Friday 9th December, 2011 – Amplifier Bar, Perth – Review By Dominic Pearce

For all intents and purposes, rock and roll is dead.

Gigantic stadium cock-rock, six feet tall archetypal lead singers with bristling chest hair and tight cut pants, thunderous Marshall stacks and of course, forty thousand cigarette lighters held aloft to the sky in one massive ‘fuck you’ to “civilized” society. Musicians arriving in stretch limos looking forward to an evening of throwing TV’s out of penthouse windows and having short-lived, drug fuelled sex with enamored young fans.

Unfortunately, it’s dead. Well and truly. Any remaining front artists or bands fitting the above M.O. exist only as living reminders of a failed commercial industry and a dead era in music. To truly commit to Rock n’ Roll, to celebrate all that it once was and should stand for, is to now only commit to it 400%. Either you give yourself over to the Rock n’ Roll ideal entirely, truly become it – or end up simply being a weak imitation. Thankfully however, 400% is where we find GUITAR WOLF. The Japanese three-piece are about as legitimate as they come, and their gig tonight reinforced that fact.

Opening act THE COALMINERS SECT. kicked off the evening at mid-tempo. Grungy sixties rock with delightful lashings of organ. The only thing holding this act back currently is awkwardness on stage. The grooves are there, but as a six-piece they should inhabit their music on stage far more.

THE CHAINSAW HOOKERS followed with a tight and fast set of grungy Bronx-esque punk. A set filled with fast-paced guitars and righteous drumming but unfortunately, very little in the way of dynamic changes and noticeable differences between songs. Last up before the headline was, THE VOLCANICS. A new line-up, but with the same lead singer – these guys are still doing the same thing they’ve been doing (particularly on the Amplifier stage) for at least the last six years, albeit slower.

Despite the uninspiring support roster, it was finally time for Guitar Wolf. Armed with beer, combs, Yugi’s now-signature three-string broken bass, and an archive of their handcrafted Jet style Rock n’ Roll, Guitar Wolf proceeded to decimate the Amplifier stage. Compared to their last show on the same stage, things were seemingly quieter as the set kicked off. I’d probably like to point out that their last Amps appearance was cluster-fuck loud. This show was only slightly softer than cluster-fuck loud.

After the first few songs, it almost seemed like that maybe even the immortal Guitar Wolf could be past their prime. Once they warmed up however, such fears were truly dashed. It was loud, messy, dirty rock fun that only Guitar Wolf can deliver. To be honest, they were probably the sloppiest players on the entire line-up. But when you play that genuinely and passionately, who cares? Guitar Wolf sure don’t. These guys don’t just PLAY rock and roll. They ARE rock and roll.