Westside Cowboy @ Bodega

A scene known for its technical, jazzy post-rock associated bands, the London ‘Windmill Scene’ is already responsible for a host of giants in modern British indie rock, such as Black Country New Road, Black Midi and Maruja. There’s one band that boasts a sound completely distinct from their peers, though, and that’s Manchester-based Westside Cowboy. Often being tagged under genres like power pop and slacker rock, the four-piece often rejects complex arrangements in favour of rawer, accessible and more melodic guitar music. I headed down to the Bodega to catch the band live and see if they lived up to the buzz.

As soon as the sizable queue flooded through the venue doors, news quickly began to spread that the scheduled support – Manchester post-punk act Holly Head – would not be performing that night due to illness. Sure enough, as it came time for the act to take the stage, the crowd were greeted instead by Nottingham’s own Pict, filling in at the last minute.

Describing themselves as a ‘post-folk’ act, there’s honestly few labels that could really be applied to accurately get a grasp of the band’s sound. Loud, acoustic driven post-rock permeates through the likes of “Jean Pierre's Destiny” and “As You Do”, as the band feel like they’re putting every ounce of energy towards the set.

Indeed, mid-way through the set, vocalist Zach comes to the forefront and excitedly announces that this is the band’s biggest ever show. It seems like they take the packed-out Bodega in their stride, with all the band members tearing through their performance and with borderline emo vocals and crowd invasions putting the cherry on top of a wildly impressive introduction for many in the crowd. Although Pict may have been a substitute, it’s very hard to not come away from their performance awestruck.

At last, though, come quarter to eight, Westside Cowboy take the stage to thunderous applause, so much so that the band look confused – they haven’t even played a single note yet! The sell-out crowd is indicative of a band with bucketloads of hype behind them, but the four-piece play it cool as they start out with a collected instrumental cover of Santo and Jonny’s “Midnight Cowboy”.

The act is dropped quickly after, though, as vocalist Reuben screams the band’s name like a battle cry, before launching into the band’s first hit, “I've Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)”. The track is an exquisite way to turn the energy levels in the room from 0 to 100, as the infectious energy in the unit’s performance spreads through the crowd. Such energy is preserved spectacularly through the two-minute, almost pop punk “Alright Alright Alright”, exquisitely replicating the one-two punch of the first tracks from their 2025 debut EP.

As the band begin to dip toes into the tracks from 2026’s So Much Country ‘Till We Get There, with slacker rock cut “Can’t See” (which invites comparisons to the likes of Car Seat Headrest), there’s a brief pause as the band move to retune their guitars. Although Reuben again jokes about the band relying on alternate tunings too much and using them to ‘pad out the set’, it’d be a lie to say it threatens to diminish the pulse-pounding energy in the room. Requests from the band for dancing and movement are then fulfilled through the triumphant “Drunk Surfer”.

It feels like there’s a pattern of the band delivering bombastic crescendos at the end of their tracks, the only logical conclusion to such dynamic material. Again, though, rather than the post-rock climaxes of their Windmill Scene peers, these are loud and confident rock and roll outros that position the band in a totally unique light. The self-described ‘Britainica’ strands of the band start to come out with the understated alt-country influence on some tracks, or even the lyrical edge of “Shells” and its chorus – the now-rapturously delivered ‘I’ll just sleep with a gun!’.

Following a few quips about the band’s release patterns (“we’re only going to release EPs, it’s like the TikTok-ification of music!”), we move into two brand new cuts. The former, the soft and subdued number known on the setlist as “Paper Chains”, is a nice build up to the real highlight, the raucous coalescence of fuzz that is “Dobro”. With an intro that almost feels like it borrows from T.Rex’s “Get it On” in its simple but catchy presence, there’s no doubt in my mind that this track has the potential to become one of Westside Cowboy’s most beloved.

The highlight of the set, for me, comes with the second to last track, “Strange Taxidermy”. A marked departure from the fast-paced and upbeat set so far, this is a song more akin to the Windmill Scene many are familiar with, a stirring post-rock inspired build that opens up WC’s latest EP. Although it may sacrifice the droning strings of its studio counterpart, its substitution for a sea of guitars duetting brilliantly with Aoife’s moving vocal is a wonderful choice, giving this version of the song a whole new life and really feeling like something you have to see yourself to properly appreciate.

As the band closes with a playful, singalong rendition of “In the Morning”, with drummer Paddy grabbing his snare and gathering round a microphone with the other band members, you can tell there’s something very, very special about Westside Cowboy.

I’ve seen plenty of sets by Windmill Scene artists before, from BCNR to Tapir. Compared to them, though, Westside Cowboy bring an exciting feeling of cautious optimism & togetherness that is rarer to see from their peers, one which perfectly meshes with their poppy sound to leave an atmosphere that’s utterly infectious.

Josh Holmes

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Edited by Isabelle Tu

Photos courtesy of Josh Holmes