Live Review: My Latest Failure w/Liquid Dogs, We Don’t Run and Paraesthesia at The Castle Tap in Reading!

Imagine if you will watching your favourite bands playing in your friends living room in front of an open fire while a storm is raging outside. You’re surrounded by your good people, drinking craft beer and soaking up the warm, life affirming atmosphere. That’s The Castle Tap in Reading in a nutshell, an unassuming venue from the outside with wonderful high ceilings that make for a fantastic auditorium. Tonight’s show is of course intimate and has a much changed line up from when it was originally announced but organisers  Liquid Dogs have pulled a rabbit out of the hat to make sure it can still go ahead. Note: We Don’t Run and Paraesthesia don’t have any music on streaming platforms at the time of review, which is why there is nothing from them here…

Opening tonight are Paraesthesia [7/10] and you know you’re in trouble as soon as they take to the stage. Their frontwoman is representing, wearing the apparel of Aberdeen Beatdown Hardcore crew Bitterwood should tell you that while you should never judge a book by its cover, its more than likely her band are going to be from the heavier side of the tracks. Guess what? That’s exactly what Paraesthesia are, blending Death Metal riffs with ferocious core oriented vocals they attack the audience with verve and gusto despite the lack of space, tearing their way through a short and yet sickly sweet collection of tunes under the lights. Joking that their final song was going to be a long one and then hitting us with “You Suffer” by Napalm Death is an endearing moment and so we hope to hear more from them very soon.

Confirming (as if confirmation was ever needed) that variety is indeed the spice of life, We Don’t Run [7/10] then take to the stage and deliver a set of songs that fuse Jimmy Eat World style clean vocals with some seriously impressive lead guitars and solos. The combination is a curious one because on paper it shouldn’t work but in reality they quartet have integrated the Jimi Hendrix element very well and the overall sound is surprisingly warm. Despite being a last minute replacement and perhaps not having the rehearsal time they would have liked, they nail their material with a sense of fun, their drummer singing the odd verse with a huge grin on his face. We Don’t Run are one of those bands who are one song away from blowing up, they just need a catchy chorus and for the algorithm to pick them up.

An entirely different prospect, Liquid Dogs [8/10] are a hybrid beast offering dual vocals, slick riffs and pounding rhythms to create Alice In Chains type vibes with a solid groove and melodic moments. Part of that is down to having grunge style clean lead vocals cutting against a uncleans from their bassist, a man who also delivers a some funky patterns to keep us guessing. They released a debut self titled EP in 2023 and what’s interesting is that live they have a bigger, heavier sound in comparison with the one they have on the record. Pushing more in the vein of “Medicate” with their twin axe attack providing a couple of breakdown style parts that are fitting given tonight’s company. As a collective, their performance is slick with each cut well rehearsed and delivered with a verve and swagger that oozes confidence, squeezing another ten percent of energy out of each cut compared with the versions committed to tape – and that’s exactly what you want from a live show!

Tonight under the twinkling lights My Latest Failure [10/10] sound like they’ve gate crashed a Wedding with someone old, something new, something borrowed and something blue all part and parcel of their set. Picking up where they left off with their last single “Bad Dreams“, the Hardcore injected Punk trio continue to add lyrics that resonate to their catchy courses with their new material. Evidence of that is submitted to the court at The Castle Tap in new songs “Scared” which features the chorus “I’m not scared of dying, I’m just scared of leaving you behind!” and “Had Enough“. That prize pair will appear on their long on the works third record, which rumour has it maybe a debut full length rather than an EP. The Melodic Hardcore leads of the former are soaked in Post-Hardcore influence and an melancholic pleasure in a set that barely finds the three piece pausing for breath. The politically charged “Selfish“, a ode to the behaviour of politicians during COVID gets a great reaction as does the love story that is “It’s Complicated“. Their energy is electric and while they might not have that much space to move around, they make the most of what they do have, guitarist and vocalist Chris Underhill swinging his axe around like than a lumberjack in the Canadian wilderness. A verse and chorus of “Elon Musk” by We Punch Tigers confirms their rendition of the cut on a forthcoming split EP is going to be a banger. A blitz through “Self Reflection” before the sing-a-long classic that is “Voices” finds the fretboards smoking as calloused hands work their magic, the chorus of “Itchy finger pull the trigger!” never getting old. Grand finale “Leech” brings the curtain down with everyone a smiling sweaty mess having witnessed one of the lesser lights of heaven.