‘Omen Fest’, an Outfit promotion kicks off its autumn series with performances from The Pill & Tough Cookie.
The Old Blue Last is a classic East End Boozer, nestled on Shoreditch’s Great Eastern Street and yet it’s live room has always been cutting-edge and the crowds drawn are a progressive lot. The Pill may on some superficial level be a confrontation of the very clientele expected to pill in and pile on the pints here but its for that very reason we find them so at home here.
Tough Cookie open, basked in red LED light while they shred away wearing The Pill’s merch. With gargantuan riffs, they are stylistic chameleons. Stepping up from your standard garage rock boy band, influences from across the board are noticeable in their non-homogenous style Debuting new material that draws parallels to the early works of Placebo although with massively original flair and a healthy dose of grunge tactics. Tearing away, with a booming sound that resonates to the far reaches of the outside smoking area.
The Isle of Wight new-age GrrlPunk rockers save their first headline show for London classic The Old Blue Last. Having seen the trio before atop the River Stage at the Isle of Wight Festival, it is intriguing to notice they’ve saved being top of the bill for a capital event.
The priss punk rockers, or self defined “Blonde Ditz” hash out a crude but thought through dose of facetious femininity. From afar you’d be forgiven for umm-ing and arr-ing over whether this is self-deprecation or empowerment, yet the turn on universally experienced negative female experiences into a route for commercial success is clear.
Opening as usual with their soon-to-be-released sophomore single “Scaffolding Man,” a whirring panic-fuelled hit about blue-collared voyeurism. The Pill are an all-out party, part-punk part-new wave. Something refreshing and the average Joe or Joan something quite out there… but what’s the fun in being square?
“Scaffolding Man” is out on all streaming sites October third.
Utilizing a low-key choreography and doing just enough to turn their gigs into a bit of a spectacle is probably why I keep coming back. The charismatic duo don’t check boxes, they create entirely new categories for consideration. Suave and in your face while acting oblivious to the implications garners a real kick from the audience.
