We’re all aware of the feeling we get when we’re abruptly ambushed with the ignition of adrenalin – The sudden burst of emotion that equates to nothing more than a free buzz.  But when you take into concept the fact that this band are filling up on a surge of flamed guitar, diesel swilled lyrics and sex-driven thoughts, things get a whole lot better.

Catfish and The Bottlemen are a band with all the expression and fervour of a raging tiger. Pouncing and colliding with aggression yet somehow showcasing their ability with a tame, yet snarling rage.

Playing the Ruby Lounge, the band are faced with a small gathering. But this is a night when those select few will now be explaining to friends that Catfish are more than just a mouthful by name – Their music has one hell of a bite too.

Showcasing winkle pickers, a skinny tee and a dangerously dizzy telecaster, lead singer Van McCann swoops the stage with poignant professionalism. It would transpire that he has the confidence and cool that represents a natural gift of frontman persona.

Sharply swilling through their set, the band are under time constraints. Allowing themselves to keep a flow they rip into the tightly formed schedule and ammo forward tunes that lodge a suspicious crowd firmly into the back walls. The infectious ‘Massapeque’ is a track that shackles a combination of grit and frolics whilst the ever promising ‘Brokenarmy’ delivers a very pacey and ferocious tone keeping its single status tact. Each song supports the other in fine assemble, encapsulating lyrics of love and sex-drive that entwine with strong perfections of youthful engagement.

New song ‘A.S.A’ proves that there’s no sign of this band slowing. Nudging itself next to ‘Masochist’, the implications are stern. McCann has a tight grasp on what tales of love can do when spliced into notebooks and bullied into guitars.

After you become favourable of the fact that McCann has a touch of Luke Pritchard in his tales and tone it expels nicely to the gush of ‘Sidewinder’. A track that gives all its got in forms of geared up guitar and giddy lyric. “I want to endorse you/Want you to exhaust me” spills McCann splashing that bellowing hormone once more before slipping into a rendition of  The Bloodhound Gangs – The Bad Touch on ‘Collide’. When ‘Tyrants’ smashes the back doors of the Ruby Lounge firmly through, the set comes to a consistently crusading end.

Catfish and The Bottlemen are a band that produce brimming tunes and carry-on their overflow with dangerously good live performances. Spreading a natural flare of comfortable stage manner and steamy lyrics they allow their enthusiasm to endorse persuasively with seeming ease.

Words by Ashley Spink