EP REVIEW : FUDGE – 'THE TOWN HALL SESSIONS'

 

 

WORDS BY VON GOLOKA

 

Released 20th May 2022 Order Here

 

Regular readers will know by now that here at All Music Magazine UK/Europe we are huge huge fans of Leeds racket warriors Fudge. In every way they epitomise resilience, inventiveness, perseverance and sheer bloody hard work and the release of “The Town Hall Sessions” EP vindicates everything Fudge represent and is a more than fitting legacy on which to build as they finally look to break out of their Northern hinterlands as they surely now must do. By their own admission “The Town Hall Sessions” is somewhat of a bitter sweet moment, marking as it does the end of an epoch dominated by a dogged determination to conquer adversity and challenges in the eye of the pandemic that no one foresaw.

Here Fudge were way ahead of the curve and not only did they compose all the songs on this EP during these hardest of times for an instinctively live band but set about enabling a cunning plan to play them live to precisely nobody in the hallowed space that is Leeds Town Hall and video record the whole shooting match for good measure in what became one of the most memorable high points of artistic endeavour I remember during the lockdowns. It seems simple really but I still can’t get my head around how Fudge actually blagged this one. Not only was it a genius choice of venue and not only did Fudge faultlessly deliver a master class in hard polished indie rock as they played completely immersed in their music to each other in the round what really stood out was that in one session they totally redefined everything the Town Hall symbolised and themselves too. Yes they did, and friends, “TheTown Hall Sessions” EP is the physical manifestation (and a wonderful documentation of Fudge’s Darwinian strength to survive) of the whole thing, all in one place, having previously been released in bits and bobs as a series of singles and such and is now its finally yours to have and hold.

 

 

So just to be clear on “The Town Hall Sessions” EP what your gonna get is five live cuts in all and all very much in the Idles / Sabbath territory (for those who like pigeon holes) but rest assured Fudge are not copyists. No no they sail their own boat at all times. They are Leeds Leeds Leeds and they are the real deal. The point is if you like real, proper, hard and super contemporary, sweaty post punk guitar music then this is it. Period.

Now the next phase of Fudge is nigh and it will be hotly anticipated here at Zodiac Strasse. Back in their natural habitat and able to gig at will and record in more conventional ways Fudge will no doubt be relishing the lack of constraints looking forward and their only limits will be their own creativity which being pretty phenomenal shouldn’t pose any obstacles to mapping out a wild wild ride in the future that we will all be eager to join them on.

 

9/10

 

 

Track Listing

1/ Jekyll & Hide (new release)

2/ Money To Be Made

3/ Your Fall From Grace

4/ Pepsi Noggings (new release)

5/ 9/10

 

 

 

 

 

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