Cafe Oto, LondonOver 40 years since they formed, the no-wave group meld abrasive guitars into an almighty cacophony
Veterans of a mid-80s underground scene that raised atonal, oppressive noise to a vital artform, Ut have retained their ability to unsettle and inspire more than 40 years after they first formed. And while this rare live outing, celebrating the reissue of their 1987 no-wave landmark In Gut’s House, might begin inauspiciously – with news that one of the trio, Nina Canal, can’t make the show, followed by some broken-string shenanigans – such mishaps are powerless to scupper the cyclone of noise that Sally Young and Jacqui Ham can still stir at will.
With Young’s monochordal riffing and Ham’s inspired, abrasive guitar-play intersecting and raising their din to Glenn Branca-esque heights, they’re intense tonight – volcanic, even. Backed by guest drummer Paul May, the duo are quickly playing at full tilt, and you sense those in the front rows might take a few steps back if they weren’t seated. There’s method to their cacophony, however, and hooks amid the catharsis.