Hailing from Belfast, Chalk are a band on a mission. Fresh off touring with Idles—a baptism by fire if ever there was one—they’ve sharpened their sound into something both brutal and transcendent.

If their influences are easy to spot (the ghost of Factory Records looms large), their execution is singular: this is a band that pulls from the past to build the future.

Frontman Ross Cullen is a sight to behold. Imagine Ian Curtis reincarnated and sent to a modern rave, his moves a mix of desperate flailing and deliberate possession. Cullen’s voice, raw and urgent, seemed to claw its way out of his chest, while his hair – a glorious cascade of volume – danced along with him like a co-star.

But there’s also something deeply soulful about his performance, as if each song is being dragged out of him against his will. His vocals, raw and visceral, evoke everyone from Mark E. Smith to James Murphy, but they’re delivered with a guttural sincerity that feels entirely his own.

Think early Gang of Four and Wire but with a distinctly modern twist. Meanwhile, guitarist Benedict Goddard laid down a foundation so thick and throbbing you could feel it in your teeth. Together with drummer Luke Niblock whose percussion was less a backbeat and more a full-body assault, Chalk delivered a set that felt like being caught in a thunderstorm you never want to escape.

Visually, Chalk’s set was as arresting as their sound. Strobe lights fractured the stage into shards of brilliance, casting the trio in flickering silhouettes that only added to their mystique. At times, it felt like we were witnessing not a performance, but a séance—a summoning of ghosts from the Hacienda era, fused with the raw urgency of 21st-century rebellion.

Their standout track, “Them” is a screaming into the void manifesto. The song barrels forward with the energy of a warehouse rave at 3 a.m., its layers of noise and melody swirling like a cyclone. It’s Factory Records meets the sweaty ecstasy of Berlin clubs—music that both celebrates and annihilates.

Luckily for us Glaswegians Chalk will be back in town on February 27th at King Tut’s. See you down the front.

Article: Angela Canavan