Queen Zee, ILL, Jo Mary, Incisions: Sound Basement, Liverpool

As Queen Zee continue their  spectacular rise, Getintothis’ Mark Rowley was at their Sound show to raise a sissy fist of support.

With an album’s worth of material in the can and ready to go, Queen Zee’s homecoming gig was an eagerly anticipated and raucously wild, steamy affair.

This was the second night of the pink punks’ headline tour around Britain. Commencing with the adrenaline-fuelled Victim Age and followed by the rebel-rousing Sissy Fists, Liverpool’s Sound Basement crowd was treated to a high-octane set of angry anthems for the marginalised and maligned.

There was no let up on energy levels, and the audience reciprocated by making the Sass Den of Equality a bear pit of dancing bodies and flailing arms. The undoubted highlight was the band’s signature tune, Sass Or Die, towards the end of the show. The final song saw a flood of people fill the stage to party on down.

It will be interesting to see how the band progress in 2018 and in particular whether or not the new album (recorded at Elevator Studios, Liverpool) will catapult Queen Zee from cult status to mainstream approval. Whatever, the band is likely to remain firmly rooted to the outskirts of normality, as long as gross inequalities pervade our world.

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Earlier in the proceedings, main support for the evening was provided by shouty 4-piece, punk experimenters, ILL. The Sound crowd didn’t really know what to expect of ILL, but were quickly won over by their charm and noise.

Further support was provided by Jo Mary and Incisions. Whilst the latter has a rudimental, borderline thrash-punk delivery, bedecked with loud, gravel-tone vocals, the former are much more difficult to pigeon-hole.

Jo Mary has a noise and looks all of their own. They also have Ash, who has an amusing but slightly worrying penchant to drop his pants around his ankles, at the same time as hitting a perfect rhythm on his tambourine. Who said that men can’t multi-task? The band meld garage grunge with punk-psych to great effect.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist, Sam Warren has an incredible vocal style and oozes talent by the bucket-load. The song Spat Out is just about as good as anything you’ll hear this year, or last. Make a note to go see them soon! (Jo Mary have a Spring residency planned for the last Saturay of the month in Sound).

Photos by Getintothis’ Kev Barrett

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