Crime And The City Solution / Joshua Murphy / Repo Man (live at The Cube)

Bristol
25 November 2023

I’ve seen Repo Man many times; they never disappoint — I like to think of them as Bristol’s answer to The Birthday Party (I’m still waiting patiently for a cover version).

Their spittle-packed poetics and explosive energies are to die for and tonight was no exception. A chewed-over centrifuge of tangled-up guitars and salvo(ed) percussive, its heart psychotically beating to the kerosened discontent of the lead singer. A delicious feast for the senses spannered in the spontaneity of the moment.

Next up, Joshua Murphy — also playing in Crime And The City Solution tonight –furnished us with a lone electric and voice. He welds a subtle symmetry that is beautifully melancholic and captivating. A deeply rivered voice that beams in a hungry ghost-like crafted half-light of frets and looped atmospherics. A set that draw you in to some pleasantly gothic wordplay set about by bowed smears, razor caught and layered to a blinding finale.

Glad for the chance to finally see tonight’s headliner in the flesh, and Crime And The City Solution didn’t disappoint at all. Right from the offset, the slow ache of “All Must Be Love” stole me clean away, caught an animated Simon Bonney convulsing to the torque of his words. Ruminating riches that panther the sultry silkiness knitting round him showed that Wings Of Desire post-punk pearl was still gleaming.

Their music often feels like a dark comfort blanket that you could pull around yourself, relax into — and tonight it’s hitting the spot. A brooding brew of blurring intention and fleeting impression that grasps at and enhances the storyteller’s weave of tangible disappointments with the human animal and the redeeming embrace of love.

I’ve got to say the chemistry the renewed line-up is giving off is excellent, considering Bronwyn Adams and Simon are the only people left from the original line up. When “Bride Ship” hits, it’s like an explosive wow in my mind. A gothic treat (and personal favourite of mine), here windswept in snarled percussion and cutting violin. Simon’s words whirling around its conjoin, all marrow-wrought and dripping, full of torn edges. The air feels electrified as the sound swerves dramatically on that pummelled leash. Truly, one of those unforgettable gig moments.

There’s a call out for “Rivers Of Blood”; Simon shakes his head, saying “we haven’t had time to learn that one” — so they play “River Of God” instead, the country-tinged instrumentation of which floats round the words beautifully as Joshua Murphy’s guitar slants some serious fun into the mix, sets off some nice reactive spins.

Somebody else calls out for “Six Bells Chime” and Bronwyn replies, “not tonight … maybe next time”; but they play plenty of other old-time tunes that just fly by. Loved the chaotic colour they gave to “I Have The Gun” and the spectred intensity of those Last Dictator tracks. An energy the new album numbers played tonight take on into the new decade, all ending on the swaggering tendrils of “Witness” and the storming encore of “Killer”, which catapults you across its breeze-caught pages to leave you hungry for more.

-Michael Rodham-Heaps-