Skunk Anansie

Call them Britrock or, rather controversially, clitrock, Skunk Anansie are still young enough and energetic enough to be one of the great live bands of recent times, as they amply demonstrated tonight despite a well below capacity turnout. As frontwoman Skin recently pointed out in a recent interview with Latest 7, the English can be fickle. But their standing amongst rock fans around the world is generally very high; their refusal to rest on the laurels of their back catalogue has seen them come up with a number of recent top drawer songs that sit very comfortably with the high water point of the 90s when they threatened to become one of the biggest bands in the UK before initially splitting in 2001.

Like many a good rock band they have a simple set up; bass, drums, guitar plus the startling power and personality of Skin’s voice. Supremely crafted songs offer little in the way of indulgence; guitarist Ace (and former presenter of Juice FM whilst the band were inacative) alternatively strokes, picks and powers his way through the songs, assisted by an array of pedals. He rarely does solos, and nor does the extremely well built drummer Mark Richardson indulge either, while super cool bassist Cass flexes his fingers without too much fuss. It’s very tight, all their songs built like perfect pop nuggets, space and texture coming through at the right times, but with an underlying dynamic that sometimes threatens to take the dome off the, er, Dome. Coming across sartorially like the outcast good guys of Mad Max, Skin keeps a relative lid on the politics that have always informed the bands philosophy, but every now and then she shows her disdain that the usual culprits; bankers, politicians etc, are still managing to get away with it. And bouncing around the stage and within the audience, she shows once again how spirited and defiant she and the band truly are.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 26 March 2013

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