Suicide

Suicide bear all the hallmarks of a classic band.

They were around in the crucial time for music when new styles had still not been exploited to their commercial conclusion, watering down the elements that made them great. All the bands that drew their influences from this duo (Spacemen 3, Loop, in fact the entire shoegazing/ druggy scene) cite the first Suicide album as being a classic, brutal sonic assault. Droning and repetitive, it charted new territories at the time that had only really been touched on by the Velvet Underground.

Tonight, Suicide bound onto stage (sans Zimmer Frames) looking like Heroine refugees from some post-apocalyptic New York nightmare. The music begins in a haze of bad hip-hop programming and vapid lyrics. They DON'T mean it, MAAN. It seems as though they are as bemused as the audience as to why they have been invited to play to a bunch of cooler than thou students in the first place. The reaction from the crowd is one of studied insouciance, everyone checking around whether they are supposed to enjoy, or not. Believe me, the word on the street is that their day has passed, and whether it really ever came or not is debatable. All illusion as to this band's 'mighty' stature is stripped away within one and a half songs. No tracks recognisable from the first record filter through and the new material sucks like an overactive Dyson on full strength supercharged suck mode. Suicide, in short, make me want to live up to their name.

Forget it, Granddads