An interesting triple bill this one. Things started early doors with the somewhat eccentric Unholy Frankenstein. Rather cruelly referred to by one audience member as “The Pet Shop Boys on statins”, they certainly were a kind of synthpop duo but perhaps had more in common with acts like Hugh Reed and the Velvet Underpants with their shouty vocals and bizarre warnings about the evils of Tesco clubcards. Self-titled as ‘The Creator’ and ‘The Being’, they were certainly entertaining – BM would more kindly report that they combined the synth dexterity of Soft Cell with the showmanship of Alex Harvey…
The Media Whores played an extensive set, effectively the ‘Greatest Hits’ – the overall sound, especially with quite Anglicised vocals (though they mainly hail from the Falkirk area) is quite akin to mid-period Jam, with a good dose of The Vapors and bits of the Clash as well. Melodic, anthemic, rebellious but tuneful, they began with ‘Big Pharma’ and the set included a song about a girl who worked in Alldays in Alloa – classy or what? Older tracks like ‘You Can’t Say Whore On The Radio’ got an outing and crowd reaction was very positive.
Tonight B Movie’s frontman Steve referred to them as “Britain’s oldest boyband”, which given they have been going for over 40 years and counting, is pretty apt. Formed in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in the early ’80s, they had a couple of almost hits then disbanded in a lengthy hiatus before some sporadic gigging in the early noughties. Now back to pretty much the original lineup, they undertake the occasion short spurt of gigs and BM last saw them in Glasgow around 7 or 8 years ago. The venue was pretty full (although TMW definitely brought some fans along) and the set was played with conviction and power.
Starting with “lost classic” single ‘Marilyn Dreams’, they ran through some early stuff (their Some Bizarre compilation track ‘Moles’ for example), some more recent material (‘Love Is Dead’) and perhaps their biggest almost-hit ‘Remembrance Day’ which still stacks up well as a precursor to tracks like ‘New Year’s Day’ by U2.
The songs are a curious blend of early 80s synthpop (Duran Duran, early Talk Talk) and more brooding proto-Goth sounds like The Cure. ‘Nowhere Girl’ , possibly their most distinctive and best known track, gets the full disco dance version treatment tonight, slightly off-kilter for what in many ways is a nihilistic ditty of isolation…
Anyway, the band are still in good form after all these years and although they are not well known enough to hit the “Rewind Festival” circuit, it is clear that they are still regarded fondly by fans old and new.