LIVE REVIEW: TVOD AT THIRD MAN RECORDS, SOHO

It’s hot. Really fucking hot.

Third Man Records’ tiny Soho basement has a capacity of around 60 and tonight it’s sold out, which means there’s barely room to swing a cat, let alone a guitar. By the time TVOD take the stage, the place is already feeling like a sauna.

Then they turn the heat up another notch.

TVOD – Television Overdose – play a glorious mash-up of high-energy post-punk, grunge-tinged guitar and synth, with the whole thing falling under the ‘egg punk’ banner. Whatever you want to call it, it’s noisy, catchy and bloody good fun.

They open with Uniform, before launching into the new Natalie Portman, giving us a taste of their forthcoming album The Farm. The new material sits nicely alongside crowd-pleaser Car Wreck, while new single Meetings keeps the momentum firmly on the boil.

There’s plenty going on beneath the energy, too. Tyler Wright’s songwriting tackles drugs, parties, social issues and the general fucked-up-ness of modern society. Dark subject matter, perhaps, but delivered with enough humour and swagger to make you want to dance to the impending apocalypse.

And dance they do.

The energy coming from the stage is immediately transferred to the crowd, who are properly getting into it. Guitarist Serge is particularly hard to keep an eye on, leaping around the stage like a demented Spider-Man. More than once he comes dangerously close to taking me out with his guitar – occupational hazard when you’re trying to photograph a band in a room this small.

By the final song, everyone is drenched. Tyler asks the question:

“What time is it?”

“PARTY TIME!” comes the deafening response.

Tyler promptly launches himself into the crowd, because apparently there wasn’t quite enough chaos already.

It’s a brilliant end to a brilliant set. As people filter out into the Soho night, Tyler makes a point of thanking everyone for coming – including me – while looking about as sweaty as the rest of us.

The Farm is coming soon, and if these new songs are anything to go by, TVOD are onto something rather special.

Hot, sweaty, loud, chaotic and an absolute fucking blast.

Party time indeed.