LIVE: Hinds – Academy 2, Manchester 26.11.16

“We are so happy to be in Manchester! We’ve just been touring around Scandinavia and the people there are cold!” cries vocalist, guitarist and ¼ of Hinds, Ana Perrote, for the twentieth time that night (alluding to an apparently harsh time on the continent). The crowd tonight both share and are goaded further by the Madrid-based girl band’s enthusiasm, scarcely letting up a frenzied chant of “¡VIVA HINDS!” between tracks.

It’s true that Hinds’ lo-fi sound, characterised by the jangly guitars and lackadaisical vocals, certainly lends itself to the live setting. As does, for that matter, the husky Spanish accents that lace their song introductions.

They play for over an hour, revisiting tracks such as ‘Bamboo’ and ‘Trippy Gum’ penned when ‘Hinds’ were still known as ‘Deers’ and consisted of only Carlotta Cosials (again, vocals and guitar) and Ana. Songs from recent debut album Leave Me Alone make appearances too and are subjected to yo-yoing tempo changes in order to allow for some suitably sloppy mosh pits.

The band incite some classic Manchester v London rivalry – before realising quite what they had started and hurriedly placating the crowd with reassurance that “Manchester is to London what Madrid is to Barcelona”, and a more mellow offering. Ana relays mischievously how “in Spain you usually go to gigs with someone that you like…so if you have, kiss them right now and then go make love in the toilets after the show, ok?”

The gig is over all too soon, even with the three-song-strong encore featuring an instrumental, a cover of Los Nastys’ ‘Holograma’ and fan favourite ‘Davey Crockett’ tacked onto the end. All that’s left is a trip to the merch table to pick up some exclusive Hinds temporary tattoos and, if you’re lucky, some Ana-approved action in the venue loos.

Tilda Bywater

Tilda Bywater

Tilda Bywater

Tilda Bywater

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