Formed in Tokyo in 1997, PSYDOLL blend industrial and electropop elements to great effect and set it against a futuristic, Blade Runner soundscape. It’s a heady mixture and has entranced fans all around the world. Tonight, they make a welcome return to Shoe Town and headline a bill that’s stacked with some of the best new talent.
Live Report: PSYDOLL + Chaos Bleak + Family Of Noise + Piss Shivers at The Black Prince, Northampton, 02.04.2025
When it comes to alternative music Northampton is a town that punches well above its weight. One of the more inventive bands on the scene are Piss Shivers, a trio who create a sound that simultaneously pummels and mesmerises. Manipulating sonics to great effect, their twin guitars perform a strange dance of death that finds them entwining like lovers, while a hypnotic bassist plays concentric patterns which lure the listener deep into their world before all three musicians combine to land a knockout blow. Piss Shivers have a sound that’s pleasantly hard to categorise and it’s safe to say that they sound like no one but themselves, with tonight’s set winning them more than a few fans.
Corby is a town that breeds hardy folk and Family Of Noise have a sound that’s equally tough. Instrumental music can often “speak” in a way that the vocalised variety can’t and the sound that this pair create is truly terrifying. Sculpting sonics into huge monolithic structures that cast sinister shadows, Family Of Noise create music that is far bigger than their constituent parts and if you want to know just how loud two musicians can get, you need look no further. Deriving much power from a bassist who attacks his instrument like Joy Division’s Peter Hook, the guitarist is equally vivacious and seems intent to scrawl his sound on every surface. However, Family Of Noise never lose sight of important stuff like melody and song structure, and the new song with which they depart signposts a bright (and noisy) future.
As an old school metalhead I was always partial to gothic rock, yet I always felt its main propagators sounded thin and reedy; in short, it never packed the requisite punch. Thankfully, Chaos Bleak are here to show just how powerful goth can be and they hit the ground running with opening shot Beneath The Moon. Like the love children of Black Sabbath and Killing Joke, they set about shaking the venue to its very core with their trademark rumble. They’re not here to take prisoners as vocalist Piers makes the first of several sojourns into the crowd to get up close and personal whilst guitarist Trev throws off riffs like they’re hand grenades. There’s no time for between song banter and the rapidity with which they deliver their numbers only adds to the air of danger surrounding them. It’s their first gig with keyboardist Nigel who adds nice texture to songs such as Deathtrain and I think he’ll made a fine addition to the group. Final track is a cover of Play Dead’s Walk Away which finds them stamping their own personality on proceedings (which is how all covers should be handled) and makes them a hard act to follow.
PSYDOLL certainly have a good relationship with the UK and have performed most of their live shows here (outside of their native Japan). It’s always a highlight when the band make an appearance and a fair sized crowd have assembled at The Black Prince to witness their second show in Northampton inside twelve months. In fact, as the birthplace of Bauhaus and gothic rock, this town makes the perfect canvas onto which the band can paint their multicoloured industrial/electro sound. With guitarist Ucchi creating an impenetrable wall of sonics, vocalist Nekoi adds a lither touch with ethereal keys which are nevertheless sharp and jagged. It’s a neat tension of opposites and one of many which will echo throughout and turns their set into a rough diamond, and one that fractures sound in every direction.
Many comparisons have been drawn between Nekoi and Siouxsie Sioux (from The Banshees) and while that’s a convenient point of reference, Nekoi definitely has her own thing going on and prowls the stage like a black cat, and with Ucchi hidden behind a strange mask, the pair create an arresting experience, both musically and visually. New track Punk Shark (created for the Canadian film of the same name) has plenty of bite and finds the band departing with a wall of feedback, which is surely the only way to go.
Photography by: Peter Dennis
