Words by Maisy Banks
Thick in the midst of cozzie livs, rent raising and housing crises, London based quartet Legss address the scheming behemoth that shadows over the lives of so many of us, with their mordant new single, The Landlord. Dubbed by NPR as a part of the ‘post-Brexit new wave’, the four piece make a triumphant return with four-and-a-half minutes of caustic claustrophobia.
Photo Credit: Will Reid
In keeping with such a sore topic I wouldn’t exactly call this track a pleasure on the ears. Described by Ned Green (guitar/vocals) as a “maddening track to listen to”, it’s punchy and uncomfortable; the succession of peaks and troughs together with its scatty structure create a sort of dizzying entrapment. The coarse vocals and emotive discordance provide a sense of catharsis for the listener through the frustration of the character Green concocts; well, almost - frequent interruptions and builds that long for a climax that often doesn’t quite come to fruition result in a certain narrowness, a long dark corridor of music from which a release never quite comes. The track holds a sustained air of impending eruption throughout.
Theatrical and immersive as always, the jagged soundscape, which mirrors the urban London landscape, is traversed by a hollow and unavailing character reaching an inconsolable realisation that “whatever you’re trying to achieve creatively is probably not going to have the lasting legacy you imagined for it.”. The Landlord embodies “this internal power struggle for ownership over your own life and creations.”.
It’s a musical panic attack, a rough sonic terrain broken by soliloquies and abrupt pauses that amalgamate to induce a manic paranoia synonymous with the sense of “fading idealism” the track portrays.
Listen to 'The Landlord' here.
Catch Legss live:
08.03 The Dome, London* (Algiers support)
23.03 Neu Waves - The Loft, Portsmouth
30.03-31.03 God Save Clermont Festival, France
04.05 Clunk Mag- Cornish Bank, Falmouth
17.05 Supersonic's Block Party Festival, Paris
19.05 The Lexington, London
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