A British/Kiwi double bill of rock n' roll - plus ace support - hits London hard!
For goodness’ sake, isn’t warm weather supposed to entice British folks out of hiding? Ok, if you’re a goth, we can understand a dislike of sunlight, but this is a Friday night rock n’ roll gig par excellence, and tonight The Lexington is only about half full. Oh well, we’re here, and we’re excited as hell for what’s in store.
If House Arrest are at all bothered by the low turnout, they certainly don’t show it, launching into a wonderfully spiky ‘No Shame At All’ like a band on a mission. The trio get us moving with their bass-led grooves, but their vocalist/guitarist is clearly fuelled by something darker than the need to make people dance, unleashing barbed-wire riffs and at times almost yelling himself hoarse. It all makes for a thrilling combination, and we especially like the way the funereal ‘Swans’ bursts into a balls-out punk rock sprint halfway through. Brilliantly unsettling, and we’ll definitely be back for more.
Now the tricky part; how do you write a balanced, composed review of a band who’ve put out your album of the year thus far? Los Pepes are that band, and ‘Out Of The Void’ is that record. It’s 34 minutes of punked-up power pop genius, with tunes to die for, and tonight Los Pepes absolutely (and rightfully) blaze with confidence as they deliver them – legs akimbo, low-slung guitars, band-as-gang vibe, you name it. They barely pause for breath between songs, and it’s rare that we’ve seen a band squeeze so many quality songs into a painfully short half-hour set. Even the mid-paced ‘Sweet Appeasement’ fizzes and crackles with a sense of urgency; these guys really mean it (maaaaan).
Seriously, it does not get much better than this. Lemmy would be proud, Dee Dee and his brothers would be proud, anyone who is/was anyone in punk and rock n’ roll damn well should be proud. I can’t be impartial, and I can’t say it strongly enough – you NEED to hear and see this band.
How on earth to follow that?! Luckily, Dion Lunadon is not a man to shy away from a challenge. We saw (and loved) the New Zealand native’s old band The D4 many times back in the day; even back then, we could tell that rock n’ roll ran in his veins, and – roughly twenty years later – tonight’s set is proof enough that it still does. Goodness knows he’s got more than enough in his arsenal for a quality set, with a jaunty ‘Reduction Agent’, a groovy, keyboard-soaked ‘Fire’ and the Stooges-esque ‘No Control’ among the highlights.
Be it venturing into the crowd (with his guitar, natch), inviting a random crowd member onstage to play keyboard, or even playing his own instrument with a length of chain (of all things!), you get the feeling that Dion and his band would stop at nothing to keep the rock n’ roll party going – and for that, we salute them. A superb end to an evening of music played by bands who don’t give a shit, but who ultimately still believe – as do we.
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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