11/4/2009 Supersuckers, Nashville Pussy & Eyelash

Subject	Supersuckers, Nashville Pussy & Eyelash
PostedDate	4/11/2009
	Another busy night - shows at ULU and the Purple Turtle I want to see. Fortunately the latter is a late set. I arrive at ULU in time to see Nashville Pussy. I've been less than impressed by the little of their recorded work I've heard so far, but was interested in finally seeing them live for the first time. I remain less than impressed. They put on an effort to give a good show, but their actual songs aren't so hot. It's basically just 40 minutes or so of a bunch of rednecks shouting 'Hell yeah!' - dumbed down rock 'n' roll for trailer-trash. Much is made of the fact that the lead guitarist is female. She can play well enough and looks good while putting on a great show - maybe that's enough in the good 'ole USA but I've seen girl guitarists in little known bands in this country who are far better. I was a bit worried about how good Supersuckers would be tonight as last time I saw them they seemed tired at the end of a tour and definitely not as good as the previous times I'd seen them - continuing a worrying trend of bands I've seen recently who have lost their earlier sparkle: Backyard Babies and Danko Jones spring to mind... Tonight's performance at ULU sees a return to form for Supersuckers - not quite the fire of the first few times I saw them, but definitely better than last time. Things dip a little in the 'country' part in the middle of their set, but soon get going again. Eddie Spaghetti is a great lyricist and an entertaining frontman - unlike the previous band there is a lot of tongue-in-cheek humour. This is a band who can glory in being 'rednecks' with a certain amount of irony and without decending into cliches. The fantastic 'Born With A Tail' has now become this band's 'Ace Of Spades' and has to be in every setlist, although these days it's gets expanded into quite a long medley. Like Motörhead and their classic of classics it's still an essential part of every show. I wander over to the merch stall to see what's on offer. I was thinking of getting the new Supersuckers album, but £12 seems a bit steep for buying direct from the band and cutting out the middlemen - it's £9.99 from HMV online with free postage. A few days ago I got a nice Danko Jones T-shirt for £10 at their Underworld show - Supersuckers want £20 for a T-shirt! Bollocks to that - they probably cost about £3 each from their suppliers.  I walk away from the merch stand without buying anything... And now for something completely different. Off to Camden to catch Eyelash at the Purple Turtle. The event is actually a fetish club night with all sorts of other stuff going on. This has two advantages: 1. The band go on well after midnight after various other acts which gives me plenty of time to get there after seeing Supersuckers at ULU. 2. The girls in Eyelash are dressed appropriately in tight PVC dresses! Last time I saw this usually excellent band (at the Proud Galleries) there seemed to be something missing and frontgal Fe didn't seem to be quite her normal exuberant self. Tonight they are really back on form and this is a terrific show! Maybe it's because the venue is packed - and it's also the right crowd. This audience are really up for some decadent sleazy fun - and that's exactly what they get! It also helps that this is a far better venue than the Proud Galleries and the atmosphere is far better too. The crowd are well into it, and the band feed off this and give one of their best performances.