It’s a Vive Le Rock showcase tonight at Islington’s The Lexington, and you know what that means: rock music in its finest forms, turned up to eleven, in satisfyingly large portions.
Desperate Measures @ The Lexington
Thrill City kick the night off with a set bursting with classic Rock energy. Mix a cocktail shaker full of the seventies and eighties sound and you’re ready to serve their full blooded homage to the guitar excesses of the era. Chained crams in a roar and a heck of a drum finish, and We Are Kings prowls like a panther, exuding white hot guitar flair. There’s no resorting to cliche in their sound, which would have been an easier path for them: instead, they’re taking the direct road to make straightforward, honest Rock music, full of razor wire chords and chunks of bass like rubble. Desperate power track The Crow has to be the standout with its huge wails from vocalist Aiden Houston and stomping bass. Guitarist Cobalt Stargazer unleashes his inner showman in Pill City, soloing from the dance floor to give us the lasting image of a really solid rock act. They are indeed, as their last song proclaims, Bringing The Old Stuff Back.
The DeRellas, purveyors of ‘in yer face rock n roll’ wrestle the spirit of the MC5 into submission within seconds of opening. “Don’t tell me what I did last night,” sneers frontman Timmy DeRella before kicking into the garage tones of the Ramones-heavy eponymous track, followed by the piling chords and carpe diem political punk of Emergency 2020. Freakshow bounces hard with distorted rough glory and High Rise Supersize climbs and challenges with every lyrical tilt and guitar squeal, but it’s Our World Tomorrow with its Damned-influenced darkness and chorus like a slogan which steals the set. The DeRellas have the same power as Thrill City to bring together the past and the future, but the second act have chosen the explosive spark lit in 1977 as their inspiration, embracing the old school punk spirit with twenty first century inspiration. Velvet blazers and Ramones haircuts can’t cover up the fact that they really understand on a fundamental level what their sound is all about.
Scars makes for a punchy opener for headliners Desperate Measures with its tough, speeding bass and confrontational energy. There’s a rush and a clap from the enthralled crowd for the righteous, Stiff Little Fingers indignation of Pocket, the kind of song you fling furiously into the night. “This one’s for Boris Johnson, what an asshole,” shouts vocalist Eugene Butcher before the hurtling cannonball of Rich-tual and he raises a tense middle finger to his imagined adversaries. We are all here, of course, to celebrate the release of Desperate Measures’ new album, Sublime Destruction, the record apparently described by one radio station as ‘the most negative thing they’ve ever heard’, but new songs like heartfelt and gritty Lost Angels prove it’s a record of surprising nuance and depth. The title track, Sublime Destruction, tempers the aggressive riffs with galvanising gang vocals and blends seamlessly with 1984’s rough and charismatic military heartbeat bass. Kit Swing of Rich Ragany and the Digressions and jewellery designer extraordinaire makes a surprise appearance to lend her fiery vocals to Ride, and Seven Sisters, dedicated to Islington, menacingly jumps between the brutal end of rock and the victorious end of punk before Butcher rips into a harsh, clenching vocal. The headliners close with a cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog, and building on The Stooges discordant style to create a rich interpretation of the classic is a perfect finish. As the feedback fades out, we’re left safe in the knowledge that punk rock is alive and well in Islington.
Review of the Vive Le Rock showcase on 30th March 2024 featuring Thrill City, The DeRellas and Desperate Measures by Kate Allvey. Photos by Louise Phillips.
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