The Soundtrack of a Generation: Wunderhorse at O2 Academy Brixton

O2 Academy Brixton was lit up purple on Thursday night for Wunderhorse– one of the UK’s most talked about bands right now, and one with the potential to define a decade. 

Wunderhorse initially began in 2020 as Jacob Slater’s solo project after the breakdown of his previous band, Dead Pretties. However, the alliance clearly worked well for them and they became a full band in 2021, soon seeing success together with their debut album, ‘Cub’. 

5,000 fans crammed together, anticipating the arrival of their new favourite band– the grungey, indie-rock four-piece from Cornwall. Wunderhorse strolled on stage in shirts, jeans and no embellishments– just them and their instruments. There wasn’t a lot to look at onstage; only the four of them, some lights and their band logo enlarged on the wall behind them, but this was more than enough as they brought excessive amounts of energy from their first steps onto Brixton’s stage.  

They began their electric set with ‘Midas’, the title track of their recently released sophomore album. Slater introduced the song by mumbling the name of the track into the mic, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers and mosh pits to emerge left, right and centre. 

They continued their set with ‘Butterflies’, and the crowd continued to buzz, despite this being one of the slower songs from their debut album. Fans were excited to hear a range of songs from their first album, with ‘Girl Behind The Glass’ and ‘Leader of The Pack’ filling the venue with screams as soon as they played the first chord progression. 

Wunderhorse performed all but one song from their new album, ‘Midas’, which was released on the 30th August this year and adopts a particularly nineties sound. You can hear influence from some of the legendary artists from that decade; the grunginess and distortion of Nirvana in ‘Rain’ and ‘Silver’, and the honest, emotive story-telling lyrical style of Elliot Smith in ‘Superman’ and ‘Emily’, which are the more guitar-heavy, sombre songs of their album. Pixies have also had a large influence on Wunderhorse’s sound as they supported them on their tour in 2022, during the making of ‘Midas’. 

During the set, Jacob Slater’s vocals were most impassioned for ‘Arizona’, a song that is drenched in loss and heartbreak, and becomes amplified during the live performance which Slater litters with desperate wails. Thrashing drums accompanied his lamenting and raspy vocals during the final chorus whilst he repeated the lyrics: ‘where do you go to my love?’ 

After this song, there was a technical issue with Jamie Staples’ drum kit, to which Slater commented ‘I love it when shit goes wrong’. However, for the audience the broken piece of kit was a happy accident as the band filled the time that the technical team spent fixing the problem with the tune ‘One For The Pigeons’– a song from Jacob Slater’s solo album, and one that hadn't been played live for a while. Slater asked the crowd to help him sing it, and they happily complied, helping guitarist, Harry Fowler, and bassist, Peter Woodin, with the harmonies.

Wunderhorse ended their set with ‘Teal’ and ‘July’, two of their most upbeat songs– and not only did the crowd become riotous, but the band did too. Slater was screaming and jolting, the drummer was hitting his kit as hard as he could and the guitarist and bassist contorted themselves around their instruments. They ended their set with the exact same maniacal and amped-up energy as they began it with. 

Everyone was breathless and in awe by the end of the hour and fifteen set; and there is no doubt that this same unstoppable energy will remain with them throughout the rest of their UK tour.