There`s minimal fuss as Desperate Measures hit the stage. The quartet open with the scorching `Scars and Memories` which introduces us to a blistering thirty five minutes of punk / post- punk /garage rock. We get `Pocket` before the chugging `The Rich-Tual`. A taster of the new album due next March follows with the punk infused rock’n’roll single `Sublime Destruction` a track about how normal everyday things we take for granted are slowly being taken away and eroded, whether it’s our rights, the environment or even the health system.
The pounding `Lost Angels` gets an airing as does the thumping `Enjoy The Ride` and a number about `Seven Sisters`, the multi-cultural district in our Nation’s capital. The show closes out with the thoughtful `Back To the Rats`.
Desperate Measures were formed in 1981 in Christchurch, New Zealand but are now based in London.
Eugene Butcher, former Glitterati, current Rich Ragany and The Digressions guitarist Gaff, Ricky McGuire (U.K SUBS, The Men They Couldn’t Hang), and former K-Line/Done Lying Down drummer James Sherry make up this industrious and assiduous quartet. They`ve promised to venture to Brum once the new album is released next year and I for one hope that`s a promise they keep. This was a cracking set despite the fellas trying to fend off the lurgy.
Rachel Mayfield, cried off due to illness so Greg Smith from local band Modern Literature stepped in. The problem being Greg had had a few during the afternoon but nevertheless shared an enjoyable philosophical twenty minutes which included a cover of `Another Girl, Another Planet` by The Only Ones, a song which referred to the Tories being c**nts which is a given, a song about dogs and another about opinions. He has a show at the Dark Horse next Saturday with his band and promised to be sober this time.
Black Bombers are a Post Punk / Garage Rock quartet from Birmingham. The band comprises of Alan Byron (guitar and vocals), Darren Birch (bass guitar), Steve Crittall (guitar) and Dave Twist (drums). These guys certainly have pedigree. They can boast of a founder member of notorious Birmingham sleaze-rockers Gunfire Dance and a former member of seminal punk/post-punk band The Prefects. A member who also served in Heartbreaker Walter Lure’s touring band and has played alongside Dave Kusworth of The Jacobites. Two of the boys are also members of Birmingham’s long established, George Romero / Ennio Morricone influenced, Horse Feathers.
They have a new album `Vivè La Revolution’ due out in the new year so no better a time to catch up with them.
A song from the forthcoming release is shared with `No Pity` before it`s back intime with the challenging `That Kind` and pounding `Break It Down`. We have a further couple of cuts from the new release with recently released single `The Price` a withering diatribe on the governments handling of the covid pandemic and `Pretty Boy` before heading back a couple of years to `Vol 4` with `Day After Day`.
I`d not seen the Bombers since they`d morphed from a trio to a quartet and I have to say new guitarist Steve Crittall has refreshed this band and adds a bit of spice to the mix. The trio retain their sense of detached seasoned musicians while the new guy gives me the impression he`s chuffed to be with playing with these guys and has a point to prove. For me, a match made in heaven.
The ironically titled `Rush` is a slow burn while the penultimate track `Last Bite` is wonderfully questioning. The set closes out with `Early Warning` a cracking searing and intense submission to send us home on. The Black Bombers only get to share a few gigs a year here in their hometown and it`s an experience not to be missed.
Let`s hope that with the new album `Vivè La Revolution’ coming out in the new year the fellas with once again grace us with their presence.
