LIVE REVIEW: Can’t Swim @ The Star & Garter, Manchester

Racking up an impressive three releases in just three years, New Jersey’s CAN’T SWIM are very much a band on the rise. Last year marked the release of the band’s second full-length album This Too Won’t Pass, an album which ushered in a new, heavier, angrier CAN’T SWIM. Bringing their excellent live show to foreign shores, the band are joined by fellow countrymen SAVE FACE, and post-punk newcomers COAST TO COAST, to give Manchester a truly unforgettable night of some of the best acts the genre has to offer.

Tasked with kicking the night off were British five-piece COAST TO COAST. By their own admission, this tour is their “first proper tour”, and with them opening for two of the best bands on the scene at the moment, the bar is set incredibly high. With the room already starting to get to capacity, the band burst onto the stage to show the Manchester crowd what they’re made of.

In what was an impressive set, the band rapidly gained momentum and their excellent catalogue of tracks had the crowd fully behind them in no time. So many British bands who exist within this genre tend to imitate an American accent, which causes their sound to be intrinsically inauthentic, but this is not the case with COAST TO COAST. With a vocal style twinged with an almost British indie vibe, the band pair this with excellent post-punk instrumentation to create a uniquely authentic sound that is comfortably at home amongst the heavy-hitters of the genre. By the time the band got around to playing their track Cold Blood, they had the whole room positively buzzing. While it may be too early to fully predict what the future holds for COAST TO COAST, going off this set alone the future looks incredibly bright.

Rating: 7/10

Since signing to Epitaph Records and the subsequent release of their debut album Merci, SAVE FACE have firmly planted themselves on an upward trajectory straight to the upper echelons of the genre. This tour marks their first appearance playing shows in the UK, however, this will surely be the first of many. Opening their set with Weak, the band got off to a blistering start, bounding around energetically and using every inch of the stage. In a set comprised mainly of their debut material, with a few ‘oldies’ from their earlier EPs slotted in for their longest-serving fans, the band went from strength to strength and totally commanded the stage from the get-go. Despite only having one full-length release behind them, the set was absolutely packed with their dynamic, scintillating material – a true testament to just how good their debut Merci is. Capping their excellent set off with one of their standout tracks Bad, SAVE FACE finished the night just shy of inciting a riot. Whether you’re already firmly in the SAVE FACE camp, or you’re yet to check them out, there is no doubt that the band played a dominant set that existing fans would adore, and yet so compelling that they surely bagged themselves some new fans in that room. The next time they hit the UK, it will most certainly be as a headline act.

Rating: 8/10

With the atmosphere in the room ready to explode, it was time for CAN’T SWIM to light the fuse and kick it into high gear. Kicking things off strong with What Have We Done?, My Queen, and Sometimes You Meet The Right People At The Wrong Times, the opening three tracks from the band’s latest LP This Too Won’t Pass. As soon as the band took to the stage, the room erupted into a free-for-all of people jumping from wall-to-wall and passionately singing lyrics back at frontman Chris LoPorto. This is a band that are clearly well loved at home and abroad, a fact made even more impressive given how relatively short a time they have been on the scene.

In a quick departure from their newer material, the band threw it back to 2016 and the release of their first EP with the track Come Home; much to the delight of the band’s longest-serving fans. Whether the fans in the room were there due to their latest album, their first album, or even their earliest EP, CAN’T SWIM covered all bases. The fabric of their set was weaved from all the bands material to date, selecting the best of the best to create a set representative of the many facets of their sound. Bringing it back around to their new album, and their more aggressive side, the band launched into Congratulations, Christopher Hodge and Hell in a Handbasket. Fans of CAN’T SWIM have seen their sound evolve and change with each offering and This Too Won’t Pass is the darker, heavier next chapter of the band’s story. This recent shift in the band’s sound lends itself brilliantly to a live setting, giving a fitting soundtrack for fans to vent their frustrations and open the circle pit as wide as the room will allow.

Bringing their set to an end with $50,000,000 from their first album, brought the night to a glorious conclusion. CAN’T SWIM have become one of the most exciting bands on the post-punk scene, not just due to their incredible live prowess and skilful, yet nuanced musicianship, but also because with each album they grow and evolve into a superior version of themselves. They are a band that stay true to themselves, pouring everything they’re experiencing at the time into their art. What results is a pure snapshot of a band doing what they love, for people that truly appreciate what they do: and what could be better than that?

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Sarah Sidwell Photography here: