The Rezillos - Are back! was it worth the wait?

March 19th 2015

Bristol, o2 Academy, UK

***1/2

Rezillos hit Bristol!!!

The Rezillos ***1/2 It took Scottish band The Rezillos over twenty five years from their debut albums 'Can't stand The Rezillos' and 'Mission Accomplished... But the beat goes On' to reform and release to the follow up, which came out earlier this year and shows they are back and in good form. Tonight they were in support of The Stranglers on their UK tour, and at the end of the night I could almost say it was that this great support band stole the show.

They formed in 1976 and mirrored bands like the Cramps and the B52's with their brand of Surf / Punk mixed with old school values. They have a mix of male and female vocals and certainly a style on stage, from a guitarist with googles a bassist with a top hat to Punk icon with the red leather jacket. Yes they maybe old rockers but with that comes a wealth of experience in how to entertain a crowd.

From the moment they hit the stage they are full of energy and have you captivated. It's all about attitude with this band and they have a whole lot of it, which makes them really captivating to watch. Musically it is straight up and down Punk Rock from deepest darkest Scotland. It is great to see a band just doing what they do well without the need to add the twiddly bits, they are saying we like playing Punk Rock and we can do it well.

The edginess is in the song titles too 'Life's a Bitch, Bad Reaction' and sating that 'Somebodies going to get their head kicked in tonight!!!'. They have so many great songs they could have played tonight in their set, and this is saying something when they only have three albums. It shows the strength of the songwriting and the way the band bring themselves across, that makes them so exciting to watch.

To be honest I loved it, let's hope they do not leave it twenty years before they make even more music. I only gave it three and a half out of five because I think the best is still yet to come from this band and look forward to seeing them doing their very own headline shows or maybe on Top of the Pops if they finally bring it back.

Review by Jon Cooper and Photo's by Steve Owen