Two Gallants – Islington Assembly Hall, London 27/02/2015

02 March 2015, 11:00 | Written by Adam Elmahdi

(Live)

(Two Gallants)

For those whose tastes straddle modernist Irish literature and moderately popular bands of the mid-Noughties, it may seem odd that a rough-hewn, uncompromising blues rock duo were inspired to take their name from a James Joyce short story. On first glance it certainly doesn’t seem an obvious fit, given Joyce is most popularly associated with impenetrable, stream-of-consciousness prose rather than raucous shot-from-the-hip Americana, but upon some reflection it starts to make a strange sort of sense. For "Two Gallants" (the story) is about two disreputable reprobates, hanging around with similarly disreputable characters, and tonight's show at Islington Assembly Rooms is almost the same thing.

However, unlike the victims of Lenehan and Corley, one doesn't feel conned after our time with Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel. They've always been a force of nature live, Stephens' parched, guttural howl and Vogel's violent assaults on his drum-kit producing an almighty racket far greater than the sum of their parts, but age has added more subtlety to their sound. That's not to say that Two Gallants are chucking out slow jams left, right and centre these days, but they're more comfortable with reining things in and letting their considerable musical talents take centre stage, resulting in a set less one-paced than in the past. And if that sounds troubling to some, don't fret- even when Tyson Vogel isn't attacking his cymbals as viciously as one of the victims of his murder ballads, they still retain an intensity that few other bands can match.

Although most people are most familar with their second album "Whom The Tolls Tells", the duo are confident enough to dispatch their biggest hits - the visceral, no-holds-barred riot of "Las Cruces Jail" and the morbid alt-country sing-along "Steady Rollin'" - relatively early on in proceedings, focusing the rest of the set on their more recent releases. On the whole these newer songs hit the mark, even if the occasional rhyme comes across awkwardly, or a particular jam outstays its welcome, but in truth, Two Gallants are a band that could cover Nickleback and still sound vital. Stephens' vocals tonight sound a little shot, even by his standards, but with music as raw as this, that's almost as boon, lending as it does a certain sense of authenticity. Vogel, for his part, remains one of the most mesmerising drummers touring today, combining primal brutality with unusual technical finesse.

They close with "Broken Eyes", a restrained and beautiful ballad which sees Vogel abandoning his drum kit to back up Stephens on vocals. It's not the kind of song that Two Gallants would have written a decade ago, but that's far from a criticism. It's a sign of a band who continues to evolve and mature, and unlike their Dublin namesakes, are at least trying to mend their outlaw ways.