Blunt Cactus brought their illicit combination of Newgaz, Post-Hardcore and Grunge to the back streets of Northampton for an evening of moshpit starting anthems.

Despite the weather, many made their way to support and indulge in the local rock / metal scene with a commendable line up set for the evening from Bedford, Birmingham and beyond. Once again Picky New Promotion seemed to strike the nail on the head in bringing together the best of a growingly diverse genre of music, while continuing to present a space for new faces to find their feet in a challenging industry.

Blunt Cactus:

Blunt Cactus opened up the stage with their raw cut performance of repetitive melodies, tonally indigenous harmony and well charted songcraft, making their easy listening style perfect for kicking the evening off. This Bedfordshire based trio were met by a warm welcome for their first public performance with The Lab providing the perfect playgroup for them to cut their teeth. From its bohemian atmosphere and receptive locals this famed venue represents the beauty of the local music scene making it the perfect home for young and emerging artists to flourish. 

While undoubtedly feeling some weight of anxiety in the face of their debut appearance Blunt Cactus succeeded in the delivery of their gritty post punk format with subtle grunge undertones allowing also hints of indie-rock to peer through. What we saw was certainly what we received with raw guitar tones, tumultuous percusives and achromatic vocals; giving this band their untainted finish and relatable persona they had the audience falling for.

A nostalgic cover of the Scooby-Doo theme managed to draw a smile on most faces in the room while also opening the window slightly to show the band's personality. This (in my opinion) seemed to be the saving grace to a somewhat static performance that lacked the spark to capture my full attention and engagement. That said seeing Blunt Cactus in the debut performance was an uplifting experience, seeing such devotion and hope take form on stage.

Second City Sin:

Engulfing the audience with their hard hitting riff rock, Second City Sin made their long awaited Northampton debut in a spectacular fashion, winning over the room within the first minute of taking to the stage. This quartet have been stirring up commotion and making a name for themselves across the midlands as a new up and coming rock powerhouse with their highly engrossing and energetic live shows. 

Reflecting the musical culture of the birthplace of heavy metal Second City Sin are at the forefront of resurging Birmingham's iconic sound in a style that pays homage yet pushes heavy metal in a more contemporary approach. The chokey guitars tone and stubborn rhythms give this band their iconic industrial sound, while the lead vocals stand as an anthem blaring war horn. With some rather ostentatious vocal and guitar harmonies alongside a pleasantly filthy cover of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face the audience was left swooning for more from these second city sinners, thus making the band's short time on stage even harder to depart from.

Without a doubt a sizable part of this group's allure comes from front man Tylor Quantrill display of hysteric energy, injecting this into the audience while performing and leaving the room in a very sweaty state. He himself claims possible undiagnosed ADHD is a playing factor in his exuberant stage persona; yet no one can deny the stage is where he belongs. Combined with a bolstering rhythm section and voluptuous guitarsmanship Second City Sin’s live shows are indisputably a key factor in this continual rise.

Head Cloud:

Head Cloud stormed the stage with their meticulous performance of punchy rhythms, wispy melodies and woeful lyrics, delivering an overt amalgamate of grunge, shoegaze and elements post-hardcore. Despite being further afield from their stomping grounds in Grantham this quartet seemed right at home when displaying immaculate stagecraft and a pristine sonic ensemblement, leading to a very well received and highly indulgent set one can only see as coming from a well seasoned band.

With stocky rhythms, devastating breakdowns and soul churning vocals Head Cloud far from failed in creating a pit of sound in which they threw the audience into, evoking the feeling of desolation behind their songs. Furthermore, the way in which the strident guitars become cut up by these spaciously reverberated lead melodies creates an airy counterpart to the abiding wave destruction, giving the arrangements some much needed room to breathe.

I was pleased to see how well the band brought their studio recordings to life on stage in a manner which far exceeded my expectations. I would even argue the side that suggests Head Clouds studio recordings almost fail to capture the depth this band have forged into their sound, along with the emotional delivery I believe only come with seeing them perform in the flesh.

Skelta:

Bedford based noise makers Skelta showed their ability to make any show feel like a local show as they saw a respectable turn out for their first headline performance. Shaping themselves as Bedford’s up and coming DIY ‘newgaze’ band this quartet came in hitting hard with debilitating rhythms, harrowing guitar melodies, and a gut-wrenching vocal performance. Their take on mixing together elements of shoegaze and grunge with post-hardcore energy left the audience in a frenzied state; so enveloped by the band’s lementable love songs we even saw the appearance of a moshpit on top of fathoms of audience engagement. The hilarious yet memorable chant of “I’m gonna skelt, yeah yeah yeah!” which brought on by the crow is only one in many examples of the love felt for this band by some.

Welcomed in by an ominous intro track Skelta soon had the room moving to their barbaric arrangements of scuzzy down tuned guitars working in coherent collaboration with the cagey offset drums. This in such created a palpable wall of sound which gave a base for the gravely vocals to reverberate off and transcend to their full potential. Shaping all this with the singer's ambiguous lyrics helped to push upon the band persona and create an enigmatic air to their stage performance.

Although we were with a shorter than anticipated set it was undeniably sweet with a prodigious performance of the bands debut release ‘Vasaline’ which has the room screaming in unison. True to life this song proves to be an anthem that is leading this young band through the ranks and past just local success. The cherry on top was the encore of Basement’s underground belter ‘Covet’ which ended the evening on a nostalgic high and The Lab pining for more from this growing powerhouse. 

Overall:

With entry only costing £5 and a line up that was not only physically entertaining but also mentally encapsulating, Picky New Promotions delivered an evening far beyond the pleasure of Saturday night TV with four bands that have crept into my monthly listening habits.