Die! Die! Die!, Showing Tonite, Polite Underground.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 12th April 2008.

Even if they are top-heavy with exclamation marks, DIE! DIE! DIE!'s performance tonight was breathless and, at times, mesmerizingly brilliant. Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, these kiwi 'art punks' are a total revelation in front of a crowd that was abysmally small in number. There are so many young folks in local bands that really should have been here. Still, these people missed a forty minute set of spellbinding presence and ear rupturing sounds.

Taken under the wing of legendary producer Steve Albini, who oversaw their eponymous debut album, the band are an undiscovered musical treasure trove of cranked-up noise jewels. Tonight Die! Die! Die! lean heavily towards their new album "Promises Promises", which at present is not released in this country as they don't have a record deal here. Hopefully that can be rectified very quickly.

Die! Die! Die! open with a crescendo of snarling and screaming guitars backed by a constant primal drumbeat. All the more amazing beacuse the 'sticksman' had been in an emotional state pre-gig, so much so that vocalist Andrew Wilson told me at the end of the gig that the band's visit to Bedford had been "a very interesting day"!. But then Mr Wilson is not your conventional front man, preferring to leap and prowl around the audience like some hyperactive child seeking his Ritalin fix! The sparse mosh pit makes it easy for him. His two bandmates are happy to operate in their normal surroundings. "Britomart Sunset" slowly builds to a climactic conclusion, while the edgy lyrics of "Hold me down, hold me down....I just want to drink myself away" give "Maybe:definitely" the punch to match the sound. The anarchic spirit of Wilson reaches a zenith as he spits out "A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E."

"Blue skies" is probably the 'poppiest' of "Die! Die! Die!'s set, although I do use that word very loosely! A song full of gorgeous hooks and riffs, but normal service is resumed with the dementedly angular "Throw a Fit". The musical epileptic experience of that three minute barrage is akin to having one! With the Esquires stage almost on fire (!), the boys depart. You say party, I say Die! Die! Die!!!

Support tonight comes from a couple of young bands. POLITE UNDERGOUND perform well with the influence of The Libertines shining through, while the 'shouty' nu rave metallers SHOWING TONITE are trying to recreate the scene of a couple of years ago. I find them tiresome and repetitive, but their loyal bunch of fans dance and mosh joyously.