Planet Notion - Liquid Liquid. The Barbican. October 4th.

Liquid Liquid. The Barbican. October 4th.

10/10/2008

Deeply trendy goings on at the Barbican this weekend, as Manhattan punk-funksters Liquid Liquid put on their first ever London show, despite having been a huge influence in the dance world for almost 30 years. Part of Domino Records’ 15th birthday celebrations, it’s a gig that attracts people with such a sharp dress sense, they can congruously wear scarves indoors. Others were clearly fans back in 1981: I watch one ageing rocker take extended breathers between bursts of animated grooving, while his mute Oriental girlfriend sits implacably beside him; a throwback to the Warholian loft parties from which Liquid Liquid essentially emerged. It’s all about percussion here – African rhythms beat out on marimbas and cymbals, bongos and baked bean cans; rolling, hypnotic basslines dragging it relentlessly forward while the front man intermittently screams or roars. It should be unlistenable art-rock garbage that meanders off into endless dreary Womad solos but no didgeridoo ever appears. Liquid Liquid are saved by their punk ethic - of short sharp songs, and a slightly terrifying rage – that draws the link between the punk they were raised on, and the dance music they pioneered. They remain true to the spirit of a band that lasted only six years the first time round, and whose entire back-catalogue stretched to just three EPs. And yet their impact has been enormous - obvious in bands like Hot Chip (who’ve re-mixed Liquid Liquid tracks) and LCD Soundsystem, and in the mixing choices of every hyper-fashionable East End club DJ. Which makes it a strange gig to put on in an all-seater venue, until you realise that their influence is the result of true talent and musicianship – the sort of skill that warrants sitting and gawping. It’s a slightly demented sort of genius, but one that has been worth London’s long wait, and inspires the hope that it won’t be so long again. Words: Eric Randolph

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