Civet

So last night I finally got to see Civet at the Camden Underworld and it was awesome!!!

This is the review I'll be running in the next issue of my zine, Lights Go Out (www.lightsgoout.co.uk)


CIVET + BORN TO LOSE + MIKE TV
London, Camden Underworld 09/08/10
Just made it into this show to catch the last few songs by Mike TV. A band I’ve heard lots about, formed from the ashes of Pickled Pick. It’s pop punk, they’re very good at it, frontman has a decent voice, but it’s pretty generic for me to be honest with ya. Definitely good at what they do though, so pop punk fans would love them!
Born To Lose are an American band who I’ve never heard before. But as the set draws on they just get better and better and I find that I too am moving along to the tunes. If you take all the good bits of bands like Rancid, Avail, Bouncing Souls and Dropkick Murphys and roll them into one band, this would be Born To Lose. Passionate songs, killer riffs and loads of sing-a-longs, totally impressed by them and I am regretting not getting a CD already.
So onto Civet, a band who have already been in these hallowed pages and whose album is amazing, but can the Civet ladies cut it live? In a word…YES! They’re brash and powerful with huge crunchy power chords, fast drumming and pounding basslines. With the gravelly angry front vocals of Liza Graves mixed in with the melodic backs ups from Jacqui Valentine, Suzi Homewrecker and Roxie Darling it’s easy to see that Civet are really onto something here. Hailing from Long Beach, California, they have a sound that mixes the anger of riot grrrl bands like Babes In Toyland, with Hole, The Distillers and even Motorhead into a faster, grittier punk rock sound. Back in the 90’s a band called Fluffy were very similar to this! The whole set was a 150mph punk rock rollercoaster, but highlight were tracks like “Hell Hath No Fury”, “Pay Up”, “Son Of A Bitch”, “Alibis”, “Take Me Away” and the Tim Armstrong of Rancid co-written “All I Want”, which is a poppier affair & really easy to sing along too. A powerful, ballsy set from Civet tonight, a truly great band!
Mr. T