Redbank were set up and ready to rock, but everyone was waiting for the other bands to turn up, stuck in traffic. I got talking to the five Redbank punk rock dudes as we waited and I found out this group from the Wirral had been at many of the Liverpool Planet X gigs I'd been at in late 80s, early 90s. One of them even played bass for the legendary Haddock Fishbeast for a while. In the end I convinced them it was a good idea to start anyway so they did. We'd been talking about Rites of Spring and I'd been going on about liking them more than Minor Threat, so they surprised everyone by starting with a slowed down cover of 'If I Started Crying' which was even more strange since Chris Brokaw had played music that moved me to tears the night before. Their own songs rock melodic with a nod to Fugazi and a big wink to Jawbreaker, at least that's the way I hear it. I'm sure they're also influenced by the mighty Leatherface. The singer fiddled with the PA soundboard himself - total DIY! About halfway through their set the other bands arrived.
This Ain't Vegas are from Sunderland, which as far as punk rock goes must be known first and foremost as the home of Leatherface. There's a very Leeds 6 feel to what they do but I was also reminded of late eighties DC HC, and they have this odd dynamic where the guitarist seems to sing as much if not more than the singer, but it's obvious that the dual duelling vocals are something that's an important part of their sound. At the end the Robots drummer joined in to sing a song. They have a single out on www.jealousrecords.com which is probably not going to be around for long.
Apparently this was the last tour for And None of Them Knew They Were Robots which is a shame as they are shit hot. They have a few records out, including a five song CD-R which they sell for just a pound! Think of Rites of Spring mixed up with a more melodic Drive Like Jehu perhaps? Or maybe don't. They're from Leeds, no doubt from the notorious Leeds 6? If sub-Britpap shite like Miss Black America can be described as emo and punk then we definitely need a new name for what's happening here, however Robocore is probably a bad idea. Or are they just another example of experigressive provivalism? By this I mean a group who can combine a positive life affirming feeling to a convincing, liberating display of aggression and yet retain an experimental edge. It doesn't really matter what they call you if your drummer strips naked by the end of the set.
