As the band open with new track ‘Lifers’, the vocals are immediately echoed back from the front rows. By the time they kick into ‘Losers’, from the previous album, the center of the venue is a mass of push-mosh bodies. The most intriguing element of Spanish Love Songs shows is the relentless sense of unity and positivity which reverberates throughout the gig; the atmosphere always stands in stark contrast to the downbeat, borderline depressive, lyrics which spill forth from frontman Dylan Slocum.
Throughout the set tonight, first album proper ‘Schmaltz’ is given more of an airing than on recent support trips and these earlier cuts whip the crowd up into even more of a frenzy. While tracks like ‘Buffalo Buffalo’ have often drifted in and out of the setlist, anthems like ‘The Boy Considers His Haircut’ and ‘Beer & Nyquil (Hold It Together)’ are bewilderingly rare treats and the audience lap them up.
As the set climaxes with ‘Routine Pain’ and ‘Brave Faces Everyone’, the fact that neither of the closing tracks were ever released as singles highlights the strength and depth of Spanish Love Songs’ catalogue; these songs were never intended for the mainstream, yet their tightrope walk between bedroom mope soundtrack and indie club earworms is making them difficult to resist for an increasingly growing fanbase.
With future UK appearances already secured in the shape of a pair of London headliner shows and a Gaslight Anthem Nottingham support slot around their 2000 Trees festival appearance, Spanish Love Songs are well aware that the UK has an appetite which needs sating.