Our gig reviewer Richard Pearmain braved the cold to take in the Windmill’s latest show.
The first London snow of the winter didn’t deter the hardy perennials from heading down to the Windmill on a bitterly cold Tuesday for a night of electronica tinged tunes. I just missed the opening band (the, er, interestingly named Shitwife), but was in time to catch FuzzCulture.
Hailing from New Delhi, and apparently on their first UK visit, the duo of Arsh Sharma (vocals and guitar) and Srijan Mahajan (drums) knocked out a blistering set that veered between rampant electro beats and almost Metallica-esque riffage. If anything, they reminded me a bit of Groove Armada in one of their more wig-out moments.
Headliners Blindness have been going for a while now, and have built up a pretty dedicated following. I’d seen them a few times (though not for ages), and they’ve undergone a couple of personnel changes, but they still ride the same heavy hybrid electro/shoegazey wave. With former Curve and Echobelly guitarist Debbie Smith shooting out squalls of noise, singer Beth Rettig’s resonant voice, which reminds me of the latter day Siouxsie Sioux, combined with a whole repertoire of poses demands to be the centre of attention. Against all this, bassist Emma Quick keeps a solid beat against the precise drum track. There were a few old favourites, like Broken, along with a slew of new tracks. Blindness finished their set with old favourite Confessions which, despite its best intentions, still inevitably reminds you of Robert Palmer’s Addicted To Love (though in a good way). Regardless, it’s still a rampant beast of a song in its own right.
Blindness apparently have their long awaited debut album out later this year, so hopefully their self-styled “electro filth” will get to be experienced by a much larger audience.
Written by Richard Pearmain.
