Ho99o9 @ the Waterfront Studio

It’s hard to find the sort of night in Norwich where a man wears a wedding dress and a gimp mask and bellows at you. But tonight that’s what happened. I’m at the Waterfront Studio on a Monday night with about 50 other people, a couple weeks away from Christmas, and I’m very ready to be impressed by one of the most exciting and acclaimed punk acts of 2015.

Knowpeace, a fourpiece from Kings Lynn unexpectedly utterly blow me and all my cobwebs away. After the first couple songs I’m drawn to the front of the crowd by some invisible force I can’t resist. It’s full on, deep, and very loud, with a great screamy shouty vocalist and amazing beefy basslines rumbling throughout. The drummer‘s powerful with some proper skills and confidence on show. The huge sound resonates through the sparse crowd, filling us up and lifting us off our feet. Even the feedback is beautiful. It’s not just noise though; there are melodies there too, and some quiet moments. It’s even quite bluesy at times. I’m reminded of Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, but Knowpeace feel like a more cohesive band. Additional vocals from the bassist and guitarist ramp it up even more, making the sound incredibly full and epic at times. The bass player handles his instrument like it's a woman he's fucking. This is sexy music, and seeing young men exhorting their demons and all their lusts and furies in the traditional way, through rock n roll, is a joy. In one of the last tracks of the set, the tattooed, mustachioed drummer keeps up a military beat and the other instruments maintain a quiet feedbacky hum underneath as the rhythm builds and builds and becomes ever more complex. It’s a full on workout. I love this band. Come back soon. Move here. Move in with me. Play me this music every day.

https://soundcloud.com/knowpeace-uk

This is the second time I’ve seen Norwich duo Bald Wife within a month. Their glitchy, heavy, rock powerhouse sound has a real conviction tonight, and they’re giving it 110%. If electronica made rock music this would be it. It’s loud, scuzzy and discordant with lots of stop/starts; the very definition of garage rock. There are some great furious, swaggering guitar solos from Jack, and his talky shouty vocals are strong. Their best song is She, with expected un-mic'd vocal screams slicing through the room halfway through from the drummer.

https://soundcloud.com/baldwife

You know you’re going to be in for a once in a lifetime experience when a gig starts with two lithe, mad-haired guys from New Jersey on stage called theOGM and Eaddy, one with blue hair perched like a raven atop an amp, the other pacing in a homemade mask and wearing an unzipped, blood stained dress. Bring it on, Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror). Playing virtually every song they’ve ever written during the hour long set, this is more a performance than a traditional gig. Wearing everything from fangs to sports shorts and pulled-up socks to one creepy black glove to virtually nothing during the night, sweat gleams on their bodies. It feels like nothing would surprise us tonight. The night starts properly with Eaddy leaping into a non existent mosh pit after the first couple tracks, and the crowd get onboard instantly. There’s a lively pit for pretty much most of the night after that, and some really intense moments with Eaddy in the crowd. Musically they are incredibly inventive and original. It’s a bubbling cauldron spilling over with punk, metal, hip hop, trip hop, rock…it’s hard to categorise them for sure, and that’s just one of the wonders of them. There’s a drummer in a wig, but other than that the only instrument on stage is a sequencer, punched at and played by theOGM, packed with all the guitars, and bass, and extra drums and samples and every other noise they need at exactly the right volume and depth to make you truly believe, if you close your eyes, that you’re watching a full band. Their voices soar individually and although a duo, they often do their own thing lost in their own worlds; when they do come together it’s pure magic. The sound quality tonight is superb, booming and even choral at times.

It’s not just about their music though. It’s about the power and feral nature and complexity and simplicity and imagery of Ho99o9 as an act, and how it makes you feel to be in their presence. This is visceral, raw, and full of unexpressed desires and fears. Norwich is known for having a quiet, insular enthusiasm that’s there but you really have to work hard to get us hot and heavy, and Ho99o9 manage to do it. This is probably the quietest, most well behaved night on the tour for them, and of course, we have nothing on the wild, out of control underground New York gigs they’ve played, but for Norwich it’s a massive deal that they’re here. They amaze me and delight me. Watch out for them in 2016. Well done to those Norwich folk who took a punt on a challenging gig, and thank you to Ho99o9 for bringing it. You are special and rare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsUO8OKMWO4