B Movie Heroes / Cherrykicks / A Close Last / DB68 / Friction FX @ Zelda's World: Punk & Stuff

B-Movie Heroes/ Cherrykicks/ A Close Last/ DB68/ Friction FX Sunday 28th July 2002 The Cathouse, Glasgow

Having been added to an already packed bill, Friction FX get to start things off tonight. They have a buzzy guitar sound and their lyrics seem to cover the usual sad teenage stuff like not wanting to be alone and all that. Their second song starts off slow but we're told to "bear with it" as it gets faster, and it does indeed although it winds down again at the end or maybe they were just tuning up. The singer does some break dancing and crosses the stage doing a kind of worm thing; I guess you'd need to see it! And they finish off with a bizarre cover of 'Country Roads'.

DB68 have a more pop-oriented sound with some nice tuneful songs and another bizarre cover version to end, the singer informing us that we WILL know it, as they play something I don't think I do know. They get to the chorus and it's something about their "baby hitting them one more time" and the word 'briney' comes to mind. The singer hits the high notes rather scarily well but, thankfully, he doesn't give us any dance moves.

A Close Last arrive on stage wearing masks and I don't really follow what's happening until the singer joins them and they burst into a very energetic song with loads of "woah" bits that the singer holds out his mike for the crowd and his fellow band mates to join in on. The rest of their set is more fast-paced, lively songs with the band jumping around energetically and a whole lot of good-humoured carrying on from the white shirt/black tie clad 5-piece. During one song the 2 guitarists, bassist and singer are all jumping at the same time and do a bit of a routine where they all jump to the one side, back to the front and then to the other side and it's quite impressive as punk dance routines go. They also have a go at a cover version, this one being 'Buckfast' by The Cherrykicks they claim, but I'm not entirely convinced that's how it goes and they quickly launch into another of their own songs. Then to upstage their earlier dance routine the drummer also joins in for a song as the whole band bounce up and down in time whilst still managing to play. We're all encouraged to shout "bass master!" before the next song and after a half hearted attempt seemingly leads to a duff beginning, we're told to try again. This time it's more enthusiastic and is enough to get the 'bass master' to play the fastest bass intro ever and the rest of the band join in for a resounding version of 'One Better'. They're about to play their last song when they get a sign that their time is up. There's no arguing as the singer chucks the mike and heads off in a bit of an abrupt ending to a very spirited and visually entertaining set.

The Cherrykicks are a rock'n'roll band reminiscent of 'Earth Versus' era Wildhearts all fast and heavy songs with throaty vocals. There's a bit of thrusting of guitar heads in the air but there's also enough of a punk influence to keep it interesting for me and moving along at an enjoyable speed. The lyrical content owes much to the rock'n'roll lifestyle and I suddenly feel very aware that I don't have a bottle of Jack Daniels to hand. They play some new songs and although they're all new to me anyway I don't notice any major departures from their punk'n'roll style. The B-Movie Heroes are in a similar vein to The Cherrykicks but with maybe a bit more emphasis on the rock part than punk. They have some slower songs but they also have a pleasant sing along anthem feel which is added to by the fact that they have three singers to create some nice harmonies. Although it's not so much my thing they have a good sound and the blonde chick near me swings her hair to a couple of their songs which I'm sure would be appreciated as a good sign for a rock band.
Zelda
B-Movie Heroes website Cherrykicks website A Close Last website Friction FX website