photo credit: Daniel Boud

Bluejuice 'Problems' Album Launch
Spectrum
Friday June 29

Bluejuice are the natural heirs to the Beastie Boys. Yes, I typed that correctly, thankyou. There is noone in the country with a sound so wacky, hilarious, thought provoking, moving, or as ass-shakingly satisfying as theirs. Sci-fi rocks meets hip hop meets a brilliant, psycho Vaudevillesque live show - which is so integral to the Bluejuice experience, you better sell your firstborn in exchange for tickets to their next gig.

In the meantime, you can gleam insight into the weird, weird Situationist world of Bluejuice by watching the clip for new single Vitriol on YouTube. Billed as "a cult makes a music video", it is like the anti Free Hugs clip. This shit is fucked up – in the best possible way. "Like how the inside of peanut butter was actually negative space."

So the band kick off their album launch for the long awaited Problems album by projecting the clip behind the Spectrum stage. Hilarity ensued, and spilled all the way over when the boys emerged clad in the cult robes from the video and tore into their set. Playing 'Vitriol' not two songs after we saw the video proved the mettle of that great, great track. Brutal but catchy as hell – which is pretty much Bluejuice in a nutshell. A nutshell that might morph into a grenade if you try to eat it, but a nutshell none the less.

If you've seen a Bluejuice gig, you will know that the notions of chaos and spontaneity rub up against their supremely good chops and musicianship and the results are never less than spectacle – of exactly the sort the live scene requires. Bitingly smart and not afraid to camp up an act in the name of entertainment, Bluejuice may have 99 problems, but sucking in any way is not one of them.