Deadletter

23 September, 2024

It seems a very long time since I first saw Deadletter play the Social in 2022. It was one of those ‘ones to watch’ gigs you get in January and February each year. They impressed on the evening. Post-punk with political awareness, a wry sense of humour, saxophone and strong front person in the form of Zac Lawrence. This was followed by a string of strong performances and early backing from Steve Lamacq. It felt like they had the momentum to quickly capitalise and release an album early in 2023, possibly hitting SXSW before the inevitable happened and the post-punk bubble burst. Well two year’s later the bubble hasn’t yet burst and they finally release their excellent debut album, Hysterical Strength.

Every time I see them I feel they are the culmination of the recent post-punk revival. They seem to do a bit of everything. They are political without becoming a self-defeating caricature, at times acerbic, other times show a wry sense of humour. The songs are usually well observed and reflective. The post-punk formula is spiced up by Poppy’s saxophone accenting songs and at times providing the angular riffing usually confined to the guitars. It is all held together with Zac’s impressive performances with him usually jumping into the crowd several times in a set. They just seem to be the complete package.

Tonight they played the album in full and in order, as Zac observed, probably for the last time. Sadly, Poppy recently left the band. Her saxophone is a large part of the special Deadletter sauce. It always seems sad looking in from the outside when a member of a band leaves just as they release the album. But tonight, their new saxophonist ably filled Poppy’s shoes and the new material all hangs together really well.

Set list