|
"THIS AINT THE SUMMER OF LOVE" claimed the posters advertising this mini punk rock festival at huddersfield. "Too right" I thought so I went, me and ageing (but still young in the head) Steve Dixon got our pens out and reviewed the bands on the spot. I know it’s a bit late in coming out, but the concert was a day late to be included in New Pose 3. But it was worth waiting for I suppose….
On first, were the Jerks, hailing from that faraway township of Mirfield, and true to form, they are one chord wonders, may be not even that, half chord wonders. They have a blond haired singer who wails negativley at the audience like he's been kicked in the balls. The band lag behind slightly, as he crouches in front of his microphone, seeming only slightly involved in whats going on. They were OK if you like that sort of stuff, but they weren't really my cup of tea. What they do need is some more gigs and rehearsals to get themselves together, this gig I'm reviewing was only about the the third they've done.
The whole image of the next band on called PENETRATION was an unnerving experience, slightly menacing, Pauline a small bird who does all the singing, stares wild-eyed at her audience like they were her captors, replete with black spiky hair and matching bondage suit, she looked like a masochists dream at one point in the set she disappeared into the teething masses as the front only to return seconds later to finish her song, the band not stopping once to help her. Could it have been planned?
Another question nagging me for a while was her voice, who did she sound like? The answer came when she dedicated a number to the "Patti fans" in the audience, what followed was an almost exact Patti Smith soundalike, so that's where the roots lie" Pauline flitters around the stage like a string puppett who's having withdrawal symptoms, stopping only occasionally to catch her breath and have a drink of water, she could go thru a set of vocal chords a night the way she sings.
As a band, penetration have got their own thing together and they perform really well, obviously not new to the music scene, and also not new to each other, they had that "togetherness" which is lacking in a lot of new bands, and the lead guitarist was particularly good, stopping only once to retune his axe, (and not taking 5 minutes over it either!) So at least it shows that they care about their music, which I'm sure is another good thing. PENETRATION have joined my small list of favourites.
The third band is introduced, and on comes a little guy called Elvis looking like Holly. With those kinds of references you gotta be shit-hot or shit stupid. Costello hot. He reminded me of Ian Dury of the old Kilburn and the High Roads (I always felt Dury, who wore a razor blade in his ear four years ago was the spiritual founder of the London rough kids loudmouth punk attitude - more than the New York Dolls pretty boy glam-rock poutings).
Costello sings staring over the heads of the audience like Huddersfield didn’t exist, the look of a scornful lover - hot red eyes refusing to meet as he points his accusing finger at an imaginary girl-friend who is walking out on him. O yeah, Elvis sings love songs. I guess even punks fall in love and bleed when cut just like normal human beings. Elvis bleeds in style, songs bitter like lemon drops when you bite through the sugar coating and the sherbet fizzes on your tongue. (Jeesus - ED.) He did "less than zero," a great single lyrically the most perceptive of the new writers, and he did two numbers called "Watching the Detectives" and "Lip Service" that cut even deeper.
It’s not all love songs, though, he does the kinda dance/romance/good times things that Brinsly Schwarz used to do so well, good to see Nick Lowe's shining brightly on the production chores.
|
