Fashionably late has never been my bag where shows
are involved; I love the build up way too much.
The way most venues look more like an unassuming
church hall than the punk rock playground it is
undoubtedly about to be torn into. The Relentless
Garage, Islington was testament to that tonight
as rockers as young as 16 lined the edge of the
room as if at some high school disco. However,
what happens next would terrify those HSM sweethearts
to the depths of their peppy little song filled
hearts.
From playing ludo with PABH to mesmerizing the
crowd with signature wailing falsetto, Young Legionnaire
took their mission of single handedly warming
up the baltic Garage to heart. And warm us up
good and proper they did. Tumultous blastings
of Nova Scotia and Even The Birds began a cool-whipping
frenzy, turning any human bystander into something
far more salmon like. Thank god because it was
as arctic inside as out on the ice capped pavements
of Islington. A broken drum pedal and reassuringly
awkward banter bookmarked the set of turbulent
post-hardcore indie-rock noise, but what else
would you expect from a trio made up from former
members of Bloc Party and The Automatic. A stellar
show from the new superheroes of indie-rock.
New York's finest punk noiseniks, Gay For Johnny
Depp, brought the next bout of noise from every
square inch of their epic Manthology. The single
Belief In God Is So Adorable and Juicy's Last
(Point The Finger) ricocheted around the venue,
basslines bouncing off every already pounding
chest as each limb, lung and finger tip obeyed
under commands of 'Don't Clap. Snap! You know
what to do!' from blue eyed guitarist/noise warlord,
Sid Jagger. In a manner both as quick and theatrical
as possible, frontman Marty Leopard shed layers
on stage before repeatedly hurling himself into
the throbbing circle pits where in fits of adoration,
he was swiftly wrestled to the floor by hoards
of his loyal fans. You'd be forgiven for thinking
these kinds of frolics from the sassy Petrine
cross wielding Leopard were the climax of this
show but for some, it was the cover of Slade's
Cum On Feel The Noize accompanied by their bill
topping buddies that sent a warm tingly shiver
of New Years Eve past running down my spine.
Pulled Apart By Horses had a lot to live up to.
But the Leeds based tie-dyed rockers brought their
A-game in kicking the crap out of both their drainpipes
and ours. Their combos of oft harsh guitars, punchy
lyrics and 1990's fashion sense sets them apart
from their Northern landfill indie counterparts
who have since fallen by the wayside. Live, these
Transgressive wonderboys show no signs of waning
yet. Songs 'about Chris Akabusi' are 'not Christmas
songs' and the free finger loving quartet sent
us into our festive season with a pop and a bang
and a bolt of indie-rock lightning; 'We're all
about free fingers. This song is moonlit talons.
This song is our new single.' And what a brawler
it is. On stage collaborations from their line
up predecessors and crowd surfing frontman, Thomas
Hudsons, showed the Meat Ballooners for the animals
they really are. Tonight was louder and more boisterous
than a pack of wild dogs on heat; especially the
encore of mental headbangathon I Punched A Lion
Once. Altogether, this hat trick 5 star night
was the perfect tonic against the winter blues
even lending you a foam finger to wick away the
escaping mucus from your nasal passages. So get
the fuck involved next time, yeah.
PABH - 5/5
GFJD - 5/5
Young Legionnaire - 5/5
Review By Jessica Acreman
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