Holy Fuck @ Stereo

Holy Fuck's appearance at Optimo last year was the stuff of legend, and they've been cited since as one of the best live bands they've had at the club. Their use of live bass and drums to underpin frantic electronics sounds like an ever accelerating take on proto-post-rockers Stereolab. The Torontonian 'Fucks have mastered the art of creating pulsing crescendos of sound to take the audience to some frenzied dementia before it snaps in a blessed release. Even the grainy YouTube clips posted on their website are bristling with energy. Their music is completely visceral; its throb is nigh on physiological; its tension is enough to tear muscles; and the drummer has quite clearly been off his nervous system disorder meds for weeks. If you want to burn off a few calories, Holy Fuck are a musical hormone imbalance that will turn you into a sweaty convulsing mess whether you like it or not. [Matt Gollock]