Yard Act at The Independent

Yard Act, lit up The Indy dance floor last week with a joyous, high energy set showcasing the British band’s latest album Where’s My Utopia?. Lead singer, James Smith, was front and center to kick off the night with An Illusion; teasing the crowd with a lullaby of a song that only hinted at the kaleidoscopic soundscape that was in store for the rest of the evening. Sam Shipstone, guitar, and Ryan Needham, bass, anchored the stage up front. Shipstone shredding and bouncing around stage right hitting each angular guitar chord with intensity. Needham, on the other end, was “too-cool-for-school” calm and stoic with his steady bassline; both a contrast of rock ‘n’ roll personas.

“Dead Horse”, from their acclaimed 2022 debut album The Overload, followed to pick up the pace and further warm up the crowd and establish the groove. A groove that hit ecstatic highs during the back half of the set with performances of “We Make Hits” and “Dream Job”, two highlights from the latest record. Shout out to backing vocalists Lauren Fitzpatrick and Daisy Smith for their added energy and choreography. Fiery performances of “The Overload” and “The Trench Coat Musuem” capped off an impressive show.

Yard Act is confident, cool, and fun in large part due to Smith’s sly sing-talking charm. With shades of LCD Soundsystem, hints of Gorillaz, and a dash of Talking Heads, I’m interested to see if the band’s emergence is a signal of a 2010’s post-punk indie rock revival. If so, then I’m all in and can’t wait to see what the UK band has in store next.

Yard Act wrapped up their run through the west coast later in the week up in Seattle but the band returns stateside for an east coast tour later in the fall. Check out the dates here.