Words I didn’t want to hear as I walked into Birkenhead’s Swinging Arm Bar “Thank you and good night”. I managed to miss the first band Nervous Twitch and was told after (just to rub salt in the wounds) that they were excellent.
Biteback have an evolving lineup, every so often there’s a small change and this time I’m introduced to an additional guitar player. The band are a punk band but one thats more about songs than thrashing chords (although…). There’s a real variety of melody on display here and some really catchy stuff that stays in your head all the way home. Something about Biteback that grows on you and tracks like ‘One Eyed City’ stand out as exceptional songwriting lyrically and musically.
Pete Bentham and the Dinner Ladies are a blur of Dr Feelgood riffs, colourful costumes and dancers (dressed as dinner ladies obvs). Tonight they are hitting us with their mostly upbeat material so it’s loud and fast and catchy and very danceable. They turn the venue into a party getting the crowd jumping up and down.
There’s brief but spot on song introductions that describe who the band are and what they believe (be what you want to be, don’t judge people, be good, live well) then musically they pretty much take the roof off. They are sharp, super tight and lots of fun.
The Screaming Dead have a hard act to follow but they are also fun, though in a different way from the Dinner Ladies. Embedded in their horror punk roots, its a dark and chunky sound that welds the Ramones to the Damned. Add a singer with white painted corpse face and its good to go. Half an hour of tight fast songs with sinister touches and in your face vocalist who growls (though a sore throat adding to this) with the best of them and switches seamlessly to a more melodic vocal style as their mood takes them. Well crafted material played expertly and despite doomy tendencies, a lot of fun.
FOLLOW THE SCREAMING DEAD ON FACEBOOK
FOLLOW PETE BENTRHAM AND THE DINNER LADIES ON FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WEB
FOLLOW BITEBACK ON FACEBOOK / WEB / INSTAGRAM
CHECK OUT MORE GREAT BANDS FROM LIVERPOOL HERE
