SHEEP ON DRUGS + NOISFERATU + THE PINK DIAMOND REVUE + COLOSSLOTH – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 6.8.22
This evening at The Prince Albert punters witnessed the return to Brighton of the reknown British techno art noise assassin’s Sheep On Drugs.
This techno/industrial music group was originally classified as part of the rave movement. The duo was formed in Bristol in the early 1990’s by Duncan X (a.k.a. King Duncan) (vocals) and Lee Fraser (a.k.a. Dead Lee) (guitar/keyboards). Between 1991 and 1994 they unleashed no less than seven top quality singles, which were ‘Catch 22’, ‘Motorbike’ (with ‘Mary Jane’), ‘TV USA’, ‘Track X’ EP, ‘From A To H And Back Again’, ’15 Minutes of Fame’ and ‘Let The Good Times Roll…’.
After this initial flurry, their releases became thin on the ground and Duncan X departed and became a tattoo artist so I hear. Lee has been flying the Sheep On Drugs flag ever since and is now accompanied by Johnny Borden (vocals/keyboards).
They returned in June 2019 with their ‘Does Dark Matter’ LP and live shows full of dark mayhem followed. Three months later they dropped their 4 tune ‘2Light 2Dark’ EP and then the world stood still as covid took its toll.
Thankfully the duo are out and about again and playing the odd gig here and there. There was no new material performed this evening, maybe there isn’t any? But tonight was a career spanning 12 track set (with ‘Intro’) spanning the years from 1993 right through to 2019. ‘Motorbike’ (1993), ‘15 Minutes Of Fame’ (1993) and ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ (1994) being the pick of the oldies.
The Sheep on Drugs trash noise formula remains unchanged with the songs being more politically inspiring to a 90’s techno club outing or an all out warehouse rave which dominated the music scene at the time. The proceedings started behind schedule with Sheep on Drugs having a few sampler technical issues prevailing at the beginning with the first two songs of the set.
This set was almost identical to latter pre-covid performances and still did not contain the cherished ‘Mary Jane’ and ‘TV USA’. But having said that, I am glad that they came to Brighton as I don’t feel as there is enough of this live music EDM/EBM (electronic dance music/electronic body music) around these days.
Although this evening’s concert was not a sell out, those that were present, in the main, had enjoyed themselves. Although the occasional spitting did cause some concern in some corners. The band’s set came to an abrupt close after only 45 minutes.
After tonight’s gig, the band posted the following message on social media “Thanks to all you punters that came to our Brighton gig on Saturday with The Pink Diamond Review, Colossloth and Noiseferatu. It was really special. You were all willingly indoctrinated into our sick cult for freaks and free thinkers. Thank you”.
Sheep On Drugs setlist:
‘Intro’ (found on 1994 ‘…On Drugs’ album)
‘Step Into The Light’ (found on 2019 ‘Does Dark Matter’ album)
‘Still Ill’ (found on 2010 ‘Medication Time’ album)
‘Track X’ (found on 1993 ‘Greatest Hits’ album)
‘Let The Good Times Roll’ (found on 1994 ‘…On Drugs’ album)
‘Motorbike’ (found on 1993 ‘Greatest Hits’ album)
‘Hero And Heroine’ (found on 2010 ‘Medication Time’ album)
‘Rip It Up’ (found on 2005 ‘F**K’ album)
‘Waiting For The Man’ (found on 1997 ‘One For The Money’ album)
‘Going Soon’ (found on 2019 ‘Does Dark Matter’ album)
‘Slim Jim’ (found on 1994 ‘...On Drugs’ album)
‘15 Minutes Of Fame’ (found on 1993 ‘Greatest Hits’ album)
‘Life’s A Bitch’ (found on 2005 ‘F**K’ album)
More info on Sheep On Drugs HERE, watch their videos HERE and listen to their music HERE.
Support this evening came from The Pink Diamond Revue, Colossloth and Noisferatu.
First up this evening was Colossloth who actually is a one man electronic noisy bloke called Wooly who hails from Leicester. In his time he has shared stages with Pop Will Eat Itself, Wrangler, FRET (Mick Harris), Jarboe, Discharge, Acid Mothers Temple, Tim Hecker, Damo Suzuki, Terminal Gods, Bong, and Zoviet France.
He offers other-worldly experimental electronica and then some. Colossloth’s music alternates between the brooding and abrasive to the transcendental and enchanted. With nods to a multitude of genres – from industrial and ethnic tribalism to caustic electronica,
Colossloth’s debut album dropped at the very tail end of 2015 in the form of the nine tracks gathered on ‘Outstretch Your Hand For The Impress Of Truth’. Eleven compositions followed almost two years later in the form of ‘Heathen Needles’. Release three was the seven tunes found on ‘Plague Alone’ which surfaced mid 2020, and was remixed three months later.
He was performing at ‘The Albert’ in support of his forthcoming fourth album, ‘Promethean Meat’, which is due to drop on 19th August on Cold Spring Records. We were served a handful of tracks from this eleven track album which can be pre-ordered HERE.
Colossloth setlist:
‘Drownsize’
‘Promethean Meat’
‘Pain Is The Cleanser’
‘Flowering Discipline’
‘Personality Debris’
More on Colossloth HERE.
A live performance from the interestingly titled ‘The Pink Diamond Revue’ is one to savour and to stick in the memory for a very long time. They are most certainly eccentric, captivating and totally enjoyable in a retro 1960’s chic kinda way.
The ‘band members’ could be more different if you tried! They are fronted by ‘ACiD DoL’ a leftover model from another time and another dimension. During the eight set she shows off her nostalgic fashion wear and moves with ease with the assistance of her devoted ‘Thin White Duke’ guitar banging owner, London based guitarist and vocalist Tim Lane. I know of no-one else in the whole music industry who pulls off a better pose than Tim. Tonight, this slender tattooed creature with guyliner is (as always) immaculately attired and dressed to make a statement. Completing the trio is man of mystery, Reading based drummer Rob Courtman Stock. He is your everyman and you fail to notice he is there on metronomic drums, holding the performance together.
The Pink Diamond Revue sound is unique and borrows from a host of differing styles that when married together make a perfect match. There’s the electro-amalgam of late 1980’s Depeche Mode; the electro-psych vibe of TVAM; ‘Peter Gunn’ flavour Art Of Noise; a host of snippets of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and lashings of Sheep On Drugs imagery and sounds that the likes of Marc Almond would adore. The Pink Diamond Review sees it as “A world where ‘60s film soundtracks meet sampladelic acid house in a baggy-punk rathole somewhere in Interzone”.
There are no actual live vocals in their set, other than those contained on the pre-recorded backing tracks. The band have an engaging backdrop behind them, which runs selected film snippets mainly from a bygone age in order to enhance the atmosphere and the overall absorption of their ethics and ideas.
The Pink Diamond Review fitted the bill nicely with the fuzzy guitars and psychedelic visuals and projections to boot. It works……Perfectly!
The Pink Diamond Revue setlist:
‘New Kind Of Life’
‘Lux’
‘Don’t Lose Your Head’
‘The Fuzz Guitar’
‘Milkshake’
‘Nothing Can Go Wrong’
‘At The Discotheque’
‘Go Go Girl’
Also on the bill were Noisferatu. who state that they are “Occult Noise Jesters and shamen of Thee Radish, Noisferatu want to suck your Blood and any other fluids!”.
The audience participation was high for the Noisferatu performance. It had loud chanting in praise of the radish. This was an unusual cult-like short intro which for one reason or another reminded me of the film ‘The Wicker Man’, it was in contrast to the more full on techno trash noise from Sheep on Drugs which was to follow.
If you wish to get on board and want to lose 12 minutes 38 seconds of your life, then watch their performance HERE.
Noisferatu setlist:
‘All Hail Thee Radish!!!’
More info on Noisferatu HERE.
