Review: The Dollfins, The Bone Collectors and Beach Party rock the crap out of Purple Turtle

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Published on Friday, 30 September 2011 10:42
Written by Rhynhardt Krynauw

Image by adamoose.tumblr.com/

Wednesday 28 September saw the début of one of the most exciting new bands I've seen in a while. The Dollfins, comprising drummer Pussy Slap, bassist/vocalist Bear Trap and guitarist/vocalist/natural born rock star Fuck You, hit the stage with their rendition of Link Wray’s Jack the Ripper, followed with the Beatles' Money (sexed up quite a bit), and some original tunes, and rocked the crap out of all of it. This band, who has invented the genre Sexabilly, churned out chunky, dirty surf-rock at a frenetic pace, and the crowd went apeshit. I felt like an extra in a Tarantino movie.

As any red-blooded male will tell you, girls playing guitars or bass are awesome. Think Kim Deal from the Pixies, Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, Paz from A Perfect Circle. That kind of thing. Now, add a pinch of Karen O, a handful of Juliette Lewis, and several buckets of sex, and you're approaching what kind of band this is. To explain the effect this has: the drummer's a dude, so I have no idea what he looks like. He sounded great, but he was somewhere in the back.

Next up were non-newcomers The Bone Collectors. The Assassins of Pop. The High Priests of Boogie. Energetic. Tight. Slightly scary. This is mainly due to the six-foot-seven guy doing percussion with a couple of kitchen knives and whatever the hell else he feels like. I'm not going to be the one telling him there's anything wrong with it. You can try if you want. When asked whether he was classically trained in the busted Heineken keg, he replies: “No, I majored in the metal army trunk. But from there, you can go pretty much anywhere.” He recommends using relatively high-quality knives, as the cheap ones shatter. Advice I never thought I'd need. If you haven't seen them before, you should. They're always good. Catch them back at the Purple Turtle on Sat 1 October with the Stremes, Earl Grey and Croquet and ShortStraw.

Last up were Beach Party. Their arrival marked the appearance back on stage of The Dollfins’ Fuck You. The crowd, as with the bands before them, responded well to everything they did. Everything. It’s difficult not to: they just seem to be having so much fun. Their facebook page describes their music as a fusion of blues, rock and roll, soul… Actually, just go read their blurb. It’s a good laugh. They’ve been playing some pretty sick gigs recently, so try and see them.

The night was an all-round success, barring the slight headache and the tumbleweeds rolling through the arid wasteland that is my wallet. Totally worth it, though. R30 for three bands brimming with Rock’n’Roll demons, two Black Labels for R22, and witnessing liquid sex swinging guitars around on stage? Fuck yeah.