Three different bands, all flying the flag for great garage rock? How could we refuse?
Garage rock is ace, isn’t it? It was certainly the precursor to punk, and the name alone conjures up images of a bunch of folks setting up amid a bunch of dusty old storage units (and possibly a car or two), plugging in, and just rocking out for the sheer joy of it. Anyway, we here at Punktuation can’t get enough of it, so cheers to Shake Some Acton for bringing so much of it to one of our regular haunts!
The Boo Tikis vocalist/guitarist starts their set by wryly acknowledging our advancing years, and then the Birmingham duo proceed to play with the verve and energy of a band half their ages. Over the years, there’s no been no end of musical magic crafted from simplicity, and so it is with these folks, whose reliance on fuzzed-up guitars and a minimalist drum set-up yields forth gems like ‘All The Time’ and ‘Here Comes Death’ – the perfect antidote to a largely grey and wet Tuesday. Like all tonight’s bands, they deserve a larger crowd, but by the time ‘A Girl Like You’ has folks grooving away happily down the front, it’s clear they can chalk tonight up as a victory.
Galloping Dick are true showmen. We were curious after seeing them described as ‘suave rock n’ roll’ on the gig flyer, and indeed, their smartly-pressed shirts and waistcoats combo certainly stand out among the various band t-shirts sported by most of those present tonight. Granted, none of it would count for much without the tunes to back it up, but luckily, rockabilly-garage anthems like ‘Don’t Like Your City’ and the closing ‘Everything’s Ok In The UK’ (“because it really fucking isn’t!”) hit the spot just right. Add to that vocalist/guitarist Craig’s lord-of-the-manor stage patter and some serious double bass abuse courtesy of Andy – he even climbs on it at one point! I say, old bean, how delightfully renegade of you.
The Scaners are just awesome. Not only do the French quartet turn in a belter of an 18-song set, sounding like a bunch of garage-punks who’ve broken into Devo’s practice room and are going nuts with the synthesisers, they also have a bassist who plays a THEREMIN with the neck of his instrument! Seriously, he pounds out groovesome bass lines at the same time as coaxing all manner of extra-terrestrial sounds from the theremin, and makes it look all too easy in the process. Monsieur, you are officially in the running for Punktuation’s 2025 Beacon Of Cool!
Clearly unperturbed by the relatively small crowd, they play like they’re being chased by fire, and it’s impossible to take your eyes off the lead vocalist/keyboard player as he alternates between barking into his mic and playing the sonic scientist. In terms of songs, their set is pretty much wall-to-wall gold, but in particular, the way they segue from the catchy ‘Zero Gravity’ to the warp-speed ‘Satellite Rain’ has us grinning from ear to ear.
Cheers to Shake Some Acton for having us along, and rest assured that if you could have made it along tonight, but couldn’t be bothered, then you really missed out! Check out details of future SSA gigs in London and Brighton 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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