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To say that The SSS‘s cult status has slowly been on the rise over the past year would be a pretty apt description of the band’s progress (if I do say so myself). But it can be seen tonight as they’ve managed to sell out Plug’s small room in support of their new EP Love. Lust. Loss. yet, you wouldn’t think that this was their biggest headline show to date with their low key stage entrance.
Opening with the punchy ‘RVC’, it doesn’t take them long to find their groove as they launch into ‘Pirati’, which is the kind of song that creeps round corners and lurks in alleyways waiting to pounce and it eventually does with a huge chorus. Despite this being the showcase of their new EP, the band show that they’re not sitting around watching Jeremy Kyle in the day as they debut new track ‘The One You Need’ with shuffling drums and a refrain that has the potential to cue a hands in the air singalong. One thing that’s abundantly clear with The SSS is that every song has an atmospheric edge to it that feels like once they find their proper audience the songs they have will forge a lasting connection, then they’ll become more than at home.
Following the glimpse of new material the focus shifts back to Love. Lust. Loss with ‘Calm Before The Storm’ and despite it’s cliche title, the whole thing is anything but. The chorus of “I’d love to tell you I’m sorry but, you’ve heard it all before” feels sincere and contrasts perfectly with a haunting guitar line that mounts to a killer solo towards the latter stages of the track, where it cleverly shifts into a short but sweet cover of The Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’.
However, The SSS aren’t daft and they save the best of their back catalogue until last. The penultimate ‘Into The Sun’ is particularly flecked with emotion as it’s dedicated to the band’s late friend Nick Maxwell and you can tell just how much this song means to them. This translates into a full bodied performance, as it captures the grief of losing a friend without making a huge soppy mess of the matter, and this most evident as the guitar lingers around at the end like the last memory of their late friend. Proceedings are brought to a close with first single ‘Morning Light’, which genuinely sounds like something that should be on mainstream radio, with it’s funky bassline being a particular highlight.
The most promising thing about the whole night is that it’s obvious that the band are beginning to forge their own identity (I mean their logo was emblazoned behind the bar all night for god’s sake) and with that they’re growing in confidence, which can’t be bad for the future can it?
Words by Joe Cadman