GIG REVIEW: Girls In Synthesis, Zerox, Newcastle, Thursday 8 December 2022
Girls In Synthesis were formed in London in late 2016, and were soon being talked about as one of the most explosive live acts in the capital.
Hand-picked for support slots with bands including Bad Breeding, Slaves, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and Wolf Alice, they quickly earned a reputation as one of the most intense bands around.
They first crossed my radar a couple of years ago, when I heard the compilation album Pre-Post, a collection of their early EPs.
I was immediately impressed by their post-punk/noise-rock mash-up, and marked them out as a band to keep an eye on.
Their 2020 debut album Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future (reviewed here), confirmed my belief that they were a major emerging talent in the underground punk scene.
This year’s follow-up The Rest Is Distraction further underlined that, and made me even more determined to see them live at the earliest opportunity.
That opportunity arrived this week, when they played their first-ever Newcastle show at Zerox, an intimate venue on the city’s Quayside.
And I was not disappointed, as despite the brevity of their show, it was one of the most urgent and visceral gigs I’ve attended in a long time.
After enjoyable warm-up sets by two local bands, Smuj and Rudi Betamax, GIS walked on stage, plugged in, and simply blew us away.
They write songs about personal and political issues, but it’s their raw power which makes them stand out in the crowded post-punk scene.
Noise rock
Influenced by the likes of Crass, the Banshees and Killing Joke, their sound is based around shards of guitar, juddering basslines and pummeling drums.
John Linger (bass/vocals), Jim Cubitt (guitar/keys) and Nicole Pinto (drums) might only be a three-piece, but they make a hugely impressive noise.
Jim and John share vocals, and sing facing each other, sideways-on to the audience. This seems to drive them on, almost oblivious to the fact there’s a crowd there at all.
Opening with the single Watch With Mother, one of the standout tracks on their latest album, they blaze through a 45-minute set which showcases their raw power.
Their short but brutal set consists of just 10 songs, each one seemingly delivered with more ferocity than the last.
Half the set comes from the latest album, and three songs from their other 2022 release, the Konsumrausch mini-album (reviewed here).
Feedback
Pressure is the only track from the first album which makes the cut – two minutes of screeching feedback, tribal drums and barely-contained rage.
The only survivor from the early EPs is We Might Not Make Tomorrow, which signposts that GIS are clearly a band who believe in moving forward, not looking back.
They’re one of the most essential bands I’ve seen in years, and I’d thoroughly recommend catching them live. You might want to take ear plugs though…
