Engine Rooms, 1st December 2009
The musical career of Kid Congo Powers is nothing short of a legacy, boasting an epic history as guitarist to the ultimate in sultry punk acts – The Cramps, The Gun Club and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds to name but a few, and it comes as no surprise that his reputation preceded him this night at Brighton’s Engine Rooms.
The dingy basement venue perfectly housed the aura emanating from this voodoo legend and the Brighton rockabilly scene (in true loyalty to the notorious Born Bad and Stay Sick events) turned out in full, dragging along a few infamous celebs for the ride. Kid’s latest venture, fronting the psychedelic flock of the Pink Monkey Birds (made up of Kiki Solis, Jason Ward and Ron Miller) is a daring return to the primitive roots that inspired him; the raw sounds of garage and 60s Chicano rock. Donning the stage in costumes reminiscent of eerie south-of-the-border ghost stories, this band are as alluring and sexy as they are dangerous, and as they launch into the (somewhat seasonally appropriate) ‘Kris Kringle’, the rhythmic drum beat and the southern soul guitar tremblings fill the air with the spooky garage/lounge sound that transports the crowd to somewhere between 1970s punk-era New York and a party at a hillbilly commune in red-neck America.
Imagine loud, fuzzy biker rock meets the funk of The Meters, all set to the soundtrack of a 1980s horror film and you are still nowhere near to understanding the eclectic genius that is Kid Congo And The Pink Monkey Birds. Covers including The Gun Club ‘Sex Beat’ and The Cramps ‘Goo Goo Muck’ went down a psychobilly-storm amongst the crowd, energetic wrecking taking over the tiny venue and when Kid Congo felt moved to remember Lux Interior, the eruption of the crowd in profound admiration for this man’s musical past was volcanic.
Support for the night came from Brighton local boys The Sticks, an upbeat and energetic tribute to crude 60s punk that sees the band manically swapping instruments and generating a frenzy of violent, original and, at moments, astoundingly melodic rhythms. Although minus a bassist and the third member of this south-coast trio, the boys, who are usually spotted playing with flower-punk band Black Lips, commanded the attention of the impatient and restless crowd with their short bursts of classic honky-tonk and good old fashioned scuzziness.
Words by Tabby Kinder
myspace.com/kidcongoandthepinkmonkeybirds
myspace.com/thsticks
