Sounds From The Junkshop #102 - The Barbs

 

"Now I can see you, but what can I see?" - The Barbs - Bury You

The best way I can think of to describe the Barbs is that they were kind of like a hipster version of Zombina & The Skeletones. Formed in the Medway (although guitarist/co-vocalist Amy was an Aussie ex-pat), the group peddled a similar sort of retro-futuristic brand of rock 'n' roll albeit one which sounded more like the output of a group of kids hanging round Shoreditch and Hoxton on a weekend rather than developing away from the capital.

Nevertheless, they were undeniably good. The group briefly became press darlings in the NME for about five minutes (being mates with Carl Barat from the Libertines probably didn't hurt them) but unlike a lot of other bands in what would grow into the godawful indie landfill scene that the NME was championing around this time, the good press was actually well deserved. Their debut single Massive Crush was an absolute belter of a song, like the Cramps taking on a big Meatloaf duet and cutting the fat out to leave something genuinely awesome and evil sounding.

After hearing this and its follow-up Bury You (not to be confused with the Symposium song of the same name), a slice of wonky power-pop kookiness that the Revillos would've been proud of, I took a chance on the group's debut (and as it turned out only) album Lupine Peroxide and it was genuinely one of the best things I heard that year. Right from the cool sci-fi artwork, it saw them crashing through 14 tracks in 36 minutes with a gleeful abandon and the likes of Idle Hands and The Importance of Being Evil were a much needed blast of energy and gleefully sicko attitude in the drugged up haze of post-Libertines mumbling. I saw them live at the Vine in Leeds around this time (the venue where I used to both play and promote gigs in this era) sharing a bill with fellow upstarts the Rocks and they put on a top show.

And then...nothing. The band suddenly just vanished off the face of the earth after that one excellent album (well, not quite - Amy and fellow co-frontperson Tim would set up a new group called What Would Jesus Drive? who I completely missed but whose album is still out there on Bandcamp - I intend to investigate). Exactly what went wrong I'm not sure but something clearly did and the band had split up by 2005. A real shame as the Barbs were a group who definitely had a hell of a lot of potential on the evidence of Lupine Peroxide and it's just a shame we never quite got to see it develop any further. I guess all I can say is that if you missed this one first time out, you should definitely go and give it a listen. After all, the importance of being evil is something that can never be understated in rock 'n' roll.

(Oh btw, just in case anyone's wondering, despite the similarities in vocals and looks, Amy from the Barbs and Amy from Amyl & the Sniffers are two different people. Just felt the need to point that out as the thought definitely did occur to me while I was researching this...)