Kyoto natives tricot have been consistently kicking keister since they formed in 2010. Their White Stage performance on Saturday morning, hot on the heels of their recently released album 10, showed that their boots are still ready to connect with a few backsides.

Taking to the stage in head to toe white, overseen by a projected backdrop of a multi-limbed rock and roll deity, tricot wasted no time getting things started. After a brief and restrained guitar intro, the band thundered into Pool Side. This song nicely showed off some of the attributes which make Tricot stand out, the hard-edged math-rock instrumentation over pop-sensible melodies and the band’s striking visual presentation.

Their second song, POOL, was driven by a gut thumping beat, and lead guitarist Motifour’s shredding guitar. Right Brain Left Brain showed off Hirohiro’s skills with a mean, low bass and proved that when handled correctly it truly is heart of the rhythm section in a band. Of course tricot wouldn’t have their trademark sound without vocalist Ikkyu’s clear, melodic vocals coating everything in a sugar glaze. While the instrumentation may be frenetic and aggressive, the vocals soften and sweeten everything. This is the magic formula which sets the band apart.

While the majority of their songs run on propulsive tempos, numbers like Anamein showed that band wasn’t afraid to use sudden breaks and tempo changes in an otherwise up-tempo song to make their compositions even more intricate. Later on, Portage saw them take a slower tempo and build layer upon layer with disjointed guitar and choral harmonies until they had something heavy and hard without being fast.

After a brief word to the crowd, thanking those in attendance and those who chose to watch from home, they tore straight into the quick, short and to the point banger Omae before finishing off their set with a distortion drenched version of Melon Soda.

All in all it was a great way to start the day on Saturday, with the sun still shining and left with a slight ringing in one’s ears courtesy of tricot.