Cerebral Ballzy, Bloody Knees, The Tendons, Ray Guns To Stun.
Lev 2 Esquires Thursday 7th August 2014.
"Jaded and faded" is the brand new album from Cerebral Ballzy. These fun-loving skater punks are, of course, led by the larger than life vocalist Mr Honor Titus. Any good punk band needs a talismanic 'can't keep your eyes off them' frontperson, like Fucked Up have Pink Eyes and Lee Spielman leads Trash Talk. Unlike the other two, Honor avoids physical confrontation with his audience. He may continually stare, shout at or goad them, but he is a peace loving dude. Except when he has a microphone in his hand and then you had better look out. This is the band's first visit to Esquires and, although the venue is not full, those in attendance are here to fully enjoy themselves with this premier punk collective. Vitality is their key, energy is the conductor and sweat is the result. Naturally, with this five piece Honor gives and gets all the reaction. He is tall and angular and shuffles almost nervously on stage. He immediately asks for most of the lights to be turned off so that only four rear lights shine on the Big Apple's finest. Honor is topless throughout and sweat glistens on his torso. He seems in a relatively happy and friendly mood. His ultra thick Brooklyn twang is hard to decipher at times. Later on he does veer into a rather drunken slurry mutter, or was it part of a carefully crafted act?
Honor's opening greeting is kind and sincere; "Hello Bedford, nice to meet you". He tells such an engaging story about "Bedford Avenue" which is the first street you encounter in his home city. Apparently the band have been making up "Bedford quips all day long". I did begin to tally up how many songs Ballzy played (and gave up after eight) so this is purely an estimate, but I reckon that tonight Cerebral Ballzy played practically nearly every song that they have recorded on stage for not far short of an hour. The new album, which finds them taking in a slightly more refined sound, is boosted by the noise blitz of "Speed wobbles" and "Better in leather". Their eponymous debut album of 2011 is also extensively mined. The audience range is vast with twentysomethings, ladies and older punk gentlemen. It is also good to spot so many local band musicians in attendance, all checking out one of the most happening bands of the decade.
The mosh pit is lively, but respectful and polite as all eyes are on Honor. His face has a shy smile before it suddenly contorts with rage as he leaps around the stage. He climbs onto the speaker stacks and sometimes he contemplates by sitting on the side of the stage. He stoops down and addresses the crowd and at one point, nonchalantly leans against the outside wall of the Ladies. He gulps down his alcoholic water which acts as a catalyst for his next poetic punk tirade. It is great to witness him up close and personal. Although the new material is good and the reviews have been favourable, I feel that nothing this man writes in the future will come close to the awesome "Cutting class". Tonight we get an extended version of it and, without doubt, my highlight. Just recently the band have been taken under the paternal wing of Julian 'Strokes'. This will make Honor Titus even more cool. His natural aura is hard to tame at times. Tonight he says everything is "fun" but he wishes he could play with his skateboard and "SK8 all day". A terrific band brought to us by The Pad Presents.
Main support comes from Cambridge's Bloody Knees. They are a vibrant melodic punk band who have been earning a lot of praise and comment from the NME. The music paper has particularly championed "Daydream" and "Stitches". The latter will form the title of the band's forthcoming EP and tells a true story that happened to vocalist Bradley Griffiths. This band are clean cut and solidly tight with some great songs, especially their grungy one called "Never change". Bradley's raspy vocals are for real as he has been struggling with tonsillitis all week. People have advised him to "gargle this, take that" he jokes. Even when the band encounter some bass problems, they smile and overcome, going out in a blaze of glory with the aforementioned "Daydream". Definitely a band to keep an eye out for, but just don't play scissors, paper, stone with this quartet whatever you do!
The Tendons are the elder musical statesmen of this evening, even when they continue to act like naughty schoolboys, especially when the girls are about. When new guitarist Rob inadvertently snaps a string, frontman Jon comes out with the quote of the night. He attempts to cover the silence and requests "Just drink and wank amongst yourselves". They are so proud to be supporting Ballzy, but are annoyed by the turnout. "As usual it's empty" quips Jon. I notice that there are more than a few people who have not witnessed a Tendons gig before. They start off nervously giggling at the cheeky lyrics before guffawing loudly towards the end. It is great to hear Jon's heartfelt opinion on OxJam and I suppose they won't be invited to play this year either. The cult band of Bedford continue to do what they do best and offer a top shelf of porno punk. Of course, "Trendy wankers" are never welcome.
Opening, and making their main stage debut, are a local quartet called Ray Guns Set To Stun. Only space limits a more extensive review, but suffice to say I was mightily impressed at their range of material. Taut garage rock is laced with a punk, rockabilly feel. Musicianship and attire is smart and razor sharp. The stage presence oozes classy style and even their wacky cover of Sir Cliff's "Wired for sound" is beginning to grow on me.
Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordalternativemusic.co.uk