Chalk @ Bodega
- Alice Beard
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
In early March, Chalk settled in for a hot and heavy night at the Bodega. This Belfast trio served up an exciting platter of techno- punk fusion, and they were ready to offer it up to all those willing to listen. Alice Beard reviews.
Since their debut Conditions EP in 2023, Chalk have been working away deep in the shadows of their soundscape. With each new offering since, the outfit have been carefully traversing the spectrum of the genres they tread, finding solitude in their menacing industrial- electro sonic palette.
"The gloom felt consuming, some sort of steady, uncertain pressure persisting"
Delving straight into the darkness of the evening, their recent Conditions III EP opener Leipzig 87 was the steady, throbbing introduction needed to set events in motion. Combining clanging synth pulses with scatters of muttered vocals an incessant, unbreakable tension filled the room. The gloom felt consuming, some sort of steady, uncertain pressure persisting, yet a climax was never reached. It was this sense of foreboding drawn up that pulled the audience in from the very outset. The rowdy, overdriven whirl Afraid provided an immediate shock to the system to follow. Already, two songs in and the audience had become gripped by Chalk’s constricting, deep electronica.
Their set fused relentless underground dance music with raw instrumentals of dark punk sensibilities to build something of an entirely different calibre to the comfortable and familiar. This tapestry was something of unrivalled complexity on the scene.
As the evening progressed, tracks such as Static urged the tension to swell further, the chugging melodies of this piece in particular rolling to thunderous levels. ‘Searching for something to do/ just to keep myself right’- Cullen’s unabating vocals swirled with a potency that kept everybody in the room constantly on their toes, unsure of what could unfurl next. On the other end of the spectrum, Tell Me was something sleazy and seductive. Its heaviness swept us up and dragged the crowd under until the piece’s intoxicating rhythms had the room choked.
The trio knew exactly what they were doing at each moment of their performance, their carefully curated set balancing the new and the old to perfection. The track Asking swiftly took us back to their debut, whilst Pool Scene sent their sound surging to new heights previously untouched until this year. This constant switch in timelines only further confirmed the growth in their ability to create, with the makeup of their sound proving all the better now live.
Sure fan-favourite Conditions was the triumphant conclusion to the night, this raucous offering encapsulating every inch of their spirit and desire to build themselves as a project. The usual dirt and dinge of their sound persisted from the opening moments of this track, yet as they perilously marched through, a searing light emerged at the other end. It’s a piece that on record is already a euphoric and raw deep dive, yet this sense was lifted even higher live.
Chalk managed to showcase the fiercest of their elements to the full extent. To sound so domineering in such a modestly sized venue was an achievement in itself, yet the spirit they provided in their performance truly cements their accomplishment as a trio. Chalk are music to dig your teeth into, so dive in…
Alice Beard
Edited by Alice Beard
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