Glowing in the success of their debut single 'Fluffy' and most recent notable release 'Bros' Wolf Alice continue on their May/June tour bringing their DIY Indie-Pop sound to the Welsh Capital on June 1st.

Ellie Makes Music

With an early curfew at Cardiff's Buffalo Bar things got underway pretty quick with Ellie Makes Music opening the evenings proceedings. Now there's no denying the abundance of singer songwriters in the UK at any given time so standing out from the crowd can be quite a difficult thing to achieve. Ellie seems to have no problem with this though. Despite being just 19 she has already earned support slots opening for bands such as Lucy Rose, Paper Aeroplanes and Ellen & The Escapades all adding to the confidence she displays tonight as her angelic voice breaks around the room. Whilst the venue remains rather empty (Poor promotion, who knows) Ellie gives a stellar performance contradicting the quiet presence she holds on stage as she delicately introduces songs before washing you over with her evocative and painstakingly beautiful lyrics.

Wolf Alice

By the time Wolf Alice take to the stage the crowd capacity seems to have picked up a little. I can't help but feel with a little better promotion the night could have been an even bigger success but with smiles from the band and an ample sized audience eager to soak up some live music things begin with a powerful kick.

With only a handful of songs to their name, the London four-piece have created quite the buzz for themselves amongst the blogosphere, proving you can readily achieve success without an album to hand. Riding high within plenty 'top 5 bands to check out' lists presented across many music webzines and blogs it would seem Wolf Alice are a name you'll be hearing a lot more of this summer. And as their melodic ballads unfold here tonight their a name you should be seeing a lot more of too. 

In stark contrast to the support they rapidly begin to roll out their warm, voluptuous melodies, the addition of crashing cymbals and snares adding an edgy 90's revival vibe to the band's otherwise calm and collected composure. Whilst lead singer Ellie Rowsell's vocals become slightly lost amongst the jangly guitars and kick drums on a few occasions (perhaps could have benefited from being higher up in the mix thus no fault of hers) the band seem to hold their own quite well powering through their short but sweet set with the familiar tracks we've grown to love.

With the crowd consisting of a strange mix of students to middle aged adults it's clearly evident Wolf Alice are far from pigeonholed appealing to such a wide range of music consumers. Never a bad thing. And with that being said it must be such a great sight for Ellie to witness everyone cling attentively to her stylistic crooning as she echos around the room. In an effortlessly cool manner it's positively great to see the band's early folk influences run through the heart of their music especially in Leaving You as it begins to soar in a way much akin to early Fleet Foxes before breaking out in to its amped up Americana style rhythm.

As they round up on Bros, getting the biggest reaction of the night (someone even shouting "I Love Joff", a line from the intro to their new video) with its whirling, danceable energy, it's incontestably evident this is a band that know their place in the scene carving their way out through distinctabilty and a unique quirkiness. Sounding a lot more fuller live, not to take anything away from their recordings, it's fantastic to hear them sound equally consistent in poorly reverberated venues as they do on record. A sign in my eyes of great musicianship! I guess it's only a matter of time until we hear news of a debut LP.

Wolf Alice continue their tour throughout June at the below dates:

Monday 3rd June Joiners, Southampton
Tuesday 4th June The Lexington, London
Wednesday 5th June Jericho, Oxford
Thursday 6th June Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
Friday 7th June Esquires, Bedford
Saturday 8th June 60 Million Postcards, Bournemouth
 
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