22 years since their last UK visit, the Californian geek rock veterans return!
It may have been a grey and rainy day, but any hint of negativity has been well and truly left at the door of the New Cross Inn this evening. Self-styled purveyors of ‘geek rock’, Nerf Herder have finally returned to these shores after 22 years, and although the quartet have only ever been minnows in comparison to fellow Californians Blink 182 and Weezer, they certainly shared (and still share) the aforementioned bands’ knack for a catchy tune and enjoyably silly, self-deprecating lyrics.
They’ve sold the place out; not bad for a band whose only real claim to fame is having penned the ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ theme tune (yes, they play it tonight, and it sounds great), and amongst the multi-generational crowd are even a few folks whom we think are dressed up as Buffy characters. (Confession: I’ve never properly watched Buffy. TV sucks, kids – music rules.). Not exactly a Fugazi crowd, then, but the vibe is as upbeat, friendly and unpretentious as they come.
Kent trio Spoilers highly impressed us when they played their 10th anniversary gig here back in January, and they’re clearly as stoked to be here as we are to see them again. Be it old favourites like ‘Collision Course’ or the newer ‘Peaches And Cream’, everything played tonight sounds lived – a feeling emphasised by vocalist/guitarist Dan giving a shout out to any fellow anxiety-sufferers before the Husker-Du-meets-Snuff stylings of the closing ‘Roundabouts’. We don’t know exactly what kind of lemons life has given him and his band, but we can assure you that their most recent ‘There Or Thereabouts’ LP is pure punk rock lemonade, so be sure to check it out.
Like the headliners, 4ft Fingers are true veterans (since 1994!), and tonight the Cheltenham quartet play like a band with nothing to lose. Certainly, the opening ‘Burn The Bridges’ is skate-punk at its fastest and most pissed-off, and it blasts away what remains of our post-work mental cobwebs. Is bassist Simon trying to play his instrument or rip its strings out? He warns us of a possibly impending halloumi regurgitation, which thankfully never comes to pass; instead, he and his punk rock brethren spew forth the likes of ‘Change Of Plan’ and ‘Sense Of Direction’ in the manner of a band whose inner fire clearly still burns brightly after all these years. Apparently, there’s new music on the way, and on tonight’s evidence, it’s going to be worth the wait.
“Hey, Mr Soundman, can you turn down the guitar in my monitor? I can hear myself, and I’m really bad.” That’s just one of many amusing little wisecracks courtesy of Nerf Herder frontman Parry Gripp – a man who knows he’s among friends tonight. Regularly pausing to comment on the heat (and borrow someone’s fan), it has to be said that the crowd’s energy level starts to flag a bit around the halfway mark as the Inn starts to resemble a sauna.
Full credit to the band, though – they battle on to keep us grinning and singing along throughout their 90-minute set, and play just about everything we could want to hear. A mid-set salvo of ‘Mr Spock’, ‘She’s A Sleestak’ and ‘Pantera Fans In Love’ hits the mark dead-centre, but we also get a taste of Parry’s solo career in the form of ‘Cat Flushing A Toilet’ (with full crowd participation, natch), and some gloriously punchy power-pop in the form of ‘Lamer Than Lame’ and ‘Cashmere’. No, none of it is big or clever, but if you can’t laugh at the absurdity of it all, then you’re clearly at the wrong gig!
An encore of ‘Doin’ Laundry’, ‘I’ve Got A Boner For Christmas’ (don’t ask) and the B52s pastiche of ‘Love Sandwich’ (really don’t ask!) rounds things off nicely and we leave with Parry still chatting away semi-nonsensically to the crowd. It’s hard to imagine Nerf Herder being anyone’s absolute all-time favourite band, but in terms of an evening of pure, unadulterated musical fun, they remain hard to beat. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait so long for their return!
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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