We got into this gig as THE ETHICAL DEBATING SOCIETY came on, just as they started singing about I Don't Wanna Be Here: a song that sounded like a cross between Babes In Toyland and Cay hopefully without the latter's propensity for Heroin and prostitution. Whatever, they make a glorious lo-fi racket and are soon singing about how "I'll see you in Spencer Close I fear" which I'm sure should be chilling.
Have a Word with Yourself is a good cross between Voodoo Queens and Mambo Taxi and they stay in that vein for Designer Boyfriend: a close sonic relation to Super model Superficial by the Voodoo Queens. The best (and in some ways funniest) song of the set is Angry Welshman in Trainers. Yes it is a song about exactly that and the lo-fi guitars and angry drumming work really well on i.
The main singer then throws a mock fit over the next song as she has to actually sing rather than scream at us and surprises us with a decent cover of Cool Rider - yup, the Michelle Pfeiffer song from Grease 2. Well it is a punk classic right!!?
They then swapped drummers for the final song of the set, Cover Up, and I have to say the second drummer was much prettier than the first and added a bit more kick to the sound. All fine by me.
Next on is SKINNY GIRL DIET who are fast becoming a hard working support act that will be unavoidable in the next few years. Still incredibly young, I'm sure if you saw them in their school uniforms you'd never guess how they sound live!!
They open with Turn: a song that sounds nice and angry and has the bass player giving us her best screams while the drummer does her best to not smile while playing.
I Haven't Time is a teenage rant of a song and both the sisters on drums and guitar really let loose on it. I Decided gives the distinct impression that they could be the new Hole or L7 but with a bit of Arch Enemy thrown into the mix. The new song that may or may not be called My Dog carries on the formula and just pushes home how much potential they have.
Insomnia sounded better than the last time I saw them late last year opening for The Nightingales It now has even more screams and the certainty of not being able to sleep while they are playing. It was hastily followed by Prozac Nation: a lot more fun that Elizabeth Wurtzel!! They then finished with another couple of angry ranting songs; one about "Really not caring" and one that was about a Wasted Smile. This was another good short sharp set.
Finally it was time for BASTARDS OF FATE who were playing the final date of the band's first UK tour to promote both the debut album Who's A Fuzzy Buddy: Who's A Fuzzy Buddy at Our Summer Records and the split 7"single on HHBTM Split 7" single news online with the Ethical Debating Society and Skinny Girl Diet also featuring on the just released on Red Star Digital's compilation Red Star Variations compiled by Marty Rev: Red Star Variations via iTunes
The first thing that set the Bastards of Fate apart from everyone else is that the singer set up on the dance floor rather than the stage and he clung onto a mining lamp on a cord the entire set. At times, this was pretty blinding especially when he was up close and personal which by the very nature of how they perform was quite a bit.
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Admittedly, it helped the band's What the Fuck tendencies and they have those in spades from the bass playing monster figure who is something like a cross between Sideshow Bob and Fido Dido on triptamine to the unholy racket they make seeming to sound like they come straight outta the ruins of Detroit or the Cleveland underground of the 70's and yet actually being straight outta Roanoake, Virginia.
From the opening yells and yelps on Freemasons, the singer goes nuts and the band careen between the territory of the Electric Eels and Dimbulb and take slanted skewhiff music to extremes that only bands like They Came from The Stars I Saw Them and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitti might go. But with little or no funk tendencies, of course.
Telling us that Portal To Hell is a"n American Pop song" was like expecting Bolt Thrower on the next season of American Idol. The keyboards did something really nasty on this while the demented singer was howling at who knows what.
They might have been claiming to play country and western but it was more the soundtrack to some hillbilly initiation ceremony as they sprayed their Dark Matter at us. By this point in the set the demented speed freak who had been ever present on the dance floor all night was in the grips of some serious convulsive fit and the band gave him the props he deserved while the singer tried to out-contort him as the Book Of Lies took hold and seemed to go on for years and years. It did seem to stretch time and have the odd person clearing out of the bar.
The Bastards Of Fate certainly have room clearing potential, yet at the same time they have that car crash, anything-could-happen- next thing that makes you endure the nuttier bits of the racket. As they twitch and propel us through the Misanthropy that they don't seem to be suffering from, it also fills the dance floor!
It was like Half Japanese being moshed into madness. By the time of the final song (that I think may have been called Girlfriend) the people remaining in the Buffalo Bar are either looking dazed or dancing like madmen as this was the sort of performance that is both sapping and exhilarating to watch, let alone play.
The Bastards Of Fate are one of those bands that need to be seen to be believed, but you might not be thankful for the experience. It's your call.
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