Plan 76 - The Orchestra (For Now) Review

The Orchestra (For Now), Credit: Molly Boniface

Aptly named, Plan 76 follows its predecessor (Plan 75) with the same sense of purpose that has made The Orchestra (For Now) one of the most intriguing names to come out of London’s Windmill scene. This scene has been behind some of the UK’s most important names when it comes to guitar music in the past few years.

They share DNA with The Windmill scenes biggest export, Black Country, New Road, not through imitation but the same collective mindset. Theres a sense of something bigger being built throughout the EP, organised chaos that isn’t asking for approval. All seven members are tapped into that same strange wavelength, sharing the energy which gives Plan 76 it’s weight. It manages to be theatrical without being performative, you can tell this is a band that values tension over a resolution.

So, what is the plan? That’s kind of the point. Plan 76 doesn’t interest itself with explaining. There’s a deliberate unease that runs through the EP, where each track feels as if it’s seconds away from falling apart but somehow holds itself together. Impatient opens with soft vocals and a fragile guitar line, this combination lures you in before the track erupts into chaos. Hattrick folds violin and percussion into something you’d expect in a theatre rather than a rock song while Amsterdam buries tension beneath its upbeat pulse.

The Administration takes the tension scattered through this EP to its breaking point. It’s a slow unravelling of everything that makes Plan 76 so great. There’s something unsettling about how uncontrolled it feels, like the band are testing the limits of their own composure. Closing track Deplore You / Farmers Market feels like a natural release, letting all the pressure fade through a long spiralling finale. The kind of song that feels bigger than the room it’s in.

If there is a plan, it’s clearly working. The Orchestra (For Now) don’t need to explain what they’re doing, the EP speaks loud enough on its own.

The Orchestra (For Now) UK Headline Shows:

13th Nov - Sheffield, UK - Hallamshire Hotel,
14th Nov - Glasgow, UK - Hug & Pint,
15th Nov - Live at Leeds In the City, UK
16th Nov - Manchester, UK - YES Pink Room
18th Nov - London, UK - Scala
20th Nov - Bristol, UK - The Exchange
21st Nov - Southampton, UK - Heartbreakers
22nd Nov - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store
4th Dec - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms

Plan 76 Cover Art