Deadline+The Briefs+Argy Bargy+Black Radio, London, Islington Academy, 09/12/06

Putting on a good punk/hardcore gig is not an easy thing to do. It’s even harder when you come to introduce your latest album, released the same day, no one knows yet. But tonight it was definitely worth coming to the gig. Deadline managed to mix their old raw hardcore licks with their new melodic sounds. Liz, the singer, has acquired an incredible voice, almost crystal clear and full of sensitivity. But Deadline won’t be the main band of this review, sorry dudes, you’ll have to ask someone else. The real unexpected, blowing out revelation is without any doubt Black Radio. These three guys were the first to play, completely unknown so far. After one song, the whole room was head-banging following the infernal rhythm of the drums. I can feel you want to know how this powerful trio sounds like, so let’s describe their straight-forward approach of punk-hardcore. You will have to go back into your memory, let’s say around 2000. You have to find back The Nerve Agents (Days of the White Owl), along with Speedealer (Here Comes Death) and The Distillers (Sing Sing Death House). The sound of a punk-hardcore band is like a French mayonnaise, sometimes all the ingredients mix perfectly and give you a tasty thing, sometimes it just turns into a disgusting paste which makes you sick just by seeing it. In the case of Black Radio, I would say they are like a mayonnaise at an in-between stage. So far so good but … They only played 5 songs which blew the audience’s guts out, mixing brightly the violent anger of the Nerve Agents with the very basic approach and fury of The Distillers. But here the recipe is incomplete, you have to add the voice and well-oiled fast tempo of Speedealer –remember all their songs lasted between 50 seconds and 2 minutes-with a slight country-trash, whiskey-drunken atmosphere. The question now is, will they turn gloriously into Zeke’s successors or will they rot into a F-minus copy… So far, they don’t have any label, they produced themselves a four-track EP limited to 500 copies. “NO frills, NO skills, Stripped down and Faster than your V8” is what you can read on the back cover of this EP, and you know what? It’s 100% true. Go and find more information on their website (www.blackradiorocks.com).


THOMAS BUDZYNSKI