Review by: Captain Fidanza
This is some kind of a sonic barrage.
In 2009 as part of Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown festival, I saw Patti Smith perform at the Royal Festival Hall and she just wouldn’t shut the fuck up about her dead husband, whom she continually referred to as “Fred Sonic Smith” as though that was his real fucking name. Also, in between the songs she kept saying shit like,” you know you guys have some really ugly buildings in this city.”
And I just thought, if you don’t like it you should just fuck off back to America and write some more protest poetry about stuff which ceased to be relevant in about 1972. “Ugly buildings?” what a ridiculous thing to say.
Anyway, the only reason I went was because Silver Mount Zion were supposed to be the support but in the end they were relegated to acting as Smith’s backing band. Predictably, Smith went on and on and on and as the final song faded out and all the mindless sycophants were standing up, clapping and going “wooooooo” I sat on my hands in protest. Ugly buildings? This is my city motherfucker, so remember your manners when you’re a guest in someone else’s home and behave accordingly.
The evening wasn’t a complete waste of time/money though, as Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers played bass that night and though I have absolutely no interest in that band whatsoever, he featured in Penelope Spheeris’ film “Suburbia” and she also made the insurmountably brilliant “The Decline of Western Civilisation” which features, amongst other things, a great deal of interview/concert footage from The Germs.
So whilst Smith was on stage caterwauling about some old fuck who was imprisoned god knows when for selling god knows what to god knows who forty five years ago, I was sitting in row 37 thinking about Darby Crash.
I was going to write a straight review of this here Obake album, but I watched a video clip on their website of them rehearsing in a garage with a huge Misfits flag on the wall behind them and my mind sort of wandered.
Sorry.