LIVE REVIEW: YNYS + FLUMP + EINSAM – MR WOLFS, BRISTOL 20/02/25

There are times when you are not feeling at your best and you wrestle with the stay home/go out dilemma. Tonight’s gig was one of those times, but after dosing up with weapons-grade cold and flu remedy I pulled myself together and headed into Bristol. This turned out to be a very good choice indeed as I would have missed out on a cracking gig with three excellent bands.

Mr Wolfs is in the centre of Bristol on a small street full of bars and pubs. The stage is an awkward size, being deep but not wide, and as such the drummers are nearly closer to the bar on the other side of the street than the audience. However, the sound was outstanding thanks to a great sound system and the hard work of the engineer on the night.

First on were Einsam who are no strangers to Joyzine with their single ‘At Eye Level’ having been reviewed by editor Paul Maps. I have to apologise to the band as my snotty dilemma cost me time, so I got to the venue as they were coming to the end of their set. But those final two songs showed their funk-pop sensibilities to great effect with the slow pulse of ‘Pressing Matters’ and the rousing, angular set-closer ‘At Eye Level’. Einsam is the German for ‘solitary’, the project of leader Sam who assembled a great set of musicians to bring his songs to life and the warmth of his onstage personality translated to the chat we had at the bar.

You can follow Einsam on Instagram and Facebook and check out more music on Bandcamp.

SET LIST: Fill Your Boots (More Life), Something Happened, Motivation, Stuck Pig, Trigger’s Broom, Pressing Matters, At Eye Level

FLUMP were a collision of youthful energy and wry humour that could have had derailed their set, but they are clearly masters of their own destiny. Rather than use the two guitar, bass and drums line-up to provide a wall of sound they have worked on the interplay between the instruments with the two guitars often playing an octave apart while the bass dances in the gaps and the drums expertly stitch everything together. The shifting and sliding vocals, like a slightly intoxicated Alex Turner, add to the overall woozy effect of their tuneful indie sound.

You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and listen to their current single ‘After Dark’ on Spotify.

SET LIST: Sometimes, After Dark, Disciples, Bystander, Thick Like Glue, Batman, Make It Make Sense, ‘New One’, I Want U, Wet Wipe

Having loved the current YNYS album Dosbarth Nos, released in July 2024, my excitement of finally seeing them live was matched by the spectacular set they delivered. I have huge respect for a band who can play a small venue with as much energy and commitment as if they were playing a 2000 seat venue. Guitarist and lead singer Dylan Hughes has an easy charm with the audience and a mellifluous voice that can be lilting on ‘Aros Amdanat Ti’, softly float over the soaring ballad ‘Wild Waves’ or bring Welsh soul to the Motown vibes of ‘Gyda Ni’. Dylan was playing with the same line up as the album with Rhys Jones on guitar and vocals, Sam Roberts on Keyboards and vocals and Aled Evans Drums but I reserve a special praise for Heledd Watkins on bass who managed to dance around the small space without knocking out any other band members and had the fluidity of a finger-player despite playing with a pick, no easy task.

As I said in my album review ‘YNYS make the complexity of their writing sound easy’ with intelligent arrangements that are compelling and full of fun and energy made even more funful and energetic live. For a brief moment I felt like a young fan who has just discovered their new obsession. I left feeling much healthier than I did walking in so it turns out I could have avoided the chemist as YNYS are a much better cold and flu remedy.

You can follow YNYS on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram and listen/buy to their music on Bandcamp.

SET LIST: Hi Sy’n Canu, Newid, Dosbarth Nos, Môr Du, Shindig, Welcome Back, Nothing the Sea, Wild Waves, Gyda Ni, Aros Amdanat Ti, Caneuon, Aros am Byth.