Better Lovers are Highly Irresponsible at Electric Brixton

by | Jan 29, 2025

Out of the ashes of metalcore heroes Every Time I Die came Better Lovers, the hardcore punk supergroup who’ve put themselves on the map with their blistering debut album Highly Irresponsible. With seven shows in eight days, this promises to be as short and sharp a tour as their sound would suggest. Each set, including tonight’s at Electric Brixton, is exactly one hour of vicious, dynamic hardcore, bristling with intensity.

Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18

Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18

There’s no breaks, save for a surreal moment when If You’re Happy And You Know It blares from the sound system. There’s no stage banter either. What we get is a show made with almost surgical precision, fourteen calculated explosions of raw hardcore that barely let up from the moment their opening mixtape jam fades to eerie chords that howl like wolves. Lie Behind The Lies blooms with easy release, a comfortable slide into moody punk that absorbs your attention from the get go. “I can’t believe that I’m just like you,” screams frontman Greg Puciato, his voice scraping like nails in a chalkboard. The jolting stormy energy that permeates Sacrificial Participant leads to an inexorable climb, gripping and grinding with moments of release and excitement, it’s melodic tension riding through bright smoke. The pit has already reached critical volume before Your Misplaced Self unfolds in a torrent of drums, with Puciato standing strong as  though navigating through a storm. Sometimes throughout their set the melodic moments are sacrificed in favour of greater intensity. The vocalist shoves the whole microphone into his mouth like a metallic gobstopper during Become So Small, his vocals breaking on release before they’re consumed by waves of bass slowed to evil.

Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18

Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18

Every song has the harshest edge that ploughs up a pit to reveal an ominous metal core, aways with a uniting rhythm proving there’s a master plan. The Flowering opens with a commanding buildup that froths and breaks until orders are whined out at the drop, leading to a hypnotic communal slam. “I don’t wanna say this isn’t a love song… but it is…” Puciato explains as At All Times drifts from the stage, slow and majestic with featherlight gliding guitar that drops rippling  chords to expand out across the hall. The respite can’t last, and At All Times goes  very hard with a fury that we love as he sweeps and conducts his hand over the crowd before unleashing a raw howl over Love Is An Act Of Rebellion’s crammed bleeding drums, regurgitating frustration into screams transmuted into an echoing call to prayer.

The best hardcore has a hypnotic quality like staring that the static dust that fills an untuned analogue TV screen. The fuzz of the distortion can take you over, allow you to lose time as you’re immersed in a heavy pool of noise. This is the quality which Better Lovers can conjure up in it’s finest form. They’re stronger than the sum of their parts, drawing on their history across punk and metalcore to create a sound that breaches the dams between sub-genres to let loose a waterfall of brutal hardcore. You’re going to regret missing out on their inaugural UK tour, if you chose to stay home this week. However, if you made it to one of their rapid fire shows and found yourselves in the surprising-civilised, all-consuming pit, then you can rejoice that you made it to the perfect heavy kickoff for 2025.

  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Frontierer @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
  • Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18
    Better Lovers @ Brixton Electric, 2025.01.18

A review of Better Lovers at Electric Brixton on 18th January 2025. Words by Kate Allvey, photography by Pauline Di Silvestro

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

Billy Proves He Is No False Idol, But A Truly Authentic One At Wembley Arena

Fresh from being well received at the inaugural Forever Now festival as well as a surprise appearance alongside...
Wide angle photo of Opus Stage and Arena at DownloadXXII

From Chaos To Catharsis: Sleep Token Silence The Doubters As Day Two Of Download Festival XXII Delivers Big Moments And Bigger Emotion

We’re back for Day 2 of Download Festival XXII. Would today live up to the great start we had yesterday? Let’s see…

Bludfest 2025 @ Milton Keynes Bowl (Ruby Boland)

Hello Heaven, Hello! Bludfest Returns Bigger Than Ever!

The elfin Elin Hall makes for the perfect entrance music, America swirling like the threat of rain overhead, as...
Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Trent And Atticus Nine Inch Nail It At The O2 Arena

Every act craves that strong connection with their audience – but how do you achieve this in a cavernous space like The O2 Arena, filled to the brim with around 20,000 fans (all, naturally, dressed in black)? Well, in typical belligerent style, Nine Inch Nails meet this challenge head on – treating us to a set by turns poetic and punishing, and despite the odd technical hiccup, really delivering that all important connection.

L-R: Roger Taylor, John Taylor, Simon Le Bon & Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Duran Duran To Bring Their Spectacular Danse Macabre Halloween Party To Manchester’s Co-Op Live

British music legends Duran Duran have announced their first-ever UK Halloween extravaganza, set to take over Manchester’s Co-Op Live on Friday, 31st October 2025. Promising a night of haunting glamour, sonic mischief and spine-tingling surprises, the one-off show will mark the UK debut of the band’s acclaimed Danse Macabre Halloween Party.

Jane Remover @ Outbreak London 2025

Outbreak Festival Storms London: A Genre-Bending Baptism Of Hardcore, Chaos & Community

Outbreak has been the beating heart of the UK’s hardcore scene since 2011 at its home in Manchester, finally the...
Santana @ The O2 Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

A Higher Frequency: Santana’s Timeless Spirit Lights Up The O2 Arena

As London sweltered under a 32-degree summer solstice sun, a different kind of illumination awaited inside The O2 Arena. Carlos Santana—guitar deity, Woodstock survivor, and spiritual messenger—brought his legendary band and transcendental energy to the capital with his Oneness Tour, proving once again that music, when played with heart and soul, can truly heal.

Matt Bellamy of Muse @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Muse Return With Electrifying New Single ‘Unravelling’ — A Thunderous Taste Of What’s To Come

Muse have unleashed their blistering new single Unravelling, igniting excitement among fans as they return to the world stage with their trademark flair for drama and dystopian grandeur. The track marks their first new music since 2022’s Will Of The People and signals the beginning of a bold new chapter for the stadium-filling trio.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing