Love Zombies – Water Rats, London – 7th December 2016

This was a busy night for gigs in London – there were 4 in total I wanted to be at, but sadly its not possible to attend them all, but due to the different stage times I was able to attend a gig in soho before racing across London to get there in time to see Love Zombies, who were my top choice for the evening.

The band fronted by Hollis J released their debut EP over a year ago, and have recently recorded their debut album, Passionfruit.  That gets its full release in early 2017 but fans who helped fund it through a Pledgemusic campaign got it a week or so before the gig.   Hollis’s talent was spotted by Ginger, who recruited her to front his band Hey Hello! but she left the band earlier this year to devote her time to Love Zombies.  Sadly I missed the support bands but was there a few minutes before Love Zombies went on stage.  Last time I saw them was supporting Rock Goddess 18 months ago, but tonight they’re headlining (and deservedly so).

If you haven’t heard Love Zombies before then I can best describe them as a mix of Blondie with some British punk. Hollis J is a great frontwoman and definitely reminds me of Debbie Harry, and she’s got some great musicians with her.  It’s more punk than most pop-punk bands are, but it’s damn infectious too – music you can’t help but enjoy.  The songs are fairly short and they power through the set with barely a pause for breath, and the crowd absolutely love it.  At the end she gets a load of fans to join them before she ventures out into the crowd.  It’s a high energy performance and a thoroughly enjoyable one.  With performances like this and a great album like Passionfruit I fully expect this band to grow their fanbase very rapidly in the next 12 months.

Setlist:

Oblivion
We on you
Teleportation
International bug
Favourite song
Backwards world
Big & strong
Robots and aliens
Come around
Johnny turned 18
Gasoline
Birthday
Who the fuck are they?

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About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.