The Vestals at The Social

What is the best way to spend a mid-February Saturday night? Rocking out, of course. And when it coincides with The Vestals launching their two-track debut single in Central London’s dapper rock ‘n’ roll niche, you can rest assured you won’t come home wishing you had gone to the cinema instead.

The five-piece from Newport, South Wales, are the very definition of “melancholic indie-pop”. No useless self-flattery, no looks-over-personality attitude, these troubled Welsh guys know how to make good music that can last. Taking the stage after performances by Paper Boats and Honey, they inflamed their crowd with straight-up tunes and a stage presence that places their frontman’s antics somewhere between Morissey’s and Brett Anderson’s.

Tracks such as Mrs Halloween and Bored As Hell were catchy and infectious, making it impossible for people not to dance the night away, moving rhythmically with the larger-than-life sound. In contrast, the two debut singles, Perfect Pain and Seventeen, genuinely seeped through the air to touch everybody’s high spirits: real heart-wrenching melodies shrouded in an intriguing aura of mystery.

And being mysterious is what the Vestals are good at; they reveal little both on Facebook and their own website. After all, they said it themselves: “In a time when we know everything about everyone, we believe a little mystery is a good thing.”

They stepped off the stage leaving the crowd gasping for more. True stand-outs, The Vestals have all the right cards to really make it big.

Supporting Pure Love around the UK throughout February, their next show will be on the 18^th at Brighton’s Haunt. If you’re smart enough, you won’t want to miss it.

Eleonora Ricotta

For further information visit The Vestals’ website here.

Watch the video for Perfect Pain here: