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Review: 'Protex, The Eel Men, Trash Culture, Shiner'
'Live at Some Weird Sin 10th anniversary show'   

-  Album: 'at The Lexington, Angel.'
-  Genre: 'Punk/New Wave' -  Release Date: '24.10.22.'

Our Rating:
For the last 10 years Some Weird Sin has been one of my favorite club nights to go and see cool bands and hear cool music hosted by the dynamic duo of Mauro Venegas and Simon D.Rowner, so although of the 4 bands on the bill at the 10th Anniversary night, I'm only vaguely familiar with one band, Trash Culture who I realized after the gig that I'd seen before, playing the Some Weird Sin Brexit night party with The Parkinsons and The Sly Persuaders a bill that makes my forgetting them quite easy as it really is difficult to stand out while opening for The Parkinsons. In keeping with many of my previous Some Weird Sin reviews this will feature lots of guess work and made-up song titles, that I'm happy to correct if any of the bands want me too.

Still onto this 10th Anniversary gig. We got in just after Shiner had come on, they are a 5-piece band from Bath featuring 4 guys who've been around the block a few times and a much younger singer Bruno Bomp who is still a teenager.

The first song we heard all of was I Am Teenaged, it was a song of teen angst with Bruno providing spasmodic dancing and singing as he jerked all over the place, over the raw and low-slung basic garage punk. As the band got into a steady paced gritty groove, the stage alone couldn't contain Bruno who kept falling off, or leaping off the stage as he screamed at us Never Surrender that had the odd nod to The Ruts but not too many of them.

Ricky Wild Raised By Wolves was howled at us as the spasmodic dancing and rolling around on the stage got more intense. They then offered us all out on You And Whose Army, that I really wanted to reply Caesars of course, and where does he keep them, well up his sleevies, but I think they were too angry for such japes.

They then hoped to get lucky with Going Home Together that contained a few chat up lines and rather speedy and as ever very low slung down tuned guitar playing. I think they closed with Is Everybody Out Tonight, well not quite but a good few of us were to hear Shiner.

After the break it was time for Trash Culture the 5 piece who feature Adrian Alfonso on Guitar whose also in the Speedways with tonight's host Mauro and the always angry front man Cunha, who was soon bellowing at us It's A Riot while the bands frantic hardcore punk started grinding away at us. They then gave us some advice for a New Love. I Wanna Die was a feeling of intense desperation that was reiterated on Couldn't Care Less.

Cunha was soon telling us about an SOS he was sending out, it seemed something was amiss, he had a Rage to deal with. As the band kept everything good and tight Cunha was out of control for most of get Out and Informer that sadly wasn't a cover version. As Bruno sang You Make Me Sick I'm sure a few audience members agreed with him.

The most political song of the set was also the catchiest My God Is Better Than Your God that Cunha spent a good part of climbing anything around the stage while claiming it was the last song of the set. They then finished with the very speedy and anthemic Get High, Get Stoned, Get Drunk that seemed to be the theme for how they wanted to spend the rest of the night as soon as they had been forced off the stage that is..

After the break the Eel Men came on, they were a 5 piece that included a seated maracas player in dark glasses who also provided some backing vocals to the mod punk they played from the opening 16 Numbers they were far more angular and far tighter than the first two bands and drew the biggest crowd of the night.

I Am The Archetype seemed to be setting out the Eel Men's manifesto for how Real Men should behave in the 2020's and unlike previous Real Men they don't come from hell. They took us on a trip that had some good, frazzled edges and harmonies from the Bass player and maracas guy. I'm Trapped had plenty of angst as it got a good amount of the audience dancing to it.

Things got a bit more intense as lead Eel Men started throwing accusations You Didn't Tell Her as if he expected her to listen as well, I've Got The Sorrow had plenty of heartache among the frenetic guitars and crunchy drumming.

They were soon having a go at the West Street Pirate for all the shenanigans he's been up too. Pissing In The Wind could easily be the battle cry of every band playing at this level hoping to somehow break big, as well as what it was actually about as the Maracas weaved in and out of the guitar parts.

Are You There God It's Me from the bands latest cassette Live At The New River Studios that seemed like a perfect song to hear on the weekend before the Jewish new Year and how we are meant to be making sure God listens, as we all repent our sins once more. They closed with one more speedy Mod Punk anthem that may have been One For Me either way they left the stage to a good cheer and lots of smiles all around us.

Tonight's headliners are legendary Belfast Punks Protex who originally formed in 1978 and were on the Good Vibrations label before recording an album with Chas Chandler that sat unreleased for decades until the band re-formed.

They started solidly enough with Try Me that had a good power pop punk edge to it. Look Out Johnny from Strange Obsessions, the album with Chas Chandler, had a very catchy chorus on a song that might have been a hit with the right promotion.

I Can't Cope Anymore sounded like an anthem for the last five years or so as we deal with everything that's gone on, this had some nifty guitarwork. The fairly typical Belfast punk sound came through on Out Of... before Tight Rope got them walking a line towards Something You've Got as the songs seemed to bleed into each other.

I think what I have down at Wicked Ways may well be Private Lives as the ever speedy and generally catchy tunes keep flying at us with some good-natured chat between songs as they tell us what it was like Under The Gun that had a fraught feel to it as living in Belfast in the 70's would have had.

The song that seemed to up the bands energy levels was there cover of The Only Ones Another Girl Another Planet this was a good reasonably faithful cover and saw them seem to kick into another gear as they sung about there Strange Obsessions that was followed by, I Can Only Dream which coming from Belfast in the 70's obviously featured living in a peaceful undivided city.

They closed the set with Don't Ring Me Up that was a proper old school song about ghosting someone and telling them not to phone you up anymore, these days it would be don't TXT me that doesn't have the same ring to it. This was a cool way to end a good tight set.
The party continued on downstairs as Simon and Mauro took control on the decks and for me this was a good first gig to go to in the Chazz Age that we have just entered.
  author: simonovitch

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