Review | English Teacher at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: "This was a different class"

​And I’ll admit that I went into this gig with some preconceived notions, as I will shamefully admit I often do when approaching anything that’s had a degree of hype attached to it – like English Teacher have.

By the end of the first song I had to tear them up.

Fittingly, given the venue is on Albert Road, the Leeds-based band open with an homage to their own Albert Road. Written about frontwoman Lily Fontaine’s experiences of growing up as a mixed-race person, it’s a slow-building ballad, teasing us in with a delicate arrangement, before closing in a howling finish.

After they finish guitarist Lewis Whiting gestures towards the door on the side wall, leading into The Wedge’s much smaller sibling venue, The Edge of The Wedge: “Last time we were here, we played over there,” he laughs. When he then asks if anyone was there, about two people present tonight shout in the affirmative.

This time around the Wedge sold out well ahead of the date.

Fontaine is the band’s not-so-secret weapon, a charismatic frontwoman with a distinctive voice; endearingly she still appears unaware of quite the talent she wields. She may sing on set closer R&B: “Despite appearances, I haven't got the voice for R&B”, but she’s doing herself a disservice. During the highly-charged Blister My Paint she’s totally lost in the song and let’s that voice really fly. It’s a goose-bumps moment.

We’re a long way from meat-and-two-veg indie-landfill here. There are jazz timings, band members swapping instruments mid-song and post-rock wig-outs.

Two songs mid-set even forego drums altogether. What might sound like a momentum-killing folly in other bands’ hands feels perfect in this setting.

Before Not Everbody Gets To Go To Space, Fontaine says sorry for playing a political song. “Don’t apologise!” comes the reply. You don’t get that kind of exchange at a Gallagher brother’s gig.

The rhythm section of drummer Douglas Frost and bassist Nicholas Eden deserve special mention – Eden’s undulating bass on Mastermind Specialism is hypnotic.

The main set is the whole of their debut album, This Could Be Texas, albeit with the song order shaken up, so for their sole encore they play LCD Soundsystem’s New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down. It’s a tender yet powerfully organic version of the electronic act’s tune, and a fine finish.

They may not be real English teachers, but this was a different class.