The Date: Sept 16th
The Venue: The Horse & Groom, EC2A
The Night: Stylish Riots

Leaning on the bar of the Death Disco (NYC), trying to distinguish between dollar bills in poor light, a flyer boy asks me if I..ve heard of WHITE MAN KAMIKAZE. ..No!.. I drunkenly spat! He continues to tell me of this band from London who took over New York for two weeks whilst touring, and how they..re the hottest thing in our capital right now. Man I hate being preached to...I..ll be the judge of what..s rocking in my beloved city. So I did a little digging and found they were playing Shoreditch this Saturday night. As well as that, I also found out that they are quite the cult rock band and have a large loyal following.

Calmly taking to the stage for Stylish Riots at The Horse & Groom, they take their time suiting up. They look the part but which new London band doesn..t? There..s one born every minute with angular haircuts, camp military jackets or a sickening gimmick. Until those first few chords I..ll remain my sceptical self thank you! They also appear to be the band..s band as members of City Lights, The Fairies Band and Base Battalion (among others) are in the audience.

Fuck me they..re loud and brash. They got the voice of the Pistols and the sound of the Clash. It..s a dream combo and to hear is to believe! ..White Man Kamikaze.. tear through their set list at a break-neck speed, stopping in between only to provoke the audience. You can..t help but have the same feelings you get when somebody announces the phrase ..and now for some audience participation!... They..re unpredictable and like to bounce off the crowd!

Apparent crowd favourites; ..Discount LeadBelly Disco.., ..Kamikaze Uber Alles.. and ..A.K.A.. are played with equal confidence and menace. I don..t think I..ve seen instruments and equipment violated in such a manner. The lead singer announces the following track; ..Odd Man Hypothesis.. to a few screams in the crowd. This is an awesome track with a sharp catchy chorus yelled down the mic. All of these tracks sound like they..ve been written with a purpose and this band will not stop until they..ve taken over the world and made you listen to what..s on their chest. White Man continue by unleashing their new tracks ..Weapons of Mass Instruction.. & ..Bateman..s Theme.. to the bopping of heads and twisting of shoulders. This is rock/punk mayhem and the crowd are fucking loving it! From the Moon-esque drummer..s kit destruction through to the vocalist..s mic snapping incident I..m starting to see what that flyer boy was yapping on about. Their attitude and bravado is truly inspiring! The performance makes you want to pick a guitar up simply to throw it!

At the expense of a sweaty American flyer boy being right, White Man Kamikaze look, sound and play the part of everything you..d expect of a rock band. As far as I..m concerned to be ..rock n roll.. is a fucking redundant term; these guys are ..Rawk N Rawl!..


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