The Tendons, Albion, Citizen Keyne.
Dannys Bar Lev 1 Esquires, Bedford. Saturday 19th July 2014.
Firstly, a word of credit and thanks for this evening's entertainment must go to Mr Pete Burridge as he made sure that the many musical pariahs of this town were well and truly stated. I say this because this weekend has seen Bedford holding the bi-annual river festival. The many 'nice' bands of this town and county are featured extensively, but unfortunately punk never gets a look in. Much like the commercial radio stations in this country, this genre of music is treated as if it never existed, obviously too rough for the family masses. This form of music is only kept alive in Bedford by The Tendons who, for the first time in about a year, returned to one of their familiar home haunts, namely Esquires bar.
First up to the musical oche are Citizen Keyne. They continue to be regular Esquires visitors and the Bedford attendees are greeted with vocalist John Clarke's usual rallying cry of "Oi oi". This MK quartet are in virtually the same position to our Tendons in that everyone in their city is disinterested in bands of this ilk. Anyway, now that everyone has arrived we are wholeheartedly encouraged to "Let's go mental". Well it is "Saturday night". I always enjoy "Punk not fashion". This is a composition that is "dedicated to the people who go to a festival but nowt else". This is a catchy one and gets quite a few people joining in with "punk is an attitude". Some folks back in the day thought punk was just boots, braces, silly haircuts and spittle. Perhaps they still do.
With the Eurovision again ending dismally for the UK, why can't we propose CK performing "Oi for England" at next year's event? I'm sure it will get a few Eastern European votes. A couple of unusual covers are included. Firstly they pay tribute to one of the queens of sixties pop music or, as John describes it, "This one is dedicated to Nancy Sinatra and her shoes". Of course its the old number one classic "These boots are made for walking". They make a fine fist of it, although a younger metal-headed friend reckoned that Megadeth do it much better. The second cover is "Breaking the law" which is "for all those headbangers out there". It's a bit of eighties gay heavy metal. I like the fact that Citizen Keyne's intention is more to reinvent and rearrange these songs rather than just cover them. Other highlights of the set include "White collar hooligan" which will feature on the forthcoming new album and old faithful "Stand proud".
Albion hail from Ipswich and it's their first venture into Esquires. Despite their Libertines tinted name, they are a lively punk band. They bring fresh energy and I like these youthful phizogs. They have travelled many miles and vary their own material so well. The vocalist of this quartet does have a few battles with his mic stand. He concedes that "I guess it's cause I'm not supposed to be at this height"! He is a tall lad. His vocals are very good and remind me so much of the late Malcolm Owen. This band write good songs of being angry and fed up. They are ready to speak their mind. They pour out lashings of spiky wretchedness. "This is England" sums it up as lyrics include "Why bother to vote?", "New Labour old Tory", and "catalysts, populists". This is a country sinking fast and "it's broken". "Out of my mind" has an oi feel. It's dumbed down punk with an addictive riff and chorus. "Cradle to the grave" is pure social commentary and gains from being expansively rockier. "Walls of Babylon" is "welcome to the 21st century" and "I wanna be on talent shows with no f**king talent to show". With a mix of traditional old skool punk and some neat eighties hardcore, this was a most enjoyable and satisfying introduction ot Albion. Recent EP's "Cradle to the grave" and "Our lament" are also worthy of a listen.
A change of line up tonight is the first noticeable thing about The Tendons in 2014. After playing guitar in Citizen Keyne earlier, Floyd is now drumming and new recruit guitarist Rob makes an impressive Esquires debut. This is porno punk at it's X-rated best and, as always, frontman Jon is on terrific form. Who else can get away with "Dettol dick" which "kills all known diseases" or "Fishy fanny". What does one say about "F**k her to death"?! Jon is at his controversial wind up best and he's not keen on those "Hight Street c**ts", well they are all just "Trendy wankers". "Skippers" is aimed straight at "the Sunday afternoon crowd, the muso wankers" (steady on Jon I'm one of them). He comments "I bet you've all had a few of them " before "Pub slag". A few problems naturally occur during the set. First it is too loud and then Jon's mic lead has a mind of it's own. "Schoolgirl teaser" is "for Saville and Glitter". Naturally audience participation plays an integral part of any Tendons gig. The set list changes very rarely and friends past and present are always remembered, both fondly as with Keith RIP and Paul Gobbey, and perhaps not so on "Johnny don't care". A top night of entertainment and a shame that the mayor wasn't here to see some of Bedford's good old fashioned culture.
Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordalternativemusic.co.uk