Star Fucking Hipsters
Tuesday 27 April, 2010
Purple Turtle, Camden
Support: Dirty Revolution + Throats + Defcon Zero
?I don?t remember this guy joining the band.? As tonight?s headliner whips a frenzy out of the crowd there?s a bouncer stood to the side of the stage looking more than a little uncomfortable. You get the impression he?s not really sure what he?s supposed to be doing. But whereas trouble seems to have followed Scott ?Stza? Sturgeon around regardless of the guise of his band (Left”ver Crack, Choking Victim, Crack Rock Steady Seven, etc, etc) tonight mostly goes off without a hitch. It?s just a good old-fashioned, beer-swilling, middle finger saluting, punk gig. No trouble here. Off the stage then, mate.
The opening DEFCON ZERO plays a crust punk/hardcore brand of music that dozens of other London bands play. Ordinarily it?s a fairly stale and disinteresting genre, but tonight this quartet is decent, at its best when it?s particularly noisy and fast. No nonsense, start to finish.
THROATS. Throats. Throats. It seems every time you see this band things are getting heavier and heavier. Guttural to the core, the quintet take to the Purple Turtle?s stage like doomsayers, flooding every corner with fierce hardcore and impenetrable vocals in a truly mangled gnarl of noise. Whilst this particular crowd may not be the best for the band to be playing to, it?s a performance that highlights Throats as being better than so many of the other bands playing this type of music.
Compared to the two bands previous, DIRTY REVOLUTION is like a calming stroll along the beach. The brutal vocals are out and the melodica is in. Breakneck guitars are switched for upstrokes, and venom is replaced with subtle mischief. The Cardiff quartet has really grown into its reggae-punk identity and tonight, playing to what is almost a completely new crowd despite regular visits to the capital this month, puts in a performance that has more than a few of the staunch punks bobbing along. Whilst ?I Love Reggae? goes down a treat as ever, ?Church? (from the incoming debut album) sounds particularly good, but it?s the closing newer-than-new track, ?Feel the Fear? that proves the highlight, an island-goer?s calypso treat.
In these parts Stza Crack may just about be a living legend. That?s the impression you get from the heroic welcome he?s given as he goes about setting up his guitar. Whilst STAR FUCKING HIPSTERS may well be the most accessible band he?s brought to these shores (there are some seriously big choruses going on here) that same political and confrontational fire burns inside. Star Fucking Hipsters may be a comedic name but the music is anything but.
Tonight the band is spot on. There?s a relaxed feel to the performance yet still an impression of agro antiestablishment knotted up in three minute punk blasts. Singer Nico de Gaillo prowls the stage, a scowl across her face belies her diminutive frame (the look she gives our friend the unwitting bouncer is enough to turn you to stone), as the band bashes out the likes of ?Zombie Christ?, ?Severance Pay?, the crowd appealing ?Two Cups of Tea?, and ?3,000 Miles?, which although played early may be the pick of the bunch tonight. An over zealous punter manages to pinch the set list leaving the band to guess its way through the performance, but it?s taken in good nature. It?s an enjoyable set that showcases just how good the songs and the band are without any of the extra curricular baggage that?s associated with Stza. (Almost) Clean cut fun from your friendly NYC squatters you might say. Good stuff indeed.
Alex