Yes, that is their name, and no, they aren't a joke band!
Ah, live music, the universal panacea. Not to bore you with the little details of my life, but suffice to say that, this evening, I arrive at the New Cross Inn in a filthy temper and leave feeling completely reborn – and without the help of alcohol, to boot. Great people, great music, and a great venue – together they are transformative.
Fatberg’s bassist struggles with a few technical gremlins, and it’s just as well that they’re quickly resolved, because he and the drummer are arguably the ones keeping the band musically anchored, so to speak. The guitarists, meanwhile, constantly teeter on the verge of sonic warfare with their instruments. There’s a whole lotta Sonic Youth in there, and they also bring to mind the frenzied aural assault of early Idlewild. Even the slower ‘TV Crisis’ sounds delightfully sinister; don’t try to pet the sleepy tiger, kids, because it could still pounce at any minute. A superb start.
A couple of years have passed since we last saw Middleman, and we certainly won’t let that happen again, because in that time, they’ve released the excellent ‘John Dillinger Died For You’ EP – and it contains the best songs they’ve written to date, with the likes of ‘Virginia Bell’ and ‘Falls Apart’ sounding especially formidable this evening. They’ve never looked so comfortable and confident onstage, either, and on this kind of form, we’ll be keeping our fingers firmly crossed that greater things lie ahead for them. In the meantime, if bands like Dinosaur Jr, Superchunk and – yep! – Thurston Moore’s old crew float your boat, you owe it to yourself to check out that aforementioned EP.
With their keyboard and sax players, Alien Nosejob certainly stand out from my usual New Cross Inn diet of feral hardcore punk. That said, these guys can rage with the best of them; as en early romp through the minute-long ‘Bond Clean’ shows. Essentially the project of ridiculously prolific Australian singer/guitarist Jake Robertson, they keep us guessing throughout their set, with supremely groovy garage rock, AC/DC-esque riffing, more hardcore and even a great closing cover of the X-Ray Spex classic ‘Identity’ all given their opportunity to shine – and shine they do.
Shame there aren’t more folks here to witness it all, but the enthusiasm of band and crowd alike can’t be faulted, and if Alien Nosejob never rise above cult-following status, then we couldn’t be happier to be in on the secret. Cheers to promoters Real Life Presents for having us along!
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
Follow Alien Nosejob on Their Socials:
Need more Punk In Your Life?
On The Cinder, Kingston Fighting Cocks, 17th July 2025
The Buffalo trio seemingly couldn’t care less that the Fighting Cocks is obviously not sold out – they’re far from home, and stoked that anyone
EP review: Darko – ‘Canvas’
Yes, this EP is the third in a conceptually-linked trilogy, but these folks are progressive in the sense that they’ve stuffed (or should that be
Live review: MoonPunx #5, LVLS, Hackney, 29th June 2025
Friends, punk family, and bands. What more could you ask for?! Family Of Strangers singer Lou Moon put on this lovely afternoon gig in a
Live review: The Uprising, The Pipeline, Brighton, 27th June 2025
What an incredible showcase of bands this was! Fluffy Bunny, the host of Underwrld, definitely knows how to put on a banging gig! With Mirrors
Live review: Guana Batz at Facebar, Reading, 3rd July 2025
It’s forty years since Guana Batz released their debut ‘Held Down to Vinyl…At Last’ and there has been a seismic change in the music scene
EP review: Petrichor release their self-titled debut
The kids are alright, folks. Washington DC quartet Petrichor are probably sick of journos like me mentioning their age (all between 13 and 15 years
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.
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
