The Buzzcocks and The NewInvincibles @ Capitol 25/11/09

Mon 30th Nov, 2009 in Gig Reviews

The New Invincibles kicked off their set with the garage strut of Hot Pants, the song giving the crowd the impression that there would be a lot of men singing about things they used to do tonight. In truth, it was a pretty cool song, the music staying true to its 60’s garage influences, urgent drumming coupled with razor sharp guitar work and unhinged vocals creating a down and dirty dance floor stomp.

Rockin Chair opened with some Hammond organ mentalism, the organ grinder seemingly on another planet exclaiming “you get high when you want it”’, and you know he did. Fist was the highlight of their set, the boys venturing off into Stooges territory, blistering riffage stoking Tristan Demmier’s tortured howl. Nostalgia never sounded this good.

Age has not wearied The Buzzcocks, nor has it imbued in them a sense of cultural sophistication or found them veering from the well-worn path of snot-nosed punk and, well, thank fuck for that! Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle represent a sort of Manc gentry (it’s not an oxymoron, Shaun Ryder taught us that!), being the architects of the “pop-punk” phenomenon and crafting infectious odes to love, rooting and, um, more love.

Their cultural relevance has not seemed to have waned in the 30 odd years since Boredom spat in the face of the status quo. Everybody from old-school Glaswegian punks to the skinny jean massive of today frothing at the prospect of punk rock ear bashing. Diggle suggested the crowd “get some punk fuckin rock n’ roll” before launching into the intro from Boredom which segued into the blitzkrieg of Fast Cars, Diggle’s goading whipping the throng into a frenzy.

Love Battery was filthy and amazingly energized by the band’s twenty-something rhythm section, Shelley’s Rotten-esque snarl as potent as ever. Diggle made each punter at the front’s night with his good-natured, ladsy interplay and goofing around as if it was all of his best mates rocking in the front row. Autonomy chugged its way into the hearts of the faithful, with Diggle’s lead vocals and Pete Townsend-isms.

Ever Fallen In Love With was the first big hit they played. Pogo pitting and punk boogie ensued, booze loaded smiles filling the Capitol, every punter seemingly agreeing that they had made at least one error in judgement on matters of the heart. Just Lust embodied a young man’s one-eyed approach to matters of the heart and was capped off by Diggle’s beautifully simple lead. You could tell from Shelley’s delivery that there was a point when these boys were after only one thing!

Playing tunes like these, a song like Sixteen Again seems quite plausible. While the bodies may have aged, it seems the attitude in the delivery of the songs hasn’t, they’re still as snotty and shit stirring in their approach as they were in 1978. Orgasm Addict received the most raucous ovation of the night, every punter losing their shit to the Buzzcocks homage to rooting and self-gratification. It was strange to hear a couple of fifty-something men sing about dirty magazines and toweling up school girls, but fuck it, it was an awesome song back in the day and it has lost nothing.

Everybody’s Happy Nowadays pitted Diggle’s lovely melody against Shelley’s filthy chords, with the chorus joining the two in pure pop perfection, the amplification not being enough to drown out the crowd’s sing-along. Harmony in My Head closed the evening, the song perfectly encapsulate what the Buzzcocks are all about; melodic punk rock delivered with a fuck you attitude and attention-deficit brevity.
It became pretty clear that Diggle didn’t want to leave the stage and he played like his life depended on it, ending the song three times. Following a few miscued conclusions Diggle, along with Shelley, bid the faithful a fond farewell until next time, by that time hopefully the ringing in our ears has subsided.