Just over a month ago I watched The Time Sellers take to the stage of Sheffield’s O2 Academy, a bundle of nerves and anticipation, as they were about to unleash the product of hours spent in the practice room upon the music lovers of Sheffield for the very first time. To watch a band you believe in growing in such a rapid, exciting manner is truly heart-warming. This is certainly the case tonight as the band takes to the stage at The Rocking Chair, another one of the city’s fantastic live music venues.
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The band has just spent some time in the recording studio and the fruits of their labour ‘Apathy’ and ‘Wait’ are fantastic additions to a short – but fantastic – live set. The newest tracks see the band emerge with their own, distinctive sound when before they were susceptible to criticism for having obviously lifted hooks from the Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Crying Lightning’. That said ‘Hat and the Crown’ is still a stellar addition to tonight’s set.
James Bull’s vocal is passionate, enthused and impossible to ignore in ‘Apathy’. The titling is ironic; there’s no lack of emotion in this charged, surging number. When James’ angry lyrical is paired with Connor Pryde’s driving drum beat and a sinister bassline and guitar hook from Jacob Hall and Adam Bull respectively, you’re bound to get heads going across the room. As the band builds their social media presence and audience they will undoubtedly start to see some moshing at their live shows; for these are songs that fans can truly distil the emotion from and connect with on a physical level.
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The stripped back nature of ‘Wait’ makes it a standout as far as I’m concerned. Building to a heady, incandescent chorus like we’ve come to expect from The Time Sellers, it patters out to a gentle melody in the verses that allows the poignancy of the lyrics to shine through: “drowned in hate and self-denial”. This band has quality written over it, and their time in the studio allows listeners to hear the effort that has gone into each musical layer of the track’s composition.
There’s a smattering of laughter as the band play the one “we still haven’t got a name for” and one enthusiastic audience member heckles James. The band apologise for this intrusion, passing it off with a nonchalance that suggests they’ve been doing this for an awful lot longer than they have. Or perhaps they’re just used to what their dickhead friends are like, it’s hard to tell. Moving forward I want to see James Bull look up from his microphone once in a while and a bit more conversation between the tracks. They’ve got nothing to be shy about, having put on another solid performance with the confidence of a band that has been doing this for a hell of a lot longer.
Due to the setlist being short and sweet, the band is forced to repeat two songs. I say forced, but nobody is complaining about hearing two excellent tracks once more. Furthermore, the improvement in the band is not only evident in the difference of their live shows, but within the set itself: hearing ‘Apathy’ and ‘Hat and the Crown’ for the second time in a short period allows the audience to hear the control the band have over their instruments. They go from strength to strength, getting better with every drumbeat, chord, hook and word.
Words by Beth Kirkbride