Band: DEATH VALLEY GIRLS Who: Garage rock fury from Los Angeles, led by
vocalist/guitarist/organist and charismatic voodoo
doll Bonnie Bloomgarden, fabricating Californian
doom boogie.
Active since 2013 / 4 albums (so far),
with Under The Spell Of Joy (2020)
as their most recent.
Band: SONS Who: Rawk and roll turbine from Belgium Where: 4AD club, Diksmuide, Belgium When: 7 April 2022
SONS is one of the hottest bands in my country. Back in 2018, the 4-piece scored
big time in a radio contest, and from there on they went on a high-speed rollercoaster
with their powerhouse debut LP Family Diner as their first loud-and-clear milestone.
Their follow-up is just around the corner. SWEET BOY is out on 22 April. Order infohere.
Ahead of it came lead single NOTHING a few weeks ago.
A kamikaze ripper…
Last week I saw the group storming through one of their try-out gigs to warm up for the imminent album release show in Brussels and for their big upcoming summer festival spots.
If you never heard of this mean Belgian riff machine, let your brain work a bit and imagine Aussie psych-freaks King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard being a garage punk band on a mind-blowing noise mission. Get the very head-splitting, the very obstreperous, and the very gusty picture?
When it happens in front of your eyes and your ears your beasty instincts take over, your head starts rotating uncontrollably and you go bonkers all the way. That’s SONS for you, people. Four hungry triggermen that turn a try-out into a knock-out.
The much-lauded and hot-blooded young gang from Dublin, Ireland hit Belgium to play a blistering gig. Here are 10 things you need to know…
1. Yesterday morning I read about these Irish rockers on music website NME: “You do need to see them ASAP” (full feature here.) As I am an obedient man I immediately went out and witnessed them in our historic World War I village of Diksmuide (but not for the first time, that was last year when they impressed Brussels).
2. This was a rescheduled gig. The band’s November 2018 concert here in this utterly cool 4AD club had to be canceled because singer Grian Chatten was sick. Despite their current, endless night-to-night tour they sacrificed a rare day off to return to Belgium last night and play. Respect!
3. The show started with a smashing rendition of my favorite Fontaines cracker ‘Hurricane Laughter’. Did you ever get that should I stay or should I go feeling after a band/artist began the set with your favorite track. I remember vaguely having had that experience before, but definitely not this time, not with this awesome squad.
4. Charismatic frontman Grian Chatten revealed in a recent interview that his parlando
way of singing was inspired by his uncles shouting at Christmas dinners and their drunk voices sounding commanding and authoritarian. That’s the way to get anybody’s attention. Cool family, Grian!
5. Another thing about Chatten. He’s actually the only member of the band who moves on stage. His non-stop manic steps from left to right and back compensates for his immobile teammates perfectly well. Makes me think suddenly of early Oasis gigs I saw. Nobody, not even Liam moved when performing. Anyway, Fontaines‘ live force strikes you like a sizzling missile, who cares if they move or not. Here’s an idea of their magnetic energy…
6. I bought this t-shirt. My wife said: “It looks like a piece of textile from the 50s.”
My reply: “It’s reproduced authenticity from the past.” Yes, life is controlled by
perception… all the time.
7. Two members of the band took charge of selling the merch afterward. Can’t see that happen anymore in the near future as the group will play bigger venues along their way
to glorious fame.
8. D.C. = Dublin City
9. Striking set… list
10. Believe the hype. These young gunslingers rock like an unstoppable steamroller, on record and on stage, and their sociopolitical observations cut like a Swiss knife. Check it
all out on their brand new debut album, called DOGREL right here…
PERE UBU – 4AD Club, Diksmuide, Belgium – 1 June 2018
Last Friday legendary Cleveland singer/songwriter/underground/rocker/poet/storyteller David Thomas and his PERE UBU band hit Belgium as part of an European tour following
the band’s release of the excellent 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo LP last summer.
A flamboyant album showing (again) that Thomas still has the sound and vision – after almost 45 years – to inspire, to enrapture and to excite with verbal sharpness, cracking tales and kick-ass songs.
Also live the 6-headed combo still knows how to get a hungry crowd of old and less older fans (not to forget some lifelong-super-devoted fans named one by one by chief Thomas) in a state of joyous agitation. Experienced musicians led by a natural-born entertainer with a voice that whispers, sings, howls, screams and tells us stories about monkeys and about his burden: people very close to him beg on repeat to be… charming. Hilarious stuff. The roller coaster set featured several tracks from the new LP and some imperishable classics.
Despite some physical problems nailing him to his chair the whole time Thomas rattled
on and on with every single nerve he has in his body. After the last song, and a deserved ovation many, including myself, headed towards the bar, not expecting an encore. Oh my! Pere Ubu came back faster than we could order a drink and how! KICK-OUT-THE-JAMS-MOTHERFUCKERS! The biting and clamorous way Thomas spit that timeless line out, word by word, was nothing less than gobsmacking!
So was actually the whole smashing rendition of that MC5 classic. Thomas was playing guitar on his walking stick! Suddenly a splendid gig turned into one with an unforgettable moment of sheer euphoria. Hail hail! Fabulous!
