n0teeth went to a couple of gigs last week, separated by a violent 48-hour bout of biblical bowelocalypse (thanks to a certain wrap-based fast food chain that shall remain nameless). Sit down, let's rap.

Gig # 1: watching Bargeld from the bar

Einstürzende Neubauten @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, Wednesday 11th September

Our first Neubauten gig in almost ten years was at the Empire - a venue we'd successfully managed to avoid schlepping to since Ministry's last mediocre appearance in 2018. Nothing especially wrong with the venue itself but Shepherd's Bush is so far away from us they should call it Schlepherd's Bush.



n0teeth rocked up to the gaffe unfashionably late and as a result spent the gig watching Neubauten's set alternately from behind the bar and behind the disabled toilet. There was no support - which might explain why those damn buildings keep collapsing.



Cuts from Blixa and the boys' latest album, Rampen (apm: alien pop music), sound just as punchy live as they do on record. It's wonderful to hear a band of EN's vintage still packing their performances with such energy, especially given how close Blixa seemed to push himself to breaking point throughout their earlier days. "Sabrina" and another ponderous jam from that era whose name escapes me both went down a treat too.


And so I watched you from the bar

Before exiting in search of the burrito wrap that would prove to be our temporary undoing, n0teeth happened to bump into one Paul Jamrozy of Test Dept fame. How delightful it is to see up-and-coming young artists in our little scene supporting each others' endeavours!

Gig # 2: Teething Problems

Gum Takes Tooth, Nnja Riot and Bryn Wyrd @ Two Palms, Hackney, Friday 13th September

There have been a lot of dental-themed bands going around haven't there? Teeth of the Sea, Teeth Crack, Green Gums, Gum Takes Tooth, and more recently a mediocreindustrial metal band at whom this blog's name may or may not be a sly dig. ("What about Swans?" suggested Mrs Internet, temporarily confounding me with this deft bit of thinking outside the crate.)

Gum Takes Tooth burst violently into our field of vision in the early 2010s with Strychine Motive. Their frenetic, mathed-up noise rock gradually mutated in a more electronic direction over time, eventually turning into a kind of abstract reconstruction of the sort of industrial techno that was going on elsewhere in the Haringey warehouse orbit when they first emerged (word to Perc Trax). n0teeth had high praise for last year's album Recovery Position and we were excited to hear how it would go down live.

First, a grumble about Jaguar Shoes' latest wheeze, the fairly recently opened Two Palms venue in Hackney. Our last gig here was PC World, Spike Hellis and the wonderfully named Fat Concubine. There was possibly a post I had half-written about it, but it got lost in the works. Occupying a small wedge of the Hackney Empire, this is an oddly-shaped space where the gap (or lack of) between the stage and the bar causes a lot of friction between people watching the gig and those propping up the bar, not to mention those going to the toilet and back. That said, the decor is fabulous and the balcony is perfect for flinging pint glasses at unsuspecting punters, Begbie-style.

First up tonight was Bryn Wyrd. Absolutely cracking stuff: a double bass letting its freak flag fly over wonky beats (it was a struggle not to sing the Frasier theme tune as we tapped our feet). This duo unsurprisingly hail from Bristol, home to some of the weirdest and wonkiest gear we've heard in the last decade-odd. Must be something in the cider.

On the way to the bar between sets, n0teeth said "Alright Simon?" to a man who, it turns out, wasn't a guy we know called Simon, but rather a man named Tim, whom we last mistook for Simon at another Gum Takes Tooth gig in Hackney Wick two years ago. Tim is one half of Isn'tses, whose "harsh fun" approach to DIY electronics delights and obliterates in equal measures.

Tonight the other Isn'ts, Lisa, was going solo under the name Nnja Riot. Over the course of her set, pre-programmed beats bounced and skittered merrily away to themselves before things started taking a harder, noisier turn, culminating in the ninja seizing a controller and shredding on the knobs to fill that narrow gap between the stage and the bar with a wall of distortion.

The headliners played a pummelling set, whipping the crowd into a raving, flailing frenzy. Frontman Jussi has abandoned the feral screeching of old in favour of a more nuanced vocal approach; at his most creepily whispering he recalls Gazelle Twin, and sounding more like Jhonn Balance every time he breaks into a scream.


One is tempted to overuse words like "shamanic" and "tribal" when describing an act like Gum Takes Tooth in full swing. I certainly did, when chatting about their set afterwards.

Gum Takes Tooth, everyone. They're "just like the Pet Shop Boys".