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Review: 'DEPARTMENT S/ REID, DUNCAN & THE BIG HEADS'
'London, Islington, The Lexington, 22nd August 2015'   


-  Genre: 'Punk/New Wave'

Our Rating:
It's been a while since I've been to a Some Weird Sin night but this one was well worth the effort. I really wanted to be seeing Diamond Dogs' album launch show at the other end of Islington as that was meant to be on the Friday night but switched to Saturday night after The Purple Turtle went out of business. Still, this was a great triple bill so no complaints and it also gave me a chance to see some people I missed at Rebellion as well.

I made the gig in time for LOS PEPES despite all the chaos of 2 of the tube lines I wanted to use being out of service and I was mighty glad I did. They describe themselves as "the loudest Power Pop band on the planet" and do everything they can to live up to that apart from getting Kitty and Daisy to dance on stage with them as they do in one of the bands Videos. They open with a song about feeling fine that has ear crushing sound from the guitars and bass that are being played at about 1000 miles an hour over vocals that are somewhere between Norman Blake and John Felice.

They barely pause for breath before they are Alone in The City and from the sound of it joyriding in an XR3 with the pedal to the metal. I Just Don't Care zips by in a blur of raging guitars and sweet vocals that are only partially at odds with the music.

All I Can do (or whatever it was called) reminds me a lot of The Real Kids and the more I hear Los Pepes the more obvious that's sorta where they are coming from with maybe a bit of Dead Boys and Ramones. At this pace they've obviously ram raided a pharmacy for all the ephedrine they can find as they sing about how You're Nothing Special. They may be telling us I Don't Wanna Dance but it has nothing to do with Eddy Grant. No One Else seems to have touches of the Greg Kihn Band but amped up and ready to be rammed into our skulls. It's great and has the dancefloor going great guns.

They seem to be unable to slow down and that's no bad thing as the singer pleads that he Just Wants You. How could you deny him? So by the time they close with a song claiming It's Too Late for Me they have easily got everyone in the Lexington going nicely. It's a great set of loud audacious Power pop.

Next on was DUNCAN REID & THE BIG HEADS. I should have seen Duncan playing with his other band, The Boys, at Rebellion but somehow we were elsewhere when they were on the main stage in the Empress Ballroom. They opened with Montevideo: a delicious slice of slightly glammy power pop that sadly sounded a bit thin after Los Pepes but this was mainly due to them being the quietest band of the night.

C'est La Vie from the band's Difficult Second Album was next; sounding like an old song I knew from way back. It was very cool and the band had a real Waldo's vibe going on and Duncan's Rickenbacker Bass sounded damn fine too. It led almost straight into Wasting Time and there was precious little of that going on.

Baby Doll was just salacious enough and the interplay between Duncan and Sophie on guitar really ramped it up. I loved the ironic lyrics on I'm Still As Good as I Used to Be: that eternal problem of ageing musicians when fans always go on about the stuff they made when they were young and pretty. Thinking About Her was nice and cool too.

Before they played Rio De Janeiro, Duncan explained what the song was about and well, who wouldn't write a song about going to Rio and having your gig cancelled like that? It's a great song too. Kelly's Gone Insane was, well, insane and I think had the dual piano part at the start that was nice and tricky. No surprises that Brickfield Nights went down a storm and sounded magnificent as Gotta Call Simone (not sure of that title). They then nailed 77 like the bands lives depended on it.

They gave a big shout out to Honest John Plain who was up the back among the musician-stuffed audience before a great go at First Time, The Boys' old classic that had pretty much everyone singing along to the chorus. Following it, they brought on the band's special guest Andrew Matheson who used to be in the Hollywood Brats for a full on rampage through that band's classic Sick On You. It sounded like a long lost Johnny Thunders tune: a great end to a good set that should have been at the same volume as the other two bands tonight.

Then it was time for the 80's band DEPARTMENT S. The band's current line-up soon prove why they are still around as I know it will surprise a few people that they are still going after original vocalist/songwriter Vaughn Toulouse died back in 1991. Eddie Roxy is the current singer and they are now a pretty cool dark punk band. They opened with Clap Now that had plenty of Irony in the lyrics as well as being much louder and more forceful than Duncan Reid had been.

Monte Carlo Or Bust sounded like the last thing a punk bad should sing about and yet sounded cool with some really great guitar on it. Was the next song called On My Own Again? I'm not sure but either way it had a real great sound to it. They then did a great cover of Born To Lose to ramp up the bands punk kudos.

The Long March seems perfect for the current political climate of witch hunts and character assassinations. It was followed by the band's second single Going Left Right that still sounds damn cool after all these years. Age Concern could have been about being in a band like this but was anything but.

Ode To Koln (Stench Of War) was just as heavy as a song with that title it's a good reminder of the waste of war. They followed that with Wonderful Day that seemed in marked contrast but still a great tune regardless.

They then brought on the band's roadie to play second guitar, I last saw him in the Empress Ballroom at Rebellion on Guitar for Ruts DC as yes Leigh Heggarty who was roadie for the day!! Once he'd plugged in they played a great version of Is Vic There? The band's biggest hit which kept Leigh onstage for the set-closing Robot that should have featured some proper early 80's robot dancing surely. It did, however, feature some band intros and a brilliant instrumental ending to a great night.

All that was left was for the dancefloor to get good and messy for the rest of the night in full on proper Some Weird Sin style. A club that really knows how to put a great bill together.
  author: simonovitch

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