Words & Photography: Ollie Hopewell
Born out of a desire for change, Wargasm have found the perfect means to catapult their sound into the mainstream and have accumulated plenty of attention and praise along the way. Friday 15th November saw the London-based group make their Sugarmill debut as their Club Shit tour began to wind down, though there were no signs of the band themselves slowing down after fighting with agents and management to play more intimate venues along side fellow artists Bex and Karen Dió.
September of 2024 saw Charli XCX announce that Brat Summer was officially over, but the memo was either missed or ignored entirely by BEX who heralded the arrival of a proverbial Brat Winter in her opening set, a season illustrative of the angsty and rebellious reputation BEX has conjured in her brief yet bright time in the spotlight to date, debuting singles like Sum Kinda Syko and Like It Like That, the latter of which, at the time of writing, is yet to be released.
The head of the Scum Club delivered a high-octane and genre-bending performance akin to contemporaries Yungblud, Dead Pony, or even a Goth-Pop inspired take on Chapell Roan, a performance reinforced by drummer Connor Griffiths and bassist Josh Paine who combined to lay an audio backdrop that ranged from Thrash-Punk to Sludge Metal. While the aforementioned duo were rocking out, the titular BEX ranged from patrolling the stage, screaming in the faces of the front row, and commanding mosh pits, to firing bubbles into the audience via what can only be described as a hand cannon before death dropping with Paine at the end of SPYD4 K1NG.
In recent years there seems to have been a revival in the Punk and Post-Punk scenes, a revival that has been guided, if not outright spearheaded, by strong female voices demanding to be heard while garnering plenty of respect and attention in the process. One of these voices that truly stands out is that of Karen Dió, an artist who has cultivated an addictive sound that blends the well-established fundamentals of traditional Punk with the nuances of the 90s revivalism scene found in her native Brazil, especially that of the São Paulo scene, along with notes of Ska, Riot Grrrl, and Rock.
This was Dió et al’s first UK tour since leaving former band Violet Soda to focus on a sound that she has total control over, a decision which has allowed her to address the issues closest to her heart alongside the extremely talented Matt Bigland and Luke Ellis on guitar and drums respectively, the trio receiving plaudits from industry heavyweights Sum 41 and Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst along the way.
While the group have created a sound that evokes the likes of Joan Jett, The Undertones, and an early Green Day, there is also a gentle kindness that shines through tracks like Poor Man and So Funny, though there is certainly a sound evocative of Patife Band and Fugazi in personal favourite tracks 3am and Sick Ride, tracks that have stuck in my head, and now occupy my main playlist, ever since I had the pleasure of catching Karen Dió live, something I implore you to do as soon as possible.
From their explosive beginnings to their ongoing meteoric rise to the very top, Wargasm have been turning heads across the industry on a global level all while highlighting the very conspicuous lack of a band quite like them on the current scene; in the 1980s we had the likes of Faith No More and Beastie Boys and the 90s to early 00s, galvanised by the Nu Metal revolution, gave us artists such as Korn, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit, so it begs the question of who exactly is the Limp Bizkit of our generation? Well, spoiler alert, it’s almost certainly Wargasm.
Wargasm have become almost violently efficient, and staggeringly good, at blending an array of sounds and genres that really shouldn’t work together to find a sound that works while being undeniably distinct from the rest of the pack. Co-fronted by the infallible bassist Sam Matlock and guitarist Milkie Way, the band wasted no time in whipping the audience into a frenzy by blasting into the aptly named Circle Pit and, in the nicest possible way, I’ve never wanted to be in a mosh pit less; it wasn’t just elbows and fists that were flying, as pints flew over an orchestra of zoo-like behaviour, conduct that was only further encouraged by the headliners.
Before anyone could catch a breath we’d already blitzed through Ride the Thunder, Death Rattle, and 70% Dead as the perfect storm of energy and chaos raged, spurred on by the cacophonous crashes of drummer Adam Breeze, the riot of sound from guitarist Stone Behzadi, and the outright insane performance of Adam Crilly, who manned every station from additional percussion and keys to hosting an out-an-out DJ set during the gig, Crilly even managing to sneak in a front-of-stage side flip later in the set.