Music > Live Reviews

CLOWN SMASH EVERYTHING, CAROL HODGE BAND, DYNAMITE AND DINOSAURS & RAWBOTS

The Brickmakers

08/03/22

Following a fairly last minute venue change from the Waterfront Studio, it is off to the Brickies on a Thursday night. 

First up, RAWBOTS are playing their debut gig. And what a set it is, the trio delivering old school 80s hardcore, hitting the midpoint between the NYHC of Cro-Mags and the UKHC of Electro Hippies with doses of Discharge and Exploited thrown in for good measure. It’s not perfect - the between song banter needs some work and a bit more movement wouldn’t go amiss, but that is me trying to offer constructive criticism - but that will come with time and I can’t wait to see ‘em again. 

Not everything about DYNAMITE AND DINOSAURS is to my musical tastes but I can’t remember a time that I smiled so much during a performance. The opener had a touch of Hanson’s Mmmbop about it - in a good way - and elsewhere I am reminded of Ramones, Presidents of the USA, Weezer and even Led Zep. Damned fine songwriting, damned good fun. And where can I acquire a sloth-riding-a-T-Rex shirt?

Anyone who reads the drivel I write in these pages will know that I rate Carol Hodge a LOT. Tonight is my first chance to see THE CAROL HODGE BAND in the flesh and it is, if anything, even better than Carol’s records. Piper Dawes (guitar), Tom Swales (drums) and Matt Crosher (bass) add a heaviness but without losing any of the subtlety. Carol’s voice is in fine form, her piano is phenomenal and the between songs exchanges with band and audience are thoroughly entertaining. This is clever but soulful, heartfelt music. Tonight I am reminded of a less frantic Cardiacs and I’m surprised that comparison has not occurred to me before. Brilliant stuff. 

And so to one of the best bands in the wonderfully fertile Norwich scene, CLOWN SMASH EVERYTHING. Their sound combines metal with post-hardcore to create a cathartic howl of rage, delivered with the swagger of the very best glam-punk-sleaze rockers. The audience response is suitably racous. For the first time since Ye Olde Days Afore Ye Plague, I witness human pyramids. There’s a circle pit or two. And for the icing on the cake, CSE finish their set with a take on the climax to Gn’R’s Paradise City and it is appropriately wild. 

WHAT. A. NIGHT.