Artrocker magazine - July/Aug 2005

The Venom Seeds

Ryans Bassment, Stoke Newington, 14 July

by Isabelle Bass

With two gorgeous women in tight Chinese dresses, a hard and fast drummer, The Venom Seeds are injecting a new level of rawness into the London live music scene.

Slideling's gutsy slide guitar and Riotmiloo's unhinged vocal performance combined with The Cave Man Machine's unpredictable rhythms ensures their music is never gentle or boring. This is uncompromising hard fast punk rock.

The venue for their fourth gig - the basement at Ryan's bar, Stoke Newington is the natural habitat for the Venom Seeds. Its hot, smoky and sweaty down there, much like their music.

Opening with Get Out! Right Now! The Venom Seeds grab the audience by the genitals right from the first chords. There's no bass to be found, but Slideling's slide guitar fuzz has all the balls to deliver a sound that covers the lower end with panache and grace that most guitarists only aspire to. Echoes of Led Zeppelin, The Gossip and The Two Tears spring to mind. The obvious comparison would be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but this three piece thrash out a much rawer bluesy sound of their own.

This is no holds barred stuff. By the time they're onto Going Down, that's exactly what Riotmiloo's doing. Launching herself onto the ground, several times, showing a commitment to the music which nearly removes her black silk dress. And before the last strains of feedback, a naked streaker joins them onstage, making of an unforgettable set. Go Geisha girls!