The Stiffs - old school punk rock from Frome

Last night we saw the Stiffs - a brand new band of veterans hitting the pub circuit in and around Frome. To me this was no ordinary thrash along - they captured something special, and are worthy of investigation and praise. They evoked what you might call the 'Punk Rock age of innocence' in their choice of covers - a time when punks wore black suits and ties and liked it all as long as it was fast and only 3 minutes long. They covered the Clash, The Jam, Buzzcocks, SLF, Rezillos, Pistols and the Ramones in an r&b tinged way that seemed very much in keeping with ox-blood martens and suits they all uniformly wore.
Fronting the whole show is Grant who baited the crowd and roared himself hoarse, leaping with a tamborine into the throng like a whirling dervish. A perfect frontman. In fact, Grant is one of those rare instances where someone who always seemed to be a natural showman but a musician as such actually managing to really do it; I remember many times in the 70s saying to Grant that he ought to front a band as he occasionally leapt up on stage to sing when I was singing with the Bad Detectives - somewhere like 30 years later he took up my advice! It's a different kettle of fish doing a whole set of songs with cohesion but this was achieved with deadly efficiency. Although long in the tooth this band were as energetic as puppies belting out 'River Deep Mountain High' a la the Saints for example in frantic mode that reminded me of the Hives. Paul Tozer, the guitarist, also in the Bad Detectives played tight to his bass player brother playing sparcely in the no solos tradition.
So if you want a shot of 70s punk delivered in an old school style, why not seek out the Stiffs.
http://www.myspace.com/theukstiffs
Catch them at the Frome festival at the Griffin Inn on July 15th