Float Along Festival was back again this year, with its biggest and most adventurous programme to date. Taking place across several venues across the heart of the Sheffield city centre and promised another encompassing mix of post-punk and psychedelic rock, as well as the best in indie and alternative music. And it sure delivered.
Having hotfooted it over on the train, the first band on my agenda are a local band with clever alliteration Faint Paint, who play the Factory stage at Sidney & Matilda. Describing their sound as “shimmering, cinematic, and tinged with a Lynchian uncanny” their live set has a lot to live up too, and it does so beautifully. The songs shift from dream pop sensibilities to slightly jarring sonic experiences, and touch everywhere in between. A new offering to most, they are definitely one whose name you will hear again and again.
East London based Human Interest were one of the bands who caught my attention as soon as their name was announced. They are, in essence, a rock and roll band, but that description does not do them justice. They manipulate sound in a way that plays with light and dark so seamlessly you barely notice the transition. Stand out track is the infectious ‘Cool Cats’, with some of the best lyrics you will hear in a while, and ‘Shapeshifting’ also catches your attention, mostly because this seems to sum up their sound succinctly. A new find who will definitely be on my radar to watch again.
Bdrmm hail from Hull and have become a name that everyone just loves to see on a bill. They are a last minute replacement, and even though musically very different from the band they replace, they are very welcome. They play tracks from their second album I Don’t Know and are one of the hottest bands on the line up. They blend hypnotising shoegaze with lashings of post punk that creates an ethereal soundscape that enraptures all who encounter it. Their set includes the intensely beautiful ‘Be Careful’, their shoegaze anthem ‘Happy’, and ‘Push/Pull’ which always causes a stir live with its building layers. Simply stunning, as always.
The line up gets complicated now, with the privilege of clashes for bands I want to see. I settle for a half and half approach, the first half going to Leeds based sextet Van Houten. They offer a tantalising combination of lo-fi, shoegaze and garage rock, making for a heady, constantly fluctuating sound. The songs I catch are interestingly composed and see the curious crowd drawn in closer, they make a distinct impression, I hope to be able to see them again in full soon.
The second half of the split, I take to Mancunians Splint, a band who I’ve been following and championing for a while. They’ve been quiet of late, so quiet that people wondered if they had gone for good, so their inclusion on the billing was a very welcome relief. They own the cavernous stage with ease, and the crowd lap up their looping rhythms with gusto. They channel The Velvet Underground vibes in parts, grunge in others, and My Bloody Valentine style noise in yet others. An eclectic combination that they still make their own.
One of the biggest names on the bill, and one of the biggest draws, are Canadian collective Crack Cloud. They blend post punk, avant garde, new wave and a good dose of everything experimental into the mix. Formed in 2015 and with a story unlike no other, the members describe the experience as a healing mechanism, because they are so much more than a musical outfit. They released their latest album, Red Mile, in July this year and their appearance here comes as part of a larger tour, which is selling out across the country. Everything about them is an experience, one which fills the room here tonight and anyone who watches them, is no doubt not the same again.
London’s Dog Unit are purveyors of sound; they blend jazz, krautrock, electronic and many other things into a melting post of kosmiche sound that probably belongs in another decade. With most members seated and all dressed in blue boiler suits, they don’t look like your usual band of these times. They don’t have songs to sing along too, but you sure can dance.
A delay in the running times means I have to run for the last train before Snapped Ankles take to the stage, my headliner of choice, but these things happen.
Float Along has once again provided an eclectic, brilliant line up like no other festival is doing at this time. They see what others can’t and execute their vision in a way unparalleled. The only thing left to wonder if what will next years line up have in store…
