Pizzatramp play superfast punk rock with a garage influence, not unlike the New Bomb Turks. They have a wry sense of humour as exemplified by 'Millions Of Dead Goths'. 'The Last Supper' is driving hardcore punk, although 'Mr. Slam' doesn't possess the same kind of power with it's regurgitated rockabilly riff. 'I Do My Own Research' has a snotty hardcore vibe reminiscent of Fig 4.0., if anyone remembers them. The play a number of short blasts all called '[insert name] Is/Are Fucking Shit' and they include Metallica, Frank Turner, Linkin Park and driving in Manchester on a Wednesday night as objects of their ire. 'What Fresh Hell Is This' takes a slower, denser approach a la Helmet. They are a band full of character and they seem undeniably likeable even though they rant about everything!
This is Nosebleed's last ever show. They play punk flavoured rock 'n' roll like The Hives or The Hellacopters with more balls. They have a full bodied sound which also has a Danko Jones feel. This is earnest, sweaty rock which knows how good it is (they frequently say they've been the best band in the country for the last ten years, and I'm inclined to believe them). One track comes on like a punk rock version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Fire'. They are playing with a stand in drummer but they are still a tight unit. There is more to them than meets the eye and there is a depth to them which reminds me of a band like The Catheters. Final gigs can sometimes be like a wake but this is more of a joyous celebration and you could easily mistake them for the headliners of the show.
Back before streaming took over how people listen to music, records were everything. That was how you heard bands, by owning their records or at least knowing someone else who did who you could either borrow them or tape them from. Being into hardcore, record shops which stocked a good collection of punk and hardcore were rarities so we would often drive into different towns and cities for good record shops. I remember we drove over to Leeds to go to Out Of Step records sometime in the early noughties and I ended up buying a Burning Heart compilation called 'How We Rock' which was full of rock influenced punk such as Electric Frankenstein, The Hives, The Supersuckers and The Hellacopters. One track on that cd (which is great, by the way) which blew me away was 'Crossroads' by Zeke, a blazing slice of Motorpunk. I once won an air guitar contest to that track because it's perfect for that artform, being high energy, catchy and clocking in at roughly two minutes yet containing three incendiary solos.
Zeke hit the stage without any fanfare to play a lightspeed 'Highway Star'. They seem intent on burning through as many songs as they possibly can. It's only 9pm but they look set on finishing by 9:30 as one song blurs into another. It's pretty relentless. Mötörhead are obviously a big influence as demonstrated by the blazing 'Two Lane Blacktop'. Tracks like 'Mountain Man' are savage compared to the studio versions. The riff heavy 'Arkansas Man' is a slight change of pace but is still faster and more aggressive than the original recording. A supercharged version of Kiss' 'Shout It out Loud' is killer and is followed by a blood pumping 'All The Way'. 'Live Wire's Dwarves meets Mötörhead excess is fantastic. 'Evil Dead' showcases their ability to mix blazing punk rock 'n' roll with memorable choruses (even if it is just two words repeated over and over). The drummer is an absolute machine - top off, beer belly out but the stamina he has to do this at this pace for so long is hugely impressive. All in all, pretty exhilarating.
Zeke ****
Nosebleed ****
Pizzatramp ****
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