Foxing / Pianos Become the Teeth @ Rebellion, Manchester, 12 Aug

Wandering on stage in grey shirt and sweatpants, unassuming frontman Conor Murphy has the audience eating from the palm of his hand at Foxing’s co-headline set with Pianos Become the Teeth at Rebellion in Manchester.

Some have already resigned the resurgence of screamo in the late noughties to the history books, but the queue of twenty-somethings outside the venue long before doors open suggests the movement has more to give. Whilst two-piece opener Kamikaze Girls don’t fit comfortably into the aforementioned classification, they are more than capable of causing a riot. Singer/guitarist Lucinda Livingstone’s voice shifts effortlessly between melody and rasping ferocity, as she and drummer Conor Dawson deliver poignant protest songs loaded with emotion. They make urgent appeals for gender acceptance and mental health discussion over a potent combination of post-hardcore, punk and the odd indie guitar part for good measure.

As the lofty frame of Pianos Become the Teeth frontman Kyle Durfey swaggers onto the stage, a now sizeable crowd gathers beneath him as he peers out from behind his dark mop of hair. The five-piece embark on a set of thoughtfully structured tracks, with wonderfully layered guitars and Durfey’s crafted, clean vocals sailing exquisitely over the top. Tracks like Forever Sound and Repine demonstrate the band are equally at ease with fragile, melancholic emo as chaotic, crashing screamo (although Durfey avoids earlier albums where his vocals were more aggressive). Some songs feel a little lethargic as they build towards their crescendo, but the whole band throw themselves around in earnest when it arrives, with even the drummer finding it hard to stay seated.

Foxing appear onstage like complete misfits, each of the six members looking like they were donated by a different genre, but this only makes their chemistry even more scintillating. They really are a force of nature and frontman Conor Murphy is a charged particle, with a range that takes the crown on an evening of great vocalists. The band pay tribute to the influence their touring partners had on their sound, and in truth the occasion feels like the proverbial passing of the torch as they take heavy guitar elements and mix in keyboard and samples with a gleefully pop-soaked vocal. It’s like Arcade Fire at a street party with Jimmy Eat World.

Putting down the trumpet he broke out during The Magdalene, Murphy grabs a sample pad as they fly into Nearer My God – the title track from their newly-released third album. As they explode into the chorus, hoody-clad baby-faced guitarist Ricky Sampson suspends himself over the crowd, thrashing his strings and grinning like a shark. Ending on Rory from debut album The Albatross, Murphy shreds his throat crying out 'So why don’t you love me back?' but it’s being returned with interest tonight from a besotted Rebellion audience.

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