Inertia is the scouge of life dear reader. The less you do, the less you want to do. So a midweek gig at your local venue might feel out of your grasp, but if you can get your vans in gear, the rewards are boundless.

So it was when I shook off my evening malaise and hotfooted it down to Huddersfield’s Parish for a midweek stunner. Each band on this night seared themselves into my brain for different reasons.

Opening act Modern Food Bank are as dark as ink and as grungy as the bottom of my wheelybin.

A peddle board died for tonight’s performance, and it felt like I was witnessing a ritualistic murder as the band left the small stage area to jump on it as the performance went on. Frustrating little beasts peddle boards.

Holmfirth guys Modern Food Bank have a well worn carrier bag with their name scribbled onto it, as their motif and tonight was no different, this time a little forlornly filled with a single can of red stripe. A sad symbol of grass roots Wednesday night music. Abandon all hope, apart from here.

Although the mid week slot made the audience a little reserved, it made no difference to this band. Modern Food Bank demand no inertia in their presence, with lead vocalist Mitchell, imploring us to engage and to have a good time. The lad even got his moobs out to attempt to get us into a good natured frenzy.

Together with the pulsing hard tunes, the energy worked. A spirited I Wanna Be Your Dog kept the pace going, and the track San Marco gave a good feel of what makes this band tick. Heavy noise, quality hard beats, growls and a huge amount of stage presence.

Next up was a band I’ve been hankering to see for a while, Polevaulter. While the energy was different, it was arguably more intense still. I always think I have a bit of a buzzy, never shuts the fuk up kind of mind, but the series of industrial beats, rhythms, and lines of interwoven tunes that flow from the heads of the Polevaulter duo is a beauty to behold.

Polevaulter have reinvented themselves live since shedding a couple of band members during covid. Now it’s darker and on stage more is preprogrammed.

If Ian Curtis joined the Sleaford Mods, it would probably still sound nothing like Polevaulter. Scott Walker and Sunn O))) might be closer.

There’s an intensity as the futility and power within the message of the vocals is amplified by that pounding complex industrial beat. Polevaulter are an unmovable force.

I’m not sure what the folks supping upstairs might have thought to the performance and muffled noise, but unfolding in front of me it was captivating. Now Leeds based, but with the band’s roots in Huddersfield, it was a most welcome return.

How do you follow that, I might have asked, but from the off the assured stage presence of Danny Nedelko and the band he fronts Heavy Lungs gave a resounding answer.

Slight but packed full of wiry muscle Danny is an imposing sight on stage – arm flexed around his mik, press ups on the drum casing, waist as bendy as a bendy thing, an inate instinct for the sonic drama, all eyes were fixed.

Danny Nedelko is a real life Dr Who stone angel – look away a moment, return your gaze and he will be there snarling lyrics in your face. A force of nature, Danny is of course the subject of an Idles song; his fellow Bristolians as captivated as his audience tonight.

Musically Heavy Lungs were as tight as Danny. For the third time on this superb evening I felt another different shade of intense. There is a hint of the sound of early Idles with Heavy Lungs, certainly a must do band you want your music hard and punchy and spat out at you, but there’s a tight heavy clever melody there too.

First track was the banging Rock, Paper, Scissors which immediately showed off Danny’s expressive vocal style and the force of sheer power playing behind him. The small stage was not going to confine Heavy Lungs.

Much of that deliciously uncompromising debut album, All Gas No Brakes were on show tonight. From the bouncy hard title track to the rocking hard and brilliantly titled Sometimes People Just Explode, it was a tour de force.

Fittingly as it was Danny’s birthday the closing track was a frantic version of (a bit of a) Birthday first released back in 2019. Notwithstanding the lockdown years, it’s not surprising these lads play so tight and hard.

I left energised, slightly wobbly, and happy with an album under my arm (buy merch if you can dear reader). And that was just a Wednesday.

* words and wobbly images by tiggerligger