Words and images from Johnny
Yet again, I get to go to a gig where I have not heard or seen the bands before. This is one of the main reasons I do what I do, discovering bands ive not seen, albeit they have been going for a while. My bad I guess, but hey ho.
I was approached a few weeks ago by Bee from Lynskey asking to review this gig, the first one had put on, so as usual, as stated above, having no idea who they were, I did a little youtubeing. Impressed by only a few minutes of footage, I thought it would be rude not to attend.
On arrival at The Outpost, it was clear that these bands had a decent following, the place gradually filled up. People of all ages, different dress sense and so on. And an air of anticipation flowed through the venue.
Lynskey have described themselves as “dance-punk \\ nüwu-metal \\ silly
from Oldham U.K. B – they/them \\ Saul – he/him”. A two-piece outfit of drums, guitar alongside a synth and vocals. Bee made the introductions, outlining this was the first time had put a gig on, and was somewhat nervous of how it was gonna go. This was an unnecessary statement, as time would tell, it would turn out to be a cracker of a night. Throughout the whole set, Bee’s guitar skills shone brightly, heavy, dark yet melodic riffs, fused with synthesizer keyboard work, belting out tune after tune, voice a little wavery at first, but soon picked up the power as the set wore on. I have to say, Saul on drums was a sight and sound to behold, the energy and power of this lad took me by surprise, almost to the point where it nearly overtook the vocals and guitar. I did mention this to Bee after the gig, the return smile and statement that Saul has a habit of going over the top, summed it up. This did not take away how good these two are. Musical genres are subjective, this kinda reminded me of PIL, not the same style, but the curiosity of a musician to try sommat new, and to me, this was new. Normally I’d say this kind of noise is out of my comfort zone, but no, the sound grew on me song by song, and now I call myself a fan. Bee and Saul have sommat good going on here, and long may it continue. Incidentally, the one thing that struck me the most, was the fun they were having, and I as I have said many times before, when at a gig, if the band are seen to be enjoying themselves, then this rubs off on the crowd, and it did. Cheers lads, twas a blast.
Two Tonne Machete take to the stage a short time later. Now on checking these out on YouTube, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my mate Jennifer and her band Midnight Creeps. Vocally almost the same, but the likeness between the 2 singers was quite frankly spooky. Anyhow, Emily on vocals ripped it up for 30 ish minutes. Full on in ya face alternative punk, massively heavy bass lines played with gusto by Ro, who clearly loves being the showman with wild movements on stage. Thibaut on the sticks and Mark on lead, working together like a well-oiled machine gave a performance second to none. The energy during the whole set never waned, a constant barrage of high tempo punk, giving us their take on the state of the planet including misogyny, oppressive authority, toxic culture, protest and dissent. The things in life we often take for granted, but shouted at us to make a stand against the bullshit in life. Another band I’d be most happy to put on and listen to over and over. Cheers
Finally, TV Face, Brigit, Steve and Steeny hail from Lancaster, a trio playing what can only be described as explosive, ear-splitting rock. Moving slightly away from throat ripping vocals, Steve has this unique style of “talk” singing where he mixes the spoken word with melodic singing vocals, a high intensity rock rap if ya like, tho rap it certainly isn’t, ya need to hear them to get what I’m saying, backed up by Brigit’s highly visual bass playing and sublime vocals. Steeny on the heart of the band, thrashing the skins in perfect harmonic generation, to what is one the tightest rock bands I have seen in many a year. Back to Steve on vocals, often reminded me of a little-known Northern band, “Norweb”, wild staring expressions, force feeding you his lyrical satire in an angst driven thunderbolt of spoken and sung words. Ive said it before and I’ll say it again, seeing a band ya have no or little knowledge of, not knowing what to expect, is an absolute joy when they put on a set like this threesome did. Visually captivating, vocally spot on, instrumentally perfectly in tune and time with one another. Do not miss these if playing near to you.
With Bee being a part of the LGBT+ community, it was only fitting that this amazing gig was on the same day as Trans Day of Remembrance, for those in that community who are no longer with us, and the struggles that some in that community often suffer. I might also add, that a number of the crowd were LGBT+, and it was great to see everyone having a blast in a safe area, surrounded by safe and friendly people. So, hats off again to Bee again for all the right reasons.
Links:
Lynskey
Email: lynskeyband@gmail.com
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/lynskeyband
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynskeyband
Two Tonne Machete
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083552079115
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/TWOTONNEMACHETE
TV Face
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tvfaceband
Email: tvfaceband@gmail.com