Working Men‘s Club

Nachholtermin vom 27.04.2022 - bereits gekaufte Karten behalten ihre Gültigkeit.

The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire was once what was called a "working men's club" in England. Here, however, there was not only the cultivated pint with the colleagues, but also tangible education, cultural events, discussions, trade union meetings, socialist working groups and other things. Later, many of these "working men's clubs" became youth clubs and concert venues - in the case of the Trades Club, even a place with an almost legendary reputation. Numerous new wave, punk and post-punk bands played there, early Afrobeat acts stopped by, and you could also encounter Krautrock there. Sydney Minsky-Sargeant, leader of the band Working Men's Club, owes a large part of his musical socialization to the Trades Club - which led him and his comrades-in-arms to name their own band Working Men's Club in homage. Why are we telling this in such detail? Because all this is in the DNA of the band and can be heard clearly on the ten songs of the self-titled debut album.

They are often called a post-punk band, but that falls far short: the song "Valleys", for example, makes you think of the band "Neu!" at first and then gets a cool goth sheen. "White Rooms and People" initially has that outsized New Wave yearning, then tips briefly into the noughties indie school, flashes the brash intelligence of Pulp, and then turns to New Wave once again in the chorus. "Cook a Coffee," on the other hand, is noisy, stoic, snotty, punky and has more of an Idles vibe. The fact that this controlled ride through the styles makes absolute sense with Working Men's Club and convinces in every second - whether live or on record - is their greatest merit.

An event by concertteam NRW.