Live: Girls Names @ Death Disco (Athens, October 10, 2016)

The second week of October had plenty of live action in store for us, with the Death Disco club hosting two events of fine guitar music. For starters, on Monday night we had the chance to see Girls Names playing their third gig in Athens with support from local act Acid Barretts.

In the three years since the first Girls Names' gig in Athens (at 2013's Plissken Festival), the Belfast band has evolved its sound, adding more energy and more noise to its music, which still draws inspiration from the riches of the '80s post-punk scene. While their previous album, "The New Life", and consequently their live presence, was more in debt to the dark, rhythmic new wave of bands like Joy Division, last year's "Arms Around A Vision" ups the aggression and the balance has shifted in favor of guitar assaults and more adventurous, explosive arrangements.

As a result the gig was certainly more engaging than our first encounter and proved that Girls Names is certainly a band to watch as they move forward and strive to create their own, personal sound where noise and melody coexist and fight for dominance in each song.

Acid Barretts, the Athens duo that opened the gig, mix guitars with drum machine rhythms bringing to mind the first demos of the Jesus and Mary Chain, when the Reid brothers were yet to hire the services of a drummer. Add Spacemen 3 psychedelia and the ghost of Suicide's Alan Vega and you get a very interesting result that you can explore further by visiting their bandcmp page to listen to their new EP titled "DK".

Acid Barretts, live @ Death Disco (Athens, Oct. 10th, 2016)

Girls Names - A Hunger Artist, live @ Death Disco (Athens, Oct. 10th, 2016)

Girls Names played: Reticence, Take Out The Hand, Desire Oscillations, Zero Triptych, Hypnotic Regression, Malaga, A Hunger Artist, I Was You. Encore: The New Life

Girls Names, live @ Death Disco (Athens, Oct. 10th, 2016)

We left the Death Disco club with buzzing ears and a content smile on Monday night, only to return there a few days later to close our week in the company of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. More on the subject, coming up very soon ...