Originally one of the shortest incarnations of The Scientists, only lasting around a year before they broke up in the late '80s, this reprised current line-up is now their longest lasting, an ongoing concern since a 2006 reformation.
What could have so easily been a retro trip, like so many others that have reformed to play the 'hits', has seen the band eventually releasing new material in 'Negativity' an album from 2021.Mainstay frontman Kim Salmon acknowledges they're sneaking in new ones amongst the old but these new songs don't sound out of place and sit (un)comfortably among those the audience are more familiar with from the band's '80s heyday.
Of course there was great appreciation for the classics ('We Had Love', 'Swampland') and acceptance for the contemporary which fares well alongside songs over 35 years old.
It doesn't matter there are only a few songs which significantly diverge from the basic compositional structure, the hypnotic driving intensity of the synchronous rhythm section of Boris Sujdovic on bass and Leanne Cowie on drums lay down a solid foundation over which Tony Thewlis' (latterly nicknamed by Kim as 'The Riff Grifter') guitar attack echoes that of the late Rowland S. Howard.
At 66, Kim has the energy of someone half his age, his stage presence and guttural vocal delivery being the last piece of this inexplicable puzzle that make The Scientists what they are.
From the back catalogue, 'Fire Escape' is squealing Cramps-like rock & roll while during 'Lead Foot', Leanne attacks the drums violently and Kim screams hoarsely at the microphone.
From the album 'Negativity', 'Make It Go' diverts into some kind of seemingly improvised free-jazz swamp rock exercise before Leanne's drumming slows and the song coalesces to a close; while on 'Naysayer', Tony's guitar playing mimics Kim's vocal like a twisted nursery rhyme.
The intense sonic assault of the songs is only broken up by Kim's occasional contrasting joyful banter. He refers to how he discovered and subsequently headhunted support band Earth Tongue.
For those who were there earlier, they were rewarded by this New Zealand duo's voluminous doom-laden, fuzz-drone guitar and drums performance clearly in debt to forebears Black Sabbath, but unlike many others of their ilk having transcended this influence.
Apart from Kim's asides, there are few moments of rest from the unrelenting intensity of the songs before 'We Had Love' completes the set exactly an hour after they started.
Boris returns alone and jokes the rest of the band aren't coming back and that he's going to do some solo stuff. The band do return for an encore of much the same, playing out the evening with Kim on harmonica, Tony discretely playing slide with a beer bottle.
This was a remarkable set from a band not resigned to living in the past, and who have been able to sustain their sound in their new material.
Kim Salmon has never really been away through the years, but now he is back where he belongs at the helm of The Scientists.
