CRIME AND THE CITY SOLUTION + SAVAGES

The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre | October 26th

The Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank may seem an unusual choice of venue for tonight’s show. While the experience of reclining in a comfy chair at the end of a busy week makes a refreshing change, you can’t help thinking that influential Australian post-punk outfit Crime and the City Solution and spiky London four-piece Savages are likely more accustomed to less grand surroundings. The unconventionality of the setting is boldly highlighted by an audio announcement: “Please kindly take your seats, tonight’s performance will begin in two minutes”.

While Crime’s legendary status makes them the bigger audience pull tonight, Savages performance is definitely the more incisive of the two. After silently emerging onto the stage clad in black to polite applause, they purposefully mark the start of their set with a cool, tuneless crashing of instruments. From start to finish, they are seamlessly tight, the QE Hall’s acoustics doing justice to their precise playing. Bassist Ayse Hassan is machine-like, driving their sound with Peter Hook-esque precision but with an aggression and distortion that sets her sound apart. Indeed, many have been quick to draw parallels with Joy Division, not least because with her cropped hair, slight build and jerky contortions, lead singer Jehnny Beth is instinctively reminiscent of Ian Curtis, though her vocals are actually closer to the wailing of early PJ Harvey. Savages are completely unaffected by the unorthodox setting, quickly tearing between hostile bursts of action. They skulk off quietly after a 25-minute set that feels more like a sharp statement of intent than a support slot. Very exciting indeed.

Formed in 1977 by frontman and lynchpin Simon Bonney, Crime and the City Solution have been through countless line-up changes in their career. An inspiration to the likes of Mark Lanegan, and intrinsically connected to The Birthday Party, Crime are rightly recognised for their seminal, brooding offerings of the 1980s. After splitting in 1990, Bonney has now reformed his band with two previous members (one of whom being long-term partner Bronwyn Adams on violin) and new recruits including the likes of Jim White (Dirty Three) and Troy Gregory (Spiritualised). Having been based out of both London and Berlin during the 1980s, this time Bonney has rerooted his band to Detroit, where they have recorded a new album, American Twilight, due out early next year.

It’s credit to Bonney and co. that their focus tonight is primarily to promote new work, rather than simply celebrate former glories. Even songs from their previous lives are being reinterpreted for this tour, as Crime seek to give their fans something completely new following more than twenty years of hiatus. That said, tonight’s line-up fail to stir quite the same excitement and vitality that they’re said to have done twenty years ago. Swaying from more tightly crafted and pretty songs to dark, strung-out, bluesy swells that compliment Bonney’s spoken word parts, you certainly get a feel for how dramatic Crime were in their pomp. Whilst the performance is enhanced greatly by new addition Danielle de Picciotto, who provides stark video and photography projected on a screen above the band (particularly during the encore, when she quickly flips through a simple and evocative photo collection of desolate buildings), you can’t help thinking that through their long absence Crime are yet to fully reinvent themselves into an exciting new form. Unfortunately, this was probably highlighted further by Savages being so bloody good before they came on.

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http://crimeandthecitysolution.com/

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/

Words: Jack Bolter