aaamusic | On 14, Jun 2012

William Control / Fearless vampire Killers / Obscure Pleasures / Spit like This
Thursday 31st May 2012

Spit like This Tonight these horror rockers opening up the gig with their brand of horror punk that goes down as well as a ‘Sweet Transvestite’ which is a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show that they play tonight. They might not be the best players in the world but they do know how to joke around and keep the crowd amused for a good twenty to thirty minute set and they look like the dragged-out sons and daughters of the Cramps. Singer Lord Zion is limping around the stage because of an injury occurred on holiday, so this gig isn’t a holiday for them more of a Baywatch.

Obscure Pleasures are one of the best up and coming bands I have heard for a while and sound like a cross between William Control and Joy Division and the singer Josh is a dead ringer for the man himself Ian Curtis. They have a lot of followers with most of the audience knowing all their songs. Josh has a sparkle in his eyes as his Misfits tattooed hand grips the microphone he looks out onto the crowd as his voice booms around the venue for such a sweet looking guy he has an evil side that comes across in the music which has amazing bass lines and echoing guitar parts. He is joined onstage by a lady that strips in front of the crowd playing with the band as she does. Then she falls to the ground and pours Jack Daniels all over herself which Josh licks of in time to the music. This show shocks a few of the ladies and mesmerizes the blokes which brings their set to a climax in two different ways.

Fearless vampire Killers are one of the UK’s hotly tipped bands and they sound like early My chemical Romance, when that band also used to sing about vampires and things. I couldn’t ever see MCR doing a cover of Wham’s ‘Club Tropicana’ the place we’re the drinks are for free. Laurence is in a gay camp mood today so there is a lot of onstage banter about things that should be left in the bedroom but is really amusing at the same time. In the last year the synchronization of the guitars has got better and better and with the new album ‘Militia of the Lost’ coming out they have gather a hug fan base and that is helped by their songs being also played on Scuzz. Highlights of the night are the amazing ‘Palace in Flames’ and ‘Fetish for the Finite’ which is a song about doing weird and disgusting things and the song they have just recorded a video for ‘Bow ties on dead Guys’ they are up for many awards so come and see them and find out if they are deserving for yourself.

William Control is looking very Steam-Punk coming on stage smoking a pipe, I can’t work out if this is so he doesn’t get chucked out because of the smoking ban. I have seen William Control play in this venue before and it’s just not big enough for them, for a sound that they produce they need a venue twice as big but it works Anyways. Will Francis has always had good crowd interaction and his new songs go down really well but it’s not until you hear songs such as ‘Strangers and Razor’s Edge’ that you realise how talented he is and that these songs will last a lifetime. He blasts through these songs from his classic album ‘Hate Culture’ as well as a couple of songs from the album ‘Noir’, but he is here mostly to promote his new album ‘Silentium Amoris’ which was funded by his friends and fans through what he called the Control Project. A lot of bands are financing their own records showing that these days you don’t need a record company to survive. The only question is if there is no record company will the recording industry survive only time will tell. For a lot of people the high point of the set is a version of ‘London Town’ which Will announces he hates playing cause it means to much to him, but how could he not play it in London the city that he has fallen in love with, which brings us to the close of the evening and a new faith is born.

Daniel Cairns