We thought we’d do something a bit different by getting more video footage from the last gig – the second Punka Presents… event. So here’s Kiss Me, Killer TV Episode 1, featuring drag queen Ruby Rawbone, The Gin Birkins and our mates The Menstrual Cramps.
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Kess Me, Keller! St Patrick’s Day thrills with Punka Presents & Ruby Rawbone
As a band we should never eat quality pies before a gig… The first time we ate some lovely Welsh pubgrub pies before a show and played to a couple of people with, um, a band that wasn’t really a good fit. On St Patrick’s Day we scoffed some of Bristol’s famed Pieminister products… and the PA blew up just a couple of songs into our set. Still, it wasn’t all that bad as we had a fun-packed Irish holiday all the same.
Punka Presents is a new series of gigs put on by Bristol’s Punka crew, who are tearing it up on Bristol’s LGBT nightlife scene. Promoter Stu had put in loads of effort putting the word out about the gig, which took place at The Trap venue below St Nick’s Market. With celebrated drag superstar Ruby Rawbone acting as compare the stage was set for a gig that went far beyond the humdrum run of the mill.
Local act Monocle were the first band on the bill and warmed up The Trap with some sonic pyrotechnics fronted by powerful female vocals from the energetic Becky. The were followed by Chang, who are getting a lot of attention with a musical mix that’s both absorbing and explosive in equal measure with involving grooves blending elements of neo-grunge, noise-rock and post-rock. It’s definitely a band to see if you like your rock music fresh.
Kiss Me, Killer had their photo taken by a chap called Marco Bardusco-Brazier, who’s making a documentary about the aforementioned Ruby Rawbone before we took off for pie and mash. Marco’s Instagram account can be found here and very colourful it is too.
Notably, it was the first gig featuring deputy rhythm guitarist, Cooper Rose. Sadly, our lovely Cat had had to jet off to sunnier climes with work (and will soon be travelling again around Central America – alright for some). Cooper, or Coops as she’s often known, plays with our friends The Menstrual Cramps who are causing a stir across the UK with their feminism ‘n humour infused songs and have developed rapidly into an unstoppable live force. When not making videos for the Menstruals and DIY-recording with Logic Pro X, Cooper also performs with London’s unbelievably cool Bad Sidekick project. She also has one of those proper Instagram accounts with great poses, style, followers and whatnot. Northern and vegan, she chose Pieminister’s animal-free Kevin pie, which I think she very much enjoyed. I think we all enjoyed our pies. Pieminster know what they’re doing I think.
Everything was going swimmingly and the band was in a positive, party vibe mood for St Patrick’s Day, even though we had to feign our own terrible Irish accents in the absence of authentic Irish punk girl, Cat: ‘KESS ME, KELLER!’
We powered into Beware! EP favourite From the Inside and gave Rat Race a hammering before we realised something was up… Had Holly blanked in her lyrics for recently-written tune, Sliding Into My DMs? No, it was the mic, no, it was ALL the mics. Yep, the PA had failed completely… blown up… kaput… no funciona… muy jodido… t’be sure, t’be sure…
While Mr Soundman fiddled frantically with his equipment we bravely tried to fill the space with some improvised material, eventually easing into a completely new genre we made up on the spot – anarchojazz pornopunk – which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Vampiros Lesbos OST. Eeeking this twangy, sleazy wahwah-infused jam out as long as possible, and attempting a super-quiet version of our song Snooker so Holly could be heard without a mic, it was time to knock it on the head and call it a night…
Cheri Clouds managed to get some good shots of us, even if we weren’t on stage for very long:
Punka’s lovely Stu was deeply apologetic about the technical hitch, just one of those things, but was keen to have us back ASAP. And, yes, we’ll be playing another Punka Presents in June. Watch this space, people… Watch this space… We love Punka. They’re fabulous.
AJ drum depping for Drunken Butterfly at Bristol Dream Wife gig
KMK drummer AJ will by deputising on drums for seminal Bristol riot grrrl band, Drunken Butterfly who are supporting Dream Wife at the Exchange venue
Dream Wife is a punk band from Brighton who released debut album Dream Wife in January and have really been blowing up big time in the UK. Go check ’em out if you can still get tickets!
Kiss Me, Killer hit the Pig and Fiddle, Bath
It’s taken us over year but the band has finally made its debut in our neighbouring city of Bath at the popular Pig and Fiddle Pub. The gig was hosted by Cat Backlash of Bath DIY Punk Collective and we shared the bill with two storming punk rock juggernauts.
First on the bill were Bath-based Meekers who warmed up the crowd with an enjoyable slab of melodic punk rock. Accomplished bass and powerful drumming were backed by tuneful leads and washes of guitar. It’s just the kind of act you need to get a venue pumped for a night of live music.
The Pig and Fiddle’s main entrance becomes the ‘stage area’ on gig nights, which gives the bands plenty of space to move around and throw some serious shapes. The venue, lined with wooden panels, ephemera and interesting decor has a sort of small town Americana vibe and the images of the gig, from famed local gig photographers Cheri Clouds and Meg Manley Photography, looked great in this setting.
The next band to take to the Pig and Fiddle’s massive la porte rug-come-stage was Wiltshire’s mighty Martyrials. This group has been causing a real stir on the UK DIY punk circuit with their searing keyboard-driven sounds. Lead singer and keys player Sam comes across like a The Nice-era Keith Emerson spliced with the Cardiacs’s William D. Drake fronting some mutant synthpop band, using and abusing his Roland machine with manic abandon. Dirty baselines were forged by Matt while drums were both caressed and pelted in equal measure by the enigmatic, emerald-haired Oana. It added up to a powerful package that got the punters rocking.
Kiss Me, Killer were the headline act. Following the Martyrials would be tough, especially as poor Holly had been feeling under the weather but, a trooper as always, she made it to the gig anyway. A revamped set saw us open with EP banger From the Inside with its animalalistic, metalesque riffage and the crowd lapped it up before we powered into Rat Race‘s sludgy riff, poppier hooks and Arabic-scale psychedelia.
Nat KMK had come armed with his brutally-effective Barefaced bass cab, a bit of gear that really brings his clever playing alive, basslines weaving in and out of my Gordon Smith GS1, Cat’s Telecaster and AJ’s forceful drumming. We’d thrown ‘first ever song’ Narcissistic Tendencies into the set and, oops, it rather fell apart through lack of rehearsal but thankfully we’d got the crowd on our side by then…
Newish song Tear Your Heart Out (Rip it to Pieces) with its meaty, chugging breakdown went down well and when the Pig and Fiddle audience demanded an encore we took a chance on Sliding Into My DMs, a new tune with Holly lyrics that take aim at creepin’ dudebros. It was rough and ready (‘I had no idea what was going on,’ claimed AJ) but the audience seemed to like it regardless. Job done.
Cat Backlash has rebranded Bath DIY Punk Collective into a new events management/music promotion outfit called VIBE REVOLUTIONS. If her new venture creates more gigs like this one local music fans will have a lot to look forward to.
BIG NEWS: We are playing Rebellion 2018
Bristol’s Kiss Me, Killer will be making our way to Blackpool this summer for Rebellion 2018 and rocking the festival’s Introducing stage.
The world famous Rebellion has its roots in the Holidays in the Sun festival, which started back in 1996 in Blackpool but saw events all over Europe and beyond. Looking to showcase future punk as well as the classic favourites, 2007 saw the launch of the Rebellion festival. The event now takes in many subgenera of punk rock and m alternative.
There’s also literary stages, art exhibitions, Acoustic music, poetry, clothing stalls, tattooists much more. Kiss Me, Killer will be taking our bmovie-riot-grrrl-come-hardcore sound to the The New Band Stage, which’ll be a real death in our cap!
The festival runs from Thursday 2nd August 2018 to Sunday 5th August 2018 so make sure you get your tickets and accommodation sorted sooner rather than later.