The Deads + Stop It Your Killing Me + Big Squirrel - The Thursday Thing, The Registry, Portsmouth. 20/10/05

This is my first visit to The Thursday Thing at The Registry mainly due to the lack of money rather than not wanting to go. It's a fairly large pub, for those not familiar with Portsmouth and is popular with students and those that like a lively atmosphere but without your townie element and a cheap entry fee for gigs means that you have a decent crowd of people who want to see the bands and those that just want to go to the pub and are not put off by the admission price. Apparently the PA didn't turn up tonight but the show goes on and they have cobbled together a makeshift PA that does the job well enough.

The Big Squirrel duo are first up comprising Chester Squirrel on acoustic guitar and vocals backed by Bennington Squirrel on drums (who may or may not be seen at other times digging out riffs for The Good Time Charlies); and what a fine racket they make, wonderfully lo-fi acoustic garage punk though what they do to the guitar I don't know as it's the dirtiest, heaviest acoustic I've ever heard! With a large crowd in to support them it's hard to see what is going on as Chester is sat on a low stool inflicting untold abuse on said guitar while Bennington is bashing seven shades of shit out of the drums. It's raw rock n roll, catchy as hell and just the way I like it; German Sex Tourist, that can be sampled over there on their MySpace page sounds like On A Rope by Rocket From The Crypt after it's had dirty sex and been dragged through the gutter and is the perfect song that sums up BS. It's brilliantly shambolic but tight and just the right side of trashy and a must see band if you like it rough and raw.

Stop It Your Killing Me suffer from a lack of subtlety tonight as their fantastic psychobilly beats are lost beneath walls of guitar and the vocals are simply lost. The few recorded tracks I have sampled put one in mind of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and on a different night I can imagine them sounding awesome but tonight just doesn't work for them and while there are plenty of interesting things going on it's just not pulled into focus this evening.

With plenty of beer having flowed it's time for The Deads to come out preaching again and they do so in fine style with their high energy indie rock. It's hard to label them exactly, there is a touch of many things mixed in their potent brew from the sixties to modern day and they have refined it down to the essentials that leaves a hard rocking exterior with a melodic heart and a frontman that demands attention as he feeds off the energy. It wakes up a few of the non gig goers who move over to have a peak at what all the noise is about and I think they may just have converted a few to thier cause.

A most enjoyable evening in a friendly pub and well worth a visit.