It's taken just over a wee for me to get this up, but last wednesday, I ended up in Nice and Sleazy's (despite their low quality beer taps) to see Shallowrave friends XMRV playing for Frock and Cock, a rock-a-billy / punk / pyschobilly night. They were the pleasingly manic assault on the senses I'd come to expect, and were a great way to spend a quiet wednesday.
Also on the bill were 2-piece punk band Ana Trash and the Sociopaths; a noisy mess of 3-chord riffs, double-time drumming, and shouty sloganeering. You could pass it off as rose-tinted feministing following the recent death of Ari Up, or reverse sexism, but as pleased as I was to see an all female act, I was more impressed by the songs than the socio-political implications. Considering the next band up were the Bucky Rage, who do tight-as-fuck blues rock in Kendo Nagasaki masks, I think it's fair to say these guys stood out. With no bass guitar, all the low-end comes from Ab Stract's bass drum, which takes something of a hammering throughout the gig - the hi-end dissolves into a spray of prickly needles and white noise; hi-hats, feedback and Ana all competing for dominance. Mixing punch-you-in-the-face brutality with subtle melodies, it's simple, tight and cool as fuck.
Set highlight (aside from the slightly-too-obvious HXCore for Live) has to be Kalashnekov (Killing Just for Fun), with a big shouty refrain of "I want a Kalashnekov... and I want one now", that the whole audience had picked up on by the second chorus. You can find a few tunes on their myspace, at suitably lo-fi demo quality, as well as a couple of live videos. They're also touring soon, starting with Pivo Pivo on the 7th of November. Dates are on their myspace.
Part Ramones, part Plasmatics, with a fair dose of the Buzzcocks thrown in for good measure - these guys are worth watching out for.
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