All London's live music

Amid a rising wave of grunge revivalism, VILLANELLE are keeping it visceral and real, connecting with audiences through their distinct blend of raw authenticity and pure rock and roll.

‘Hinge’ delivers a bold statement of intent. Every gnarly, ragged guitar riff is an earworm, the bass rumbles with grimy, distorted low-end intensity, drums thunder-and-groove in equal measure, and the vocals shift from urgent and soaring through to drawled nonchalance. Influences range from the melodic rush of The Who and The Buzzcocks, to the heavier spirit of Nirvana’s ‘Incesticide’, Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr and Black Sabbath, and the maximalist wall of sound of My Bloody Valentine. Gene says, “That’s my favourite sort of music, so there’s some of that in everything I write. ‘Hinge’ is about paranoia derived from sleepless nights. I was probably hungover when I wrote it.”

“‘Hinge’ is just simple and high energy,” adds Ben. “Anyone can play it, but no one can play it like us.”