By Simon Shoulders and Wendy “Lampy” Matthews, Rock At Night London Correspondents
Venue: Lock Tavern, Camden– 17/03/2017
The Lock Tavern might not be the biggest venue in London, but tonight it is packed out to celebrate Roadkill Record’s launch of a limited edition split EP on cassette featuring Broken Soundtracks and Weird Sex. The night starts out with sets from special guests Average Sex and Secret Tongues and as a result the crowd is very much “in the mood” by the time Weird Sex take to the stage.
Weird Sex are somewhat of a “supergroup” consisting of Chris Blake on Guitar and Keys (Sly Persuaders), Kaoru Sato on guitar and vocals (Deathline and Easterhead), Benjamin Many on Drums and is fronted by the irrepressible Joey Ackland (Suicide Party). Their set starts explosively with the tidal wave of menacing, reverb-soaked, electro-punk that is “Mummy’s Little Soldier”, recently released as a video directed by Rock At Night’s own John Clay. There’s a manic intensity to Joey’s performance and a manic glint that never leaves his eye. There’s also a swagger, and sardonic edge to his smile (or is that sneer?) that leaves you wondering just what is the correct safe distance to view this performance from. The diminutive stage at the Lock Tavern can barely contain the quartet as it is, and as their second track begins, the crowd has only seconds to wait before they find out that no part of the venue is safe. Beer (and wine!) flies as Joey surges into the crowd. “Audience Participation” is both abundant and exuberant and all the while the band plays on with its thundering, effects-heavy noise, rich in scratchy guitar and rolling drumbeats. This is relentless rocket-fueled, fuzz-laden garage-rock and the crowd clearly enjoy the show and, at times, being being part of the performance!
Weird Sex are not an easy band to follow, partly because of their cracking performance and partly because the sound engineer has some magic to weave in resetting the stage. After some minor teething during soundcheck, Broken Soundtracks, fronted by Charlie Sundown, launch into their set. This a gloriously solid surf-rock and roll with jangling 70’s-infused riffs and and melodic, catchy bass from new band member Vince Primitive lurking beneath the rich reverb-heavy guitar kicked out by Charlie and Elliot Vernon and thumping drum beats from Dario Corsetti. It’s music to compete with a roaring engine note driving a California coast road with the top down in the sun. The band clearly enjoyed themselves and Dario’s jazz drum break brought smiles and laughter to the whole room. There’s a lot of familiar faces in this particular corner of the London scene and there’s a joyous almost jubilant atmosphere as the night’s live music began to draw to a close. Of course, it was Joey and his accomplices that were the catalyst for the final chaotic mosh to kick-off as Broken Soundtracks closed out the evening’s live music.
The Roadkill family certainly know how to party, and for many, the night was yet young…
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