Wednesday isn’t exactly the most punk day of the week. As a rule, if I’m smashing the system I like to have a good night’s sleep afterwards, but even with Sonisphere Festival looming the day after, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to see Sonic Boom Six in such an intimate setting. How did it go? Read on and find out…

First on the stage were the fantastically titled Skullet (Google it – It’s like Bill Bailey’s hairstyle, but worse), a bunch of five nasty looking chaps from all over the local area. There’s beards and tattoos all over the shop, and as they kick into their first song it feels like any one of the band could (and would) tear your ears right off your head given the chance. The bass clanks metallically, guitars grumble and growl and vocals are spat by a man who looks like he’d not only rip your ears off but also make you eat them. Nasty, but great fun.

Next up, replacing the unfortunately absent Dirty Revolution, were Punchdrunx. Singer James Flames is a welcome sight on stage for me, as I loved Stuntface and as such I expected what I was about to hear to be good.

I was right.

Punchdrunx are great. They sing songs about things like old friends and the places they grew up, and they remind me of bands like Cocksparrer and the Down and Outs. They do fast, they do slow, they do heavy, they do country, while all the time maintaining that punk swagger that only a real punk rock band can have.

Sonic Boom Six vocalist Laila Khan

And then it was time for Sonic Boom Six, a band who to some need little introduction. In case you do, they’re a hip-hop-ska-punk-reggae-metal mishmash of every single underground genre you’ve ever heard, wrapped in Manchester wrapping and presented by a tiny, hyperactive woman who just will not stop moving.

If that sounds like the sort of thing you might like, then I guarantee you will do. Conversely, if it sounds awful to you, you’ll probably think they are as well. The crowd tonight are certainly happy to see them however, and as soon as the first beat drops it’s obvious that Sonic Boom Six aren’t gonna let a slightly flaky sound stop them from bringing the SB6 party to Wrexham. Yeah, the vocals are a little quiet at times and the drums tend to drown the rest of the band out, but my God, what energy. In fact, not being able to hear the band properly isn’t a problem – you could be deaf and still enjoy this mob flinging themselves around the stage with abandon and glee.

I mean glee as well: Every time the crowd sings along, the band smiles like it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it before, and as the show goes on it’s apparent that the crowd might have run out of energy in what is a very hot Central Station, but the band are going to keep bouncing all night if they need to. They play their own songs, they play covers, they slip sections from songs by other bands into the middle of their own songs, and whether you know them or not you feel like you do. Sonic Boom Six are a seriously life affirming band to go and see, and if you’re in any way into punk, ska or anything of that ilk, you owe it to yourself to check these guys out.

Listen to Spann Talk with Laila and Barney from Sonic Boom Six when Chris took some time out with them before the show: www.wrexhammusic.co.uk/spann-talk-chris-meets-sonic-boom-six

Links

Sonic Boom Six website