THE MEFFS, RATS AS BIG AS DOGS, SUPRACELESTIALS, STUDY OF US, NOVEMBER
WASHING MACHINE AT THE HUNTER CLUB, BSE
Readers with a long memory may remember that I bloody LOVED RATS AS BIG AS DOGS, the Bury St Edmunds post-ted-core supergroup-of-sorts featuring Jay of The Volunteers and Shannon of Horse Party along with Reuben and George. RABAD burned brightly but briefly and tonight marks their first gig for over seven years. With all respect to the rest of the bill, it is RABAD that I am here to see and so I’ll break convention to talk about them first.
First up, main vocalist Jay is not playing guitar. That might be a disappointment but they have drafted in Seymour (Horse Party/Miss Black America and the driving force behind Washing Machine) to fill the gap. This leaves Jay free to stalk the stage like a man possessed and bellow the lyrics with eye-bulging intensity. To the best of my knowledge, Shannon hasn’t played drums in public for a good while but by heck it doesn’t show. Without any hyperbole, Shannon is one of my three favourite drummers and tonight reinforces just how good she is. Reuben plays with a fiery intensity and inventiveness that bears comparison with Black Flag’s Greg Ginn and Dead Kennedys’ East Bay Ray whilst George’s bass is suitably thunderous.
Of course, this intensity would be meaningless without songs. And they have the songs. The likes of opener In The Court Of Public Opinion, Print, Generous When It Suits and Gin Pissers are as relevant, if not more so, than they were last time I saw RABAD back in 2014. They KILLED IT tonight and the only shame is that, with Reuben living in Germany and George in Brighton (I think), it is unlikely that we’ll see them regularly.
Now, I’ve got that outta my system, on to the rest of the bill....
Opening the show is NOVEMBER - or nxvemb3r on social media - the solo project from Pedro of Fleas, singing over music from a laptop and, on Bathtub, guest vocals from Freya. Trip-hoppy, electro-soul-pop with trappy rhythms, November is very different to Fleas’ fiery alt.punk. It’s not really my bag but I appreciate the talent on show and I’ve gotta admire Pedro for agreeing to do this at short notice.
Superficially similar to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, SUPRACELESTIALS play a gothy-dreampop-punk-garage. The cover of Tones and I’s Dance Monkey is interesting, the songs are decent and the playing is good but, despite their being two guitars, drums and strong vocals, the sound is a bit thin. To my mind, a bass, some keys or some fuzz wouldn’t go amiss or maybe my ears really are just shot to bits.
Tonight’s gig buddy David A compared STUDY OF US to Jamie T. For me, he’s more like a 21st century Carter or Pop Will Eat Itself. From the manic start involving clambering up a stool, the energy levels are way up in the red. SoU plays acoustic guitar and keys, whilst singing over live loops and stomping all over the stage and dance floor. He has the audience wrapped around his little finger and, despite the serious nature of the lyrics, this is damned good fun.
After RABAD blew my mind, THE MEFFS take to the stage. With Lily on vox/guitar and Lewis on drums/vox, they play a cracking brand of street-punk-garage-rock that somehow recalls The Stooges, Subs, Ramones, AC/DC and Discharge. For me, RABAD are a hard act to follow but with songs like You’re English Is Great, the crowd shoutalong of Stand Up Speak Out and Football - complete with audience kickabout - The Meffs pull it outta the bag. What Do You Expect is slower and heavier whilst Bug mixes pop melodies with the fast and sharp riffing. The Meffs support Lagwagon at the Waterfront next month. Get there early and have your ears blown off.
Another great night at Washing Machine. As ever, kudos to Seymour, Joe and all involved with both Washing Machine and the Hunter Club for making this work so well.
