RAGING SPEEDHORN
CROWBAR/CHARGER/SCURGE ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON Corby bruisers revert back to their original arsenal
TonighT’s gig is a special one, bringing together Raging Speedhorn’s original members for a one-off show to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Kicking things off, sCURgE show signs of promise. With top-end vocals reminiscent of Deafheaven, they might not be to everyone’s taste, but the pain-inflicted passion works as a harmonious discord against those sludgy riffs. Still early in the night, punters filter in from Camden’s mucky high street to catch ChARgER. Their common ground with the headliners run deep, being long-time buds as well as sharing a guitarist, and with a recent reunion of their own there’s a celebratory ‘We’re all getting a bit old but we don’t give a shit’ vibe in the air, punctuated by frontman Mark Cartlidge announcing, “Sorry, I was just sick in my mouth.” Throwing
CRoWBAR in the mix has been a real win for Speedhorn’s ‘one-off’ spectacular. In the context of such a visceral line-up, the New Orleans sludge veterans play to an aweinspiring level. Unlike the rest of the bill, Crowbar are relatively static, accentuating the symmetry of Kirk Windstein and Matt Brunson’s fretwork. Fingers follow fingers, producing a resonating harmony of strings that underpin the driving force of Kirk’s vocals through classic cuts like Lasting Dose and Planets Collide.
They are unnervingly cool. Like a fine vintage, RAging sPEEDhoRn return to their original line-up for the final act. The contrast between nonchalant boynishness and pure aggression defines this set. At one point, one of the two vocalists, Frank Regan, joshes, “My pants are wet. Has anyone got any Tena Lady?” and elsewhere introduces The Gush as the song that’s about a “neverending orgasm” before bludgeoning into what makes this UK sludge hardcore band awesome, and what is a ballsy, beer-spilling accolade to pure groove and brutality.