There’s nothing like that feeling of waiting for a gig to start knowing that you’ve heard something special and the band’s debut London show is about to start. Nobody knew if Radkey would be the real deal or not. Hyped from across the pond as ones to watch from SXSW, the three Radke brothers had a lot to prove tonight. The music industry were present in droves, the band though, didn’t give a toss and just opened their set in typical unfazed teenager style, and kicked out the jams with aplomb.
These Kansas city rockers do not just have energy, the musicianship from these three boys is way advanced. Dee may look small once you can see his smiling face through his dreads, but he has a voice like Danzig on steroids! His guitar thrashing is also second to none. Smashing out three chorder’s may be simple, but it’s the melodies that make these songs set themselves alight. Eldest brother Isaiah delivers more strength to the vocal onslaught harmonising perfectly with his sibling. Youngest brother Soloman watches all of this from the back like a don. Despite him only being 15, he can hold a tight rhythm that will only get heavier as he develops. The connection this trio have live is something else.
They steamed through through tracks unknown to most in the venue alongside the five from their ‘Cat & Mouse’ EP. The packed crowd assisted with the singalong, helping these nippas turn their first London gig into a success. It’s a positive display filled with a combination of raging punk rock and driving rock and roll with a look back to the good old days of US hardcore. Lazy journalists will compare them to Bad Brains due to their ethnicity, but those in the know will be mentioning Misfits, Supersuckers, TSOL and Dwarves. Mash the meats from these classics in a blender and you will end up with Radkey’s punk rock pâté.
Between songs they discussed the fact that fish and chips and cider enlightened their stay, the latter being a highlight due to legal drinking age here being lower than in the US which must have been a treat, but it was in this gap, before the band ended the set with a sick Ramones cover of ‘Bonzo Goes To Bitburg’, that I realised that Dee actually had an open packet of Haribo’s in his pedal box. A reminder that the kids are united, as ever by sweets, regardless how punk rock you think you are.
The future for Radkey looks seriously bright. All they have to do now is avoid the sad music industry vultures who claim to be ‘in it for the right reasons’, do their own thing, and they will all probably live happily ever.
Enjoy a couple of tracks from the phone and look out for this lot in your local record shop and find them on FB.