House of the Peerless LIVE @ Zigfrid von Underbelly 02.11.2013

The music industry is limping, and Miley Cyrus is riding the wrecking ball of destruction. So what are the options for new bands? Well, if you’re House of the Peerless, you play two gigs – then release an album.

t’s a freezing Saturday night in Shoreditch. The upstairs bar at Zigfrid’s is full of the usual wide boys and orange-skinned blondes, but down the steel stairs it’s a different story. Tonight is both HOTP’s third ever gig, and also the release party for their self-recorded, self-released debut album Silently It Comes. The basement venue – walls plastered with moody black and white HOTP posters – is steadily filling up in anticipation of their headline set. And there are more than a few bemused faces following during the three support bands – all, for some reason, plugging what can only be described as noodly drive-time rock. It’s a fairly inauspicious start to the evening, to say the least. Fortunately the main attraction is yet to come.

House of the Peerless take to the stage in a wash of synth, cut through with rattling, driving drums and overdriven bass. Opening track ‘Tranquility’ has an almost industrial feel to it, and lead singer Stewart Ruffles’ vocals bear more than a passing resemblance to Dave Gahan – deep-voiced, moody, with an occasional howl of despair. Next up, they launch into the delicately piercing guitar intro to ‘Christmas Day’. Initially lovelorn and somber, the track quickly morphs into a bass-driven obsession lullaby, complete with sinister synth and anguished vocal refrain, brows knit with intensity.

By now the venue is officially packed, as is the stage-front dancefloor. The crowd is loving the layered hand-clap opening of ‘Black Heart Love’, and I spot more than a couple of semi-inebriated spectators trying unsuccessfully to join in. This level of enthusiasm carries through the rest of the set, with stylistic nods to the likes of White Lies and Editors.  ‘Thicker Than Blood’ hammers home with a real sense of urgency as the boys layer up synchronized vocals over frenetic drums and bass, and ‘Paris Is On Fire’ keeps up the momentum, soaring from dirty depths to dizzying heights.

The boys bow out on album track ‘Love In Your Eyes’ – a rallying cry for the disaffected that strives and searches, simultaneously uplifting and desperate. Lead singer Ruffles may have spent the set with haunted eyes, brows knit in concentration, but as the jam-packed venue whoops and whistles for more, he finally allows himself a tiny well-earned smile. House Of The Peerless may not have taken the traditional first-album route, but one thing’s for sure, and that’s that they’re enjoying the ride.