There are gig nights that run like clockwork, and then there are the ones that start with a plot twist. My trip to see COSM in Plymouth fell firmly into the latter. After playing their new single Black Holes on our Sonic Nomads podcast, I’d mentioned it to Emily from the band, who kindly put me on the guest list for their Plymouth date. Or so I thought.
Standing in the queue outside The Junction on Mutley Plain, I confidently told the man on the door I should be on the list. A quick scan later, he looked up and smiled: “They’re playing over the road at The Underground.” Not me losing my mind, just a double‑booking that had shifted the whole show across the street. Classic tour chaos, handled with a shrug and a laugh.
Inside, I caught up with Emily, met promoter Leo from Sweet Jeans, chatted with his partner, and introduced myself to the support band Worms Worms Worms, who were already buzzing for their set.
wormswormsworms (let’s refer to them as worms x3 from now on) hit the stage first, delivering a set that felt like a jolt of electricity through the room. Their sound, a wonderfully skewed, angular brand of post‑punk, sits somewhere between Yard Act, Dry Cleaning, and a dash of The Fall, but with a personality entirely their own. The four‑piece live between Plymouth, Totnes, Kingsbridge and Exeter, and that South West scrappiness comes through in the best possible way.
The first thing that grabbed me was the rhythm section. Tight doesn’t even cover it, the bass and drums locked together like elastic and steel, giving every track a backbone that snapped and flexed with precision. If the old saying goes “a band is only as good as its rhythm section,” Worms x3 are in very safe hands.
Mid‑set, the guitarist managed to break not a thin string, but the fat top string, a rare feat unless you’re absolutely punishing your instrument. Emily from COSM swooped in like a backstage superhero, lending her guitar and even sprinting off to get his restrung mid‑song. Punk spirit meets community spirit.
Their new track, introduced as being about a “passive‑aggressive haircut”, turned out to be an ode to the mullet, complete with a reference to Mel Gibson strutting around Temple Meads. It was absurd, funny, and brilliant. Another highlight, Bond, came with frontman Max shouting “Stop getting Bond wrong,” a perfect Alan Partridge nod that had the room grinning.
Max’s spoken‑word delivery tied the whole thing together, giving the set a conversational, observational edge. Worms Worms Worms are a band you need to see live to fully get, sharp, strange, and utterly compelling.
All wormswormsworms photos © tiabryantphoto
After a short changeover, COSM stepped into the lights for night seven of their 12‑date UK tour. Playing to an almost‑home crowd, they felt relaxed, confident, and ready to stretch out.
Their sound sits in a Venn diagram of psych, shoegaze, and indie rock, with flashes of Dinosaur Jr and The Beatles woven through the haze. Tom’s guitar solos were a standout, expressive, melodic, and delivered with the kind of ease that only comes from total trust in the band behind you. And that trust is well‑placed: the whole group plays with a cohesion that feels both expansive and intimate.
Between songs, Emily joked, “We might be from the wrong side of the Tamar, but we don’t bite,” leaning into the Devon–Cornwall rivalry with a grin.
Tom’s brother, whose name escaped me in the post‑gig blur, wielded a gorgeous Rickenbacker bass (which I found out belongs to Tom), one of those instruments that looks iconic before you even hear it. In this case, it sounded every bit as good as it looked.
Their new single Black Holes shimmered live, all Beatles‑esque swirl and melodic warmth. They followed it with another unreleased track, I Still Don’t Know, which they hinted would be the next to land on Spotify. With two new songs now in rotation since their debut EP, it feels like COSM are quietly building toward something bigger — maybe even a physical release for fans to get their hands on.
All COSM photos © Ankow Pictures
After the show, I grabbed Max from Worms x3 for a chat on Mutley Plain — the quietest spot we could find — diving into the band’s origins, influences, and new material.
Then it was back inside to catch up with Tom, Emily, and Tom’s brother about tour life: favourite cities so far, hip hop playlists, Nintendo Switch downtime, sofa‑surfing, and the joy of the occasional proper bed and shower. They hinted at more new material and future live dates on the horizon. Definitely keep an eye on their socials — announcements are coming. As I said my goodbyes, I wished them well for their May 1st homecoming show in Falmouth. If tonight was anything to go by, that one’s going to be special.
Words by Steve Muscutt