Dublin's finest triumphs at a packed album launch gig in London!
Tonight is a cause for celebration on two counts. It’s not just that self-described ‘one-man punk band’ Meryl Streek is on the eve of releasing what promises to be an absolute ripper of a new album in ‘Stories They Don’t Teach You At School’, but also that he’s managed to sell out (or at least VERY nearly sell out) the 100 Club, one of the few central London venues to escape the clutches of gentrification (for now, at least). Not bad for a vocalist, his drummer and a laptop!
“We’re a hardcore band, but we like to switch it up a bit!” So says Bea, bassist of Shooting Daggers, and indeed, on the following ‘Love & Rage’ the London trio mix a generous helping of shoegaze into their sound. They can still rage with the best of them, though, as evidenced by an adrenalised ‘Wipe Out’ and old favourite ‘Liar’ – the latter still shot through with as much righteous vitriol as ever. This is the largest stage we’ve ever seen the band play on, but they don’t seem remotely fazed, and are clearly having a blast up there. New album ‘The Real Life Thing’ (have you heard it yet? It’s ace!) gets a brief airing, and sounds even better live. Essential.
It soon becomes clear that no stage could ever be big enough for Meryl Streek, though. He strides back and forth all night, and at one points jumps down into the crowd, as if his music wasn’t gloriously confrontational enough. Hey, we wouldn’t have it – or him – any other way. Seriously, the guy could give most vocalists of hardcore bands a run for their money, and indeed, there are echoes of High Vis frontman Graham Sayle in the way that he speaks truth to power and pulls no punches in documenting the often harsh reality of urban working-class life.
He and his equally hard-working drummer play a decent chunk of that new album, and the new songs measure up very well against the handful of older Streek favourites. He still shouts out every word as if he believes he’d implode by staying quiet, only pausing briefly between songs to thank us for coming to see a guy “from a shitty council estate in a really bad area of Dublin”. Punk was always meant to be the voice of misfits and outcasts, and in that context, the likes of ‘Rotten Fruit’ and ‘Depression’ are as authentic as they come. Oh, and like so many punk classics, they don’t half stick in the subconscious, too.
He’d probably hate his music to be described as ‘epic’, but that’s exactly how the closing ‘If This Is Life’ sounds when played live with full crowd participation. He’s come a long way, certainly, and with ‘Stories They Don’t…’ now in his arsenal, things have arguably never looked brighter for a man who so often paints such bleak lyrical pictures. Onwards and upwards, for sure.
All Photos: KEIRA ANEE
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