Missouri garage-punk trio Radkey return to Nottingham in support of this year’s debut album Dark Black Makeup, with Wolverhampton two-piece God Damn in tow.
Since their appearance on Jools Holland two years ago, the three home-schooled Radke brothers that make up Radkey have slowly, but surely, built a reputation for writing old-school garage-punk songs and performing them with a similarly no-nonsense old school fashion. Producer Ross Orton (Drenge/Arctic Monkeys) was the man in charge of channelling this energy into a debut LP, which received generally positive reviews on its August release. It is on the back of this album that Radkey arrive in Nottingham.
First up, we have God Damn, two brothers from the Black Country, whose deafening noise-punk has received its fair share of critical acclaim. Their set is short and sweet, full of perfectly-orchestrated freak-outs and ear-splitting, feedback-ridden guitar. And it really is loud… oh so very, very loud. But interestingly, God Damn’s most interesting moments come during a slower, more melodic song directed at the “trust fund wankers in bands” – it floats along with a delicate breeziness that is uncharacteristic of an otherwise ear-piercing, but highly enjoyable, set.
“Radkey have slowly, but surely, built a reputation for writing old-school garage-punk songs”
Radkey promptly take to the stage and burst into ‘Out Here In My Head’, taken from 2013’s Cat & Mouse EP. Its frenetic, twitchy garage-rock serves as an explosive introduction, but it’s also an undoubted shame that their best song is out of the way so early in the piece. Still, the rest of the setlist is not without its moments: the pop-punk, riff-centric ‘Evil Doer’ incites the first moshpit of the night, while the Black Keys bluesy trudge of ‘Love Spills’ is enthusiastically received by an appreciative, busy Bodega crowd.
Since their inception, Radkey have always been destined to be the outsiders: the brothers grew up in a tiny Missouri town, didn’t attend conventional schools and even appointed their dad as their manager. With this in mind, you get a real sense from their on-stage performance that they are a tight-knit group having a whale of a time, singing about themes ranging from teenage frustration to cartoon supervillains. And consequently, we have a great time too – it’s a little repetitive at times, a tad one-note, but still hugely enjoyable.
Alex Neely
Alex is currently listening to ‘5 1 and Change’ by Shellshag
Image: Garann via flickr
