Hinds are a warm indie rock band from Madrid, which makes the fact that their Edinburgh date was probably the rowdiest gig we’ve ever seen at The Caves somewhat of a surprise, though definitely a pleasant one.
The all-female four piece released their second album I Don’t Run in April, and it’s a hell of a record. The album is utterly charming, and oh-so-relatable, with the lyrics capturing perfectly the vulnerability and awkwardness that often comes with relationships of all kinds. It’s a record that wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a coming of age film. There’s lots of songs about love, but rarely are they love songs, and never does it get all soppy.
There’s a certain ruggish-ness throughout I Don’t Run. The songs don’t feel polished, and there’s a messiness to it too, which makes sense, when dealing with such messy subject matters, and it’s open and accessible music - the melodies tell you to let yourself dream and dance, not to take any shit, shout whatever is on our mind, it doesn’t matter if you look like a bit of an idiot while you do it.
Unsurprisingly, that charm translated wonderfully to the live stage. But a little surprisingly, it was met with some pretty heavy moshing. Genuinely, the atmosphere at The Caves in Edinburgh was absolutely electric. The guitar solos and instrumentals were mental. At one point there was a mammoth of a man who kept elbowing me by accident, but with elbows so big that it felt like a bunch from Mike Tyson each time, so I was driven further into the jumping crowd and - make of this what you will - I’m pretty sure I accidentally licked a bald guy’s head at one point.
It was that kind of mental.
And Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrotes, leading the show on vocals and guitars, and Ade Martin on bass and backing vocals and Amber Grimbergen on drums all rose to the occasion, and then some.