Meaty Balls
‘We’re an indie band pretending to be a metal band’ guitarist & vocalist Tom Hudson tells the sound man immediately before Pulled Apart by Horses take the stage at Download. That’s a pretty accurate description of the Leeds based four piece as they kick off with the amusingly titled ‘E=MC Hammer’.
They arrive with a bit of a bang and a whirl of energy and get a great reception. The sound is a bit messy and it’s hard to pick out the riffs but they mix it up well and with their urgent and insistent delivery it’s a strong opening. By the time they go into ‘Hi Five Swan Dive Nose Dive’ though all the verses are starting to sound pretty similar and there’s not much variety in Hudson’s vocal.
Guitarist James Brown climbs the speaker stack at the side of the stage before leaping off at the appropriate moment and I admit to a slight feeling of disappointment that he stays on his feet but it’s all good entertainment. ‘I Punched A Lion in the Throat’ is better and they do have some really good choruses but they just seem to be lacking something. The crowd take to them though especially when Hudson goes into the crowd during the last song and they leave to a great reaction. Not bad at all but a bit more variety all round wouldn’t go a miss.