Music / Reviews
Review: Menstrual Cramps, Louisiana
Your reviewer’s first experience of menstrual cramps was exhilarating, exciting and left him wanting more. Oh fuck. Rewind, edit: Your reviewer’s first experience of Bristol based 5-piece Menstrual Cramps was exhilarating, exciting and left him wanting more.
The band played a ten-song set brimming with indignation, humour, sass & righteous anger and packed with thrills, spills and a brace or two of killer choruses. Their set referenced everything that was great about the original punk explosion and mixed it up with a bucketload of influences from, and nods to, all the music inspired by said explosion ever since. They did this without a hint of plagiarism or slavish devotion to any of the tropes of punk, hardcore, riot grrrl, or whatever genre you care to throw in that meant something to misfits everywhere.
is needed now More than ever
Some singers play a role, study both predecessors & contemporaries and create a persona, they play a role. Some are passionate and sincere yet aren’t truly comfortable in their own skins on stage. Some are simply born in to this. Emilia Elfrida was born in to this, a lithe, sensual, powerful and empowered presence on stage she commanded the songs. An exciting whirlwind she was Poly Styrene auditioning for the Spice Girls; an Iggy with ovaries but less manic and tending to skank rather than recklessly hurling herself around the stage. Her voice was strong, ranging from childlike to a full-on banshee, but always in service of the songs. Lovely Siouxsie yelps too.
Lyrically the tunes were all killer, skewering everything that’s fucked about the twenty-first century and hilariously vulgar. Who could deny their honourable requests to Boycott the Lot? There was plenty of empathy for the (presumably autobiographical?) Hashtag Sad Penis and naturally massive support for the anti-Nazi Neo Nazi (but hey, let’s widen the scope and deal with Nazi bikers, Nazi mods, Nazi skins, in fact Nazis regardless of their musical preferences). Idols was a breathless monster; its lyrics slaughtered a whole range of flawed opinions and frankly needs to be heard by all those smug fuckers that clutter up the interwebs with excuses for their heroes and justifications for their failings.
And hands up anyone who doesn’t think its a great idea to “Save the badgers and cull the Tories, save the foxes and cull the Tories, save our souls and cull the Tories, save the world and cull the Tories”?
The band delivered too. Cooper Rose and Beth White cranked up the guitars, powerful riffs that avoided cliché, counterpointed with looser strumming and minimal but effective non-solo solos. Robyn Jenner held down the bottom end, nimble and supple bass shadowing the guitars and a great little solo in The Smash. Oh, and the trio’s ascending riff on Idols was superb.
Drummer AJ Murdoch really did power the set though. Rat Scabies meets Philthy Phil, she pounded out the beat and peppered the songs with mental yet precise fills. Mile wide grin, here was a musician enjoying the fuck out of the set.
There are way too many careerist bands paying lip service to revolution or with their head stuck up their arses playing the pity-me card whilst the world goes to hell in a hand cart. People are suffering physically and mentally as a result of media led bullying & hatred. Meanwhile mainstream politicians implement punitive policies to benefit the rich and powerful. This country needs bands like Menstrual Cramps, so do your bit: go and see them, buy their merch and let’s do our best to see they follow IDLES in to the mainstream and upset a whole bunch of people.
Menstrual Cramps (supporting Amyl & the Sniffers): Louisiana: Thursday, 04 April 2019
Pix by Andy Willis.
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