FRIDAY 22nd JULY
THE BUFF MEDWAYS
ARMITAGE SHANKS
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FRIDAY 29th JULY
ZOMBINA & THE SKELETONES
NME described them as "an evil hybrid of the 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster and, erm, Hello Kitty", but that¹s a gross simplification of course, as one would expect. In fact, they¹re rock¹n¹roll stomp and grind is joined by Tijuana brass, bongo rhythms, jews harp and gut bucket sax, making the perfect soundtrack to any party. Delivering drag-strip melodies and amphetamine paranoia in Johnny Kidd¹s best clothes, these punk rock vampires are the most chromed-up, greased-down, bubblegum switchblade punk rock since Gene Vincent back in ¹58.
LUNAR JET MAN
What would it sound like if The Sonics had written Green Onions? What would it have been like if Nick Cave had been signed to Stax? And how about if Dexy's Midnight Runners formed a Roxy Music tribute band? It would be f*cking brilliant, wouldn't it? Just like Lunar Jet Man, who bring their rock'n'soul stylings to the stage of the Dirty Water Club in anticipation of the release of their debut album. 2005 - Year of the Jet Man?
THE CHANDELIERS have had to cancel. Replacement to be advised.
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MONDAY 1st TUESDAY 2nd AUGUST
THE 5678S
Woo hoo! The 5678s became famous, of course, with their appearance in the Tarantino movie, "Kill Bill". But they have always been fantastic. What can I say about them that you don't know already? They've been around since around 1996 with a slew of records out on various labels over the years.
Their first trip over here following the release of "Kill Bill" was most likely something like their fifth or sixth visit to the UK. And on each time I've seen them previously they've always had a good crowd come out to enjoy their unpretentious fifties and sixties rock'n'roll sound. Now it's a case, though, of making sure to get your tickets in advance (before the hordes of baseball cap wearing football fans get there first). But with advance notice of this gig here and on the Dirty Water mailing list I think this will be a gig for the true fan. If you don't know them already, what do they sound like? The girls are cool like the blues, primitive like rockabilly, wild like surf hotrod music, cute like the girl groups, crazy like garage punk, danceable like R&B, hot like punk rock, rock'n'roll like... rock'n'roll!
One, two, three, four, chant the spell! Use the magic of rock'n'roll and off to another time, another frontier. The three oriental witches are rocking the earth as their stage. Banzai!
On the Monday night support comes from
THE PRISCILLAS and THE PIPETTES.
On the Tuesday night support comes from
VINCENT VINCENT & THE VILLAINS and NAKED RUBY.
Starting off each night will be ENOCKY from Japanese surf-instro rockers Jackie & the Cedrics, who¹ll be doing his one-man guitar stomp noise.
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FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST
THE URGES
These are exciting times in the Dublin music scene. All at once there is a glut of must-see bands and we¹re talking bands with masterplans, with definable images and, most importantly, songs to rival anything the UK is producing. The Urges are one such band. But the UK is taking to them too, this is a band with a big and fashionable following and there¹s a palpable sense of event when they play a gig. The five young sixties throwbacks emerge through a fog of dry ice and hairspray, a swirling psychedelic stage come on looking like they're an edition of Ready Steady Go! The style, then, is spot on what of the substance? Straight up, their set of songs is as cool as the group appear. The Urges combine the perfectly executed pop of The Kinks with the more rugged blues edginess of Them but that doesn¹t begin to cover it. Yes, they are derivative but for all that they take their lead from that bygone era when popular music was uniformly fresh and fun, their sound, style and attitude is pretty much their own. They strut their hour upon the stage volleying one catchy, energetic pop song after another, no time being wasted on endless tuning or tiresome existential eulogies.
Entertainment is their key objective and the band is obviously well rehearsed and conscientious. Backed by his near perfect rhythm Œn¹ jangle minstrels, vocalist Jim Walters shakes his tambourine and maracas with brooding intent. He has the confident swagger of a young Jagger and the looks of a young Robin Askwith; surely a winning combination in anyone¹s book.
THE BLUES EXPERIMENTATION SOCIETY
When thinking of a guitar/drums duo with a penchent for the blues, the White Stripes inevitably come to mind. But the BXS are a very different beast indeed. And beast is probably the appropriate word. It¹s a huge behemoth of sound that wreaks havoc on unsuspecting bystanders, drums thrashed to breaking point, the vintage AC30¹s speakers reduced to dust, the guitar groaning in agony under a wave of distortion. Both guys are influenced by blues and rock¹n¹roll, from Muddy Waters through to Motorhead, grew up in the same street, moved away only to come together again years later and, finding musical tastes in common, have spent the past four years writing songs and building up their sound, eventually finding themselves sharing a stage with the likes of T-Model Ford, The Immortal Lee County Killers and The Soledad Brothers. A mini-album, "Original Dragstrip Blues", is due for release in June 2005.
Other band to be announced.
