Somewhat puzzlingly signed to Thurston Moore’s label, Violent Soho are an Aussie quartet who want to pretend it’s 1992. Grunge it seems is back, however it’s not the Mudhoney/Nirvana/Tad sound that made the world fall in love with it, it’s the formulaic dreck that came after when every major label on the planet rushed to Seattle with open chequebooks to sign anything wearing a lumberjack shirt. It’s a bit Pixies, a bit Weezer, contains no hooks, and could be passed off as novelty, other than that it’s on Ecstatic Peace! – whether bad or good, Sonic Youth are at least always evolving and Violent Soho are retrograde in the extreme. If you bring nothing new to the party, then at least be damn good at what you do. If this had appeared in 1992 it’d have been passed off as bad grunge, so there’s certainly no cause to celebrate it now just because some time’s passed. And no props for that attention seeking title – if you’re in a rock band and Jesus stole your girlfriend – a dude whose musical friends are Cliff Richard, Stryper and the Jonas Brothers – then your girlfriend’s telling you that your band’s hopeless. As am I.
