1,175 PKEW PKEW PKEW, Abandon Ship, Southampton Joiner’s Arms, Tuesday 11th February 2020

I didn't need too much persuading for this one... a trip down to the South Coast to probably my favourite venue in the splendid Southampton Joiner's Arms, to see Canadian punk rabble Pkew Pkew Pkew, one of my breakthrough acts of 2019 thanks to a mighty fine album in "Optimal Lifestyles", and a breathless, euphoric and roof-raising Exchange set last May (gig 1,136) in support of Spanish Live Songs (ironically support stars themselves, last time out!). No pretending that just because I'm 54 and the owner of 2 dodgy knees that I'd behave myself and stand at the back delicately tapping a toe either... oh no, I know I'm going to lose my shit rocking out as much as my old bones will allow, so I prepared accordingly, with lenses, shorts, kneestraps and even pre-gig painkillers all sorted in advance!

Loins thusly girded, I set off at 7 as Rach was doing a pilates class, then enjoyed a fairly unencumbered drive down to Southampton and parked up at 8.30 about 10 steps from the Joiners' front door. Result! Sparsely populated - and cold! - in the hallowed back room early doors, so I popped back to the car to grab my hoodie, thence running into Pkew's bassist Emmett manning the merch stand. He remembered meeting me in Bristol, which was cool, and we had a quick chat about punk rock, The Menzingers and his own band. Popped back into the venue for some support act action; I'd missed openers Buds but was in place for main support Abandon Ship at 8.45, along with their young fanclub (!). A young 4-piece seemingly fronted by Seann Walsh's younger brother (!), they initially kicked into some fast-paced and heavy riffing post-grunge stuff, including an impressive "Worlds Apart" which recalled the frantic noise of Joyrider, before delving into more rhythmic-based and Britpoppy material, whilst retaining a penchant for a soaring hook and some impressive 3-part harmony or call-and-response choruses. A couple of later numbers recalled the urgent snappy pop brightness of The Candyskins (including the undulating fretwork of "See You Again", which needed a couple of goes as the hefty, hard-hitting drummer knacked up his kick pedal!), and closer "25 Minutes", with an almost ska/bluebeat verse beat powering up to an impressive chorus and building outro, climaxed a tidy little set from a band to watch.

A quick turnaround was expected, but there was still a fairly sparse turnout for some Tuesday punk rock in Southampton; still, at least that meant no problem getting down the front! Pkew Pkew Pkew came on at 9.35 accompanied by purple light and dry ice, immediately bursting into life with a ragged-arsed romp through opener "Passed Out", which immediately got me and a couple of other folks at the front rocking away, and which then segued hurriedly into the repetitive fist-pumping terrace chant of "Stop Calling Us Chief".

This was a proper punk rock show tonight; the "handle with care" signs having long since faded, Pkew Pkew Pkew gave their material a thorough and rather splendid roughhousing throughout. The sound was a bit muddied and dominated by guitar glare for me - not sure whether that was because it may have been set up for a fuller room, or because I largely had my head close to, or directly in, the onstage monitors! - but Pkew Pkew Pkew's obvious onstage enthusiasm and dynamism saw them powering through to deliver the type of ragged-edge "rise above" performance so redolent of the likes of American Hi-Fi and Raze*Rebuild. The boys happily shuttled between both albums - the Ramones-like dumbed-down drinking man's surf/skate-punk of their eponymous debut, and the more "mature" yet still frantic blue collar US alt rock-tinged material from that "Optimal Lifestyles" album - so a gleeful singalong "Asshole Pandemic" rubbed shoulders with a more considered Hold Steady-esque "Polynesian", and a more widescreen, Springsteen-like "Drinking Days" bookended with a ragged romp through an unexpected "Let's Order A Pizza" and a fist-pumping "I Wanna See A Wolf".

"We don't do encores so we've just got a couple of numbers left," announced Emmett in a rare up-for-air moment, then "Thirsty And Humble" and the official knee-killing, moshpit inducing "Mid- 20s Skateboarder" rounded off a brief yet kinetic 40 minutes. A little short, but probably just enough for my knees!

Hung out afterwards until I started to get some feeling back in my joints, before another chat with a buoyed Emmett, joking their next album might feature a song about me, entitled "Mid-50s Mosh-pitter"! Then, home for midnight after an easy drive up the A34. This was excellent fun tonight, a band on the ragged edge, on the verge of tumbling into chaos but powering through in true punk rock spirit, with gusto and enthusiasm. Sound not the best, but ultimately no matter, I was still totally immersed in the gig, rocking out to the rabble-rousing stylings of Pkew Pkew Pkew - as expected!

1,136 SPANISH LOVE SONGS, PKEW PKEW PKEW, Toodles And The Hectic Pity, Goodbye Blue Monday, Bristol Exchange, Friday 10th May 2019

Pkew Pkew Pkew… how can you not love a band with a name like that?! Particularly if said band comes endorsed by The Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band On The Planet, The Mighty Hold Steady… a facebook namecheck by THS was sufficient to pique my curiosity about this Toronto band of punk rock ragamuffins, so I checked out and enjoyed their new “65 Nickels” track on Youtube, then promptly bought their old debut CD as the new one wasn’t out yet! Said debut was brilliant; similar to fellow THS acolytes The So So Glos, this was raucous, rampant punk rock of the first water, big, dumb and euphoric, sounding virtually on the edge of tumbling into glorious chaos yet just… just!... about staying afloat, so I was itching to immerse myself into this hectic mania “live”. I’d missed their recent THS Electric Ballroom support slot, having already booked for the Friday gig when they were subsequently added to the Saturday, but quickly acted on their dual-headliner tour with LA emo-punk combo Spanish Love Songs, booking a ticket for this Exchange gig.

Spanish Love Songs themselves came highly recommended by Raze*Rebuild frontman Si Hall, their fine (if, on my early listens, a little over the top on the self-loathing angsty stuff for my liking) 2018 “Schmaltz” album being his fave of the year, so I was joined not only by Si and Paul Carter but Si’s friends Ben and John, John contacting us at the last possible moment to take up poorly Matt’s ticket, requiring a double-back from M4 J16 to Gorse Hill to pick him up! Some entertainingly scatological chat about cat poos and other bodily substances then enlivened a quick jaunt down to Brizzle and a dive into the last spot in my new Exchange parking lay-by. A four band (!) bill subsequently started shortly after arrival with Scots ruffians Goodbye Blue Monday at 7.45. Like the headliners, they seemed lyrically all about the self-loathing, if the big unit of a vocalist’s intros were anything to go by (“this song’s about existential crises at 2 in the morning,” being their opening intro, then it all going more maudlin from there), but after the opening shouty angsty number, their songs took a turn down Gaslight Anthem avenue with some anthemic, flag-waving tuneage, and even into Clash City, with a decided old school feel to their upbeat, fun and – dare I say – even life-affirming punk rock. A real juxtaposition, then, but somehow it worked, a rousing terrace chant chorus of “why must I be so miserable” typical of their oeuvre. They dealt with an annoying buzz (a grounding issue, according to the soundman, leading the vocalist to admit he didn’t even know what that meant!) well, and left us on their most positive lyrical note with a hook of “there must be more to life than this!”, leaving an overall very positive impression. Good start!

Took a breather outside and chatted with the GBM guitarist, who complimented my Superchunk t-shirt, before popping in for Toodles And The Hectic Pity. A 3-piece led by an acoustic guitar-toting young Gaz Brookfield lookalike, they played a galloping, yearning set of angsty emo-punk embellished by the young vocalists yearning, high-pitched passionate vocals. Very Dashboard Confessional then, and although I enjoyed them, they didn’t leave as indelible a mark as the openers.

But it was Pkew Pkew Pkew, next up at 9.15, who were my short-odds potential highlights; I’d come prepared, donning shorts, kneestraps and contact lenses, and took a spot down the front during their slightly fiddly (well, for a punk rock gig, anyway!) set-up. They wandered back on shortly after, kicking straight into “Prime Minister Of Defense”, making an immediate impression not for the expected shambolic chaos, but for a lean, mean, tight and coherent opening. Tough, committed and kinetic as all get-out (especially guitarist Emmett, who threw angular, back-bending shapes from note one and nodded in appreciation at my rocking out, front row), they almost seemed a more grown-up version of the beer-swilling, terract chant-howling frat boy gang I had anticipated, reflecting the journey into a more “mature” approach for their new “Optimal Lifestyles” record. Well, comparatively, anyway… after all, this was still reckless, rampant, rousing punk rock, recalling the Replacements, the Hold Steady and even the Mighty Titus Andronicus in its’ all-inclusive, fist-pumping, roof-raising singalong glory. “Drinking Days” featured some excellent snaking Thin Lizzy-style riffery, “Mid 20’s Skateboarder” was a huge floor-shaking punk rock anthem, and newie “I Wanna See A Wolf” immense, before they brought on Spanish Love Songs’ guitarist Kyle (or, “the slow cheetah!” as they nicknamed him) for a rousing “65 Nickels” and a run through the Chilli Peppers’ “By The Way” which even got me singing along.

No “Let’s Order A Pizza” in the set (my kids’ favourite Pkew song, but one which they’re “over”, according to drummer David Laino), but “Asshole Pandemic”’s woah-oh’s closed out a quite brilliant set, slightly different than anticipated but no less euphoric, singalong and inclusive for it. Great, great stuff!

I’d degenerated into sweaty oik David by this point, but grabbed a list and went about hunting down various Pkew folks to sign it, also hitting the merch and taking my purchases back to the car before headliners Spanish Love Songs, on at 10.15 in front of a packed room, a walk-up sell-out on the night. From the off, they were great too, the loud angst-ridden brooding melancholy of their CD being replaced by a more buoyant, upbeat “live” approach, and I was instantly struck not only by their complete lack of ego, monolithic mainman Dylan Slocum approaching his task as if playing to a small room of friends rather than a horde of baying strangers, but also by that mythical, THS-like connection between band and crowd, as if you couldn’t see the join. Instead of the introverted self-loathing, we got rousing singalongs and a feeling of, you know, we’re all in this together, let’s damn well make the most of it. So I did too, eventually joining the mosh for my second battering of the night. An excellent “Losers” was dedicated to tour manager Gregory, who promptly left his stage-front position (!), “Remainder” was my set highlight, a balls-out sweeping epic rocker recalling The Foo Fighters’ classic “Everlong” (despite Dylan claiming, “we’ve just learned it tonight!”) and “Beer And Nyquil (Hold It Together)” felt like a manifesto for this band, a proper roaring finale. Dylan seemed genuinely taken aback by the frenzied and enthusiastic response, remarking, “you guys are the best! We really, truly appreciate it!”, and after a confusing moment, dragged the band back on for encore “Buffalo” to end a pretty fucking intense yet thoroughly enjoyable set, during which any doubts I had about Spanish Love Songs were well and truly dispelled.

So once again, sweaty oik David (by this time a little dazed and finding it hard to articulate myself!) again grabbed list and hunted down signatures, before a swift drive home and scattered drop-offs saw me back home just before 12.30. Great openers in Goodbye Blue Monday, Spanish Love Songs stepped up considerably, but for me Pkew Pkew Pkew’s euphoric delights won the night. How can you not love this band? Great night out!