Liquid Liquid at the Barbican

Liquid Liquid at the Barbican

07 October, 2008
by: Domzig

Old punk bands reforming seem to have become a bit of theme of recent. I managed to see Gang of Four, Wire and The Buzzcocks this summer without even meaning to, and in this age where most people are stealing music from the internet, I'm predicting that even more will be hitting the 'comeback' circuit as the royalties dry up.

Still, it's a bit of a shock to see Liquid Liquid are giving it another go, let alone playing a gig in London after all these years. Even in the early eighties they we're considered a bit of a niche band who were overshadowed by the likes of Talking Heads and Blondie, and are probably most famous to the layman for providing the backing track to Melle Mel's 'White Lines'. Then again, I suppose if anything is going to coax them out of retirement then a big fat retrospective on Domino Records and a show at the Barbican would do it.

First up tonight are Junior Boys, who peddle the whole New York Disco thing a la The Rapture's last album. It takes a bit of adjustment to watch a dance band sitting down in a massive concert hall that looks like a cross between the Ratray lecture theatre at Leicester Uni and a James Bond villains' hide out, and the performance sort of suffers from it, coming over a bit flat despite the band's best efforts to liven up the passive crowd with a bit of jigging around.

Next up are Liquid Liquid, who saunter on stage looking like a cross between a über cool Manhattan jazz act and The UK Subs. Still as soon as they get into it, all my fears about them being too old are put to rest. This shit rocks: anchoring on a stripped down bass, the band use cymbals, tom toms, milk bottles, xylophones, glockenspiels and great big twirly bit of metal to craft brilliantly tribal post punk, that pulls off this amazing balancing act by being super busy whilst still managing to sound slightly claustrophobic and distant.

It works because the band are so unique – simply put nobody has done stuff like this before or since Liquid Liquid first played in some squat/art gallery in the Lower East Side 30 odd years ago. It's enough to make people get up out of their seats and dance, with one guy who looked like casualty from the acid house era making me and my friend squirm with Alan Partridge levels of embarrassment.

When it comes down to it, the whole night is fairly embarrassing to people uner 30 as it shows that despite the work of the likes of Friendly Fires and These New Puritans, a bunch of 50 year-old men who weren't that popular in the eighties still shit all over almost anything our generation has yet produced.

If there is one lesson tonight has taught me then it's this: Fuck the kids: respect your elders.

Liquid Liquid's singer/drummer Salvatore Principato DJs quite a bit and is well worth looking out for, as are Optimo who DJed the after party. Click here to check out more gigs at The Barbican.

Alternatively, if you have found that your life has been changed/wasted by reading this article, add me as a friend and tell me about it. I understand... 

Domzig