Kieronononon@ The Primrose Pub, Leeds [Live]

Friday 29th May 2009

June 7, 2009, 10:57 PM

Views: 692   Comments: 6

I must admit I was a little apprehensive of Kieronononon - the random mix of styles, the spray painted home made clothes, the ridiculous hillbilly hair cut on the main man Orta. I sat at the bar wondering if I was up to the challenge. It's been a long time that I've been taken completely off guard by what I think a band should be like and what they actually are. Like a jack-in-the-box that contains a techno raving lunatic in neon punk gear instead of your usual run-of-the-mill jester, Kieronononon can't help but surprise. Whilst waiting for the sound man Orta introduced himself and took photos of the crowd with a cut-out K in a square: "You've just been K-holed" Hmmn, OK. All of a sudden everything is ready - laptop, guitar hero and three very different individuals: the set begins.

Not wasting another second Kieronononon fill the air with heavy riffs, shouting and pre-recorded drumming - initially I couldn't hear anything in particular as everything was fighting for audio attention, the winner clearly being the bizarre vocals which are impressively made up on the spot by Orta. Kieronononon have been together for 3 years now, and it shows. They perform with such poise and disregard for their own image they really are quite refreshing to watch.

They do however make the weirdest combination of noise I've heard in a long time and create an overwhelmingly crazy set, it really shouldn't work and though it's painful to listen to at times, it really does. These guys have taken the punk rock spirit and combined it with home made technology and a hard slap in the face that makes them so unique it hurts. They are fun, driven and shockingly loud. I genuinely hope they're in it for the long haul as they are a band to watch out for - if not for what they're doing now, then what they may do in the future. Like an industrial, hardcore Pixies, and I mean hardcore, there are so many different ideas, they are completely in their own league and offer a D.I.Y punk rock experience to battle photo shopped GHDed rock stars of today. They are exactly what they promise - brutal techno punk.

Highlight of the night was a cover of Will Smith's "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" which showed real musical ability and was something the crowd could all sing along to, and the next song “And You’re Not James Bond Either” was brilliant. Were the songs improving or had they just won me over? Probably a bit of both. Kieronononon clearly love what they’re doing and it's infectious.

Each note and every moment seemed to be planned, precise, but equally they could have all been making it up on the spot and no one would know.
The howling guitarist Goat Boy (AKA Oliver Clark) ends "Para Squirt Jeromes Philo" by mauling his guitar like an animal, almost destroying it. End of the set right? Wrong. The ever surprising Kieronononon have one last song to play: “This one’s a classic, and if you don’t know it you’re an idiot” at which point Clarke bursts into an impromptu rendition of Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharpe" to the surprise of the others. Then the real classic begins: an almost unrecognisable version of The Lion King’s “Lion Sleeps Tonight”!

The gig ends with the small but adoring audience shouting support while Orta saves his keyboards eulogy for another day “I only crashed it twice!”
You will either see Kieronononon as weird and incredible or incredibly weird, but by the end of the night I’d been left smiling, surprised, a little deafened and definitely K-holed.

Set List:
Dinner – acoustic
Moral Decay
…And You’re Not James Bond Either
Vampire Vodka Party
Fuck Me
Fetch
Coma
Para Squirt Jeromes Philo – which is apparently an amalgamation of several songs
Lion Sleeps

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