club WITH NO NAME live review


FIVE KNUCKLE + HHH

2nd September 2001
Five Knuckle - formerly Five Knuckle Shuffle - are pretty brand spanking new and minty fresh on the hardcore punk scene. They still haven't got the claggy teeth syndrome that comes with spending too much time eating junk food from service stations! Hailing from the not so beautiful Bristol, they've recently been knocking around with the likes of hardcore claggy teeth labelmates Capdown, supporting them on their latest UK tour. Tonight in Peterborough, the Knuckle have escaped the glamorous job of first on to warm up the punters, a task perfectly performed by hardcore loons HHH who are also working with Household Name Records.

Five Knuckle's opener "Sit Down" comes as a bit of a surprise, the lads appear so 'nice' and clean but their hardcore is pretty stinkingly dirty. Second track "Open Mind" which features on their EP release opens with a funky little riff that cleverly sounds like a looped sample. The song develops to take a bit of a ska approach but instead of the usual really crisp sharp guitar sound, guitarists Edd and Jack opt for a raucous distortion, which certainly adds to the overall angst and novelty of the piece. "All Ages", the title track of their EP sees skinhead singer Dan Sanfey hoarsely bark out rebellious angry questions like 'What's your fucking problem?" That's what we like to see, lads - a bit of fighting spirit in hardcore music.

The band seem slightly nervous as Dan announces that the next one will be a new one which for the time being is aptly named "New Song". They carried it off in style, bassist Jojo and Shaun on drums holding up the rhythm section so that everyone else was free to experiment off on their own musical tangent. Five Knuckle's sixth track "So Called Friends" has received quite a lot of attention after appearing on the EP and on a Household Name Records compilation. Dan mockingly shouts in the chorus 'Don't you fucking look at me' in a tone that provides much amusement to the hyped-up crowd.

The grand finale "Feel The Force" is played with a request for everyone to have piggy back fights which is met with unanimous enthusiasm from the brave masses. The resulting injuries were certainly a genius way to make people remember Five Knuckle, and some of those bruises will last until Five Knuckle's next appearance at The Club With No Name.


CNJ, The Fly.


Previous Index Homepage Next