Music > Live Reviews

The Dickies // Owl Sanctuary, 14.08.14

15/08/14

The Dickies // Owl Sanctuary, 14.08.14

My elders who lived through the summer of '76 and its aftermath wrote the Dickies off as comedy fake punks. They were wrong. Coming on to a John Barry Bond theme, playing the Sabs' Paranoid with more energy than Ozzy has had for years, doing a tribute to the Who’s Tommy and finishing with the Banana Splits theme, the Dickies were brilliant..

Sole original member Leonard Graves Phillips is a captivating frontman.  Stan, Dave, T Adam and Eddie play in that tight-but-loose way that all the best punk – scratch that, all the best rock ‘n’ roll – bands have. In a lesser band, the glove puppets and masks would divert attention from poor songs. Here they enhance a set of great songs. (9.5/10)

Dogtown Rebels are a proper old school punk band. Owing more than a little to Stiff Little Fingers, this is hardly original but they do this bloody well. (8.5/10)

Pop-punk covers band Doughys have a similar style and are good fun but I'd prefer originals to covers. (7/10)

Autopsy Boys started well, like an intricate speed-metal band covering Pere Ubu. Then the second song sounded identical to the first, the third to the second, the fourth to the third. I left. Not for me. (2/10)

Pavlis