Three bands bring musical cheer to a chilly Thursday evening in Harrow!
Damn you, bands, why can’t you all just fit in neat little musical boxes? Yeah, I know punk is all about not doing what you’re supposed to, but it would make my life easier as a reviewer. Tonight, I’ve hauled arse to Harrow to watch three bands who are arguably more musically adventurous than the countless Ramonescore specialists I love so dearly. Ah well, variety is the spice of life, or so they say.
Wipes are a case in point. The wonderfully melodic ‘My Head’ is reminiscent of early Snuff, but they soon add some gallows humour on ‘Babies Gonna Die’, and end things in impressively noisy style with ‘No A Place’, complete with a drawn-out Stooges-esque outro. There aren’t many folks here yet, but the band press ahead with a sense of steely determination, and we make a mental note to check out their 2024 debut album ‘One Shot’ – you should too.
Mind you, if noisy is what you’re after, then The Baby Seals can truly deliver. Having seen (and greatly enjoyed) the trio at London’s Hope & Anchor earlier this year, we’re pleased to report that their teeth have grown even sharper – and they weren’t exactly timid in the first place. Yes, some of those song titles and their between-song banter make us smile, but the beast of a riff that cuts in halfway through ‘Invisible Woman’ marks this band out as one to be taken seriously – as does the way that ‘Temu’ almost spills over into all-out sonic warfare at times. Ultimately, The Baby Seals come across as a band that will do as they damn well please, and that’s what makes them so compelling. Oh, and that chant-along chorus of ‘Shirley’ is still echoing in our heads 24 hours later!
The Let’s Go’s are pure musical joy. From the moment they kick off with the euphoric pop-punk rush of ‘In My Head’, the Japanese trio bounce around the stage with carefree abandon; they clearly love what they do, and it’s as if they can hardly believe that they’re so far from home and still drawing a decent crowd. Incidentally, the whole of the Trinity is a sea of smiles by now, and it would take a churlish soul indeed not to feel uplifted by the punchy power-pop of ‘Mirrorball’ or their souped-up cover of ‘What A Wonderful World’. Some bands really are worth leaving all your troubles at the door for, and as guitarist Coco and bassist Manami indulge in some grin-worthy synchronised guitar acrobatics, it’s clear that musical escapism doesn’t get much better than this.
Cheers to Shake Some Acton for having us, and for continuing to book bands that make me forget that I can’t dance and try anyway! Check out details of future SSA gigs on the links below.
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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