This was the second show on Bratakus album launch tour to promote the excellent Hagridden, they were joined by late addition support band Fightmilk who are a young London based four-piece indie band whose songs I am guessing at.
They opened with what was probably Escape From Camp Run For Your Life but that I put down as We're All Girls that had a good angry edge, like if Perfume weren't obsessed with becoming hugely famous, You're A Bore was the theme of the next song that could have been about That Thing You Did it was good and bouncy, lead singer Lily had plenty of anger to go round, how could you currently be young and not angry.
Lily introduced the next song as being called Eat The Soup Fatty about the bands increasing hatred at Ozempic culture forcing people to start shooting up drugs in the hope of being slim and beach ready, it had a less chaotic Comet Gain edge to parts of it. Song About Death as Lily introduced it, had a good darker edge and Healey's bass line was suitably dark. I have no idea what Greg did to upset them, apart from using the wrong pronouns again, but the song dedicated to him Fuck Greg was the high point of the set, poor old Mr Wallace caught up to no good again.
Sounds Like A Problem was introduced as being about A Bastard, but with so many choices which one are they singing about, Alex let rip on a furious guitar solo that helped make sure we knew what sort of problem they were dealing with. They closed with a song Lily introduced as being about not wanting kids and the things that are said to them, when they say they are happy to be child free. This Child free 60-year-old sympathises, I have heard all the lines and happily ignored them, I hope Fightmilk manage to do the same. They show promise and I hope they play enough shows to develop enough to really stand out. Oh and this is the constructive criticism Lily welcomed from the stage.
After the break it was time for young Scottish sisters Bratakus to assault our ears, they opened with Final Girls and from the start the brash guitars and in your face vocals had heaps of energy, After they had thanked us all for coming and said they had spent 9 hours getting to the venue today, they launched into a brutal version of Turnstile that had a good frayed at the edges presence and reminded be a bit of Jale. They then introduced a couple of old songs whose names I didn't quite get, but were blasts of intense noise and energetically screamed vocals in a similar vein to Maid Of Ace who they name checked for being the band they supported last time they played London.
Breagha explained what Real Men Eat Meat was about and it is the macho RFK culture of blokes who have to announce they are carnivores, like it is a signal of just how virile and manly they are, Bratakus are having none of that and ridicule such macho posturing with crunchy nasty Babes In Toyland infused guitars. They made totally clear why they believe in No More Love Songs that made me smile a lot, I tried to review an album of Love Songs right after reviewing Hagridden and let's say it didn't go well for said album of love songs. I am totally with them on this brilliant rallying call anthem, make sure you say something with your songs.
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I Know Nothing wasn't sung like Manuel might have said it, but this was bitter and angry screed with an edge encouraging us to become better informed. Minds Eye flew at us a thousand miles an hour yet still bouncy and with Oonagh's bass ready to gut punch anyone getting in there way. They then played one of the bands Halloween singles with You're Dead the Norma Tanega classic that in their hands was rather heavy and they seemed rather happy to dance on your grave. The other side of that single the Half Woman had a hardcore zombie punk edge to it.
Can't Shut Me Up makes clear that they will always stand up for the causes they want to and no one should be told they can't have an opinion, which led them to Token all about how as young women in the music business it is incredibly hard to be taken seriously, not being talked down to by blokes who think they are just here to look pretty, well they basically attempt to castrate blokes like that with hard core riffs and screams of deep frustration that they are not treated as equals.
Tonight was both a celebration of being on tour and one of the songs that needed a bit more than the drum machine backing them, but it still had plenty of power. Drowning is what most of us feel we are currently doing in this rain drenched land, but they are on about a different kind of drowning, this was full of spite and bile. They closed with the desperate and dark Cutters that sliced through the Grace at a hell of a pace.
They didn't really leave the stage before coming back for an encore and blasting through a short sharp shock version of Hard Headed Woman, Wanda Jackson's immortal classic that I first heard played live in 1986 by Tav Falco's Panther Burns, this was even faster than Tav played it, certainly far more angry than Wanda sounded singing it live, a great way to close a very spirited set by a band you need to see live.
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