There’s something that feels particularly tough about seeing punk-rock on a Sunday night.
But it didn’t deter fans of Pennsylvania’s The Menzingers, with a fairly full Oxford Art Factory on hand early (12 February) to catch promising locals Oslow. With the band due to launch their self-titled debut album next month, there were plenty of people eager to hear the new tunes.
No strangers to these shores, The Menzingers have built a solid fan base here on the back of five records and a reputation for tight, energetic punk-rock. And they once again lived up to it. Bringing with them one of the albums of 2017 in ‘After The Party’, the new tunes shone bright from the get-go.
Opening with standout Springsteen-tinted ‘Lookers’, the nostalgia-drenched new material played out even better than on record.
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‘Midwestern States’, ‘Tellin’ Lies’ and ‘Thick As Thieves’ were clear highlights, with Greg Barnett and Tom May sharing vocal duties expertly.
The pair even handled the inevitable punk audience ‘do a shoey!’ call-out – which also prompted one punter to lob one of his Vans sneakers onto the stage – with grace, while avoiding having to drink any beer out of a shoe in the process.
Fans got plenty of past tunes too, with faves such as ‘I Don’t Want To Be An Asshole Anymore’, ‘Casey’ and ‘Mexican Guitars’ providing a whole lot of fist-pumping joy during a show the band declared their favourite of the tour.
With a set packed with riffs, infectious enthusiasm and anthemic choruses, it’s no surprise the band continue to be such a hit on the festival circuit around the globe.
But tonight it was all about their club show; and the sound was loud and crisp, the energy was high and judging by the amount of crowd-surfing and stage-diving that slowly built throughout the set, there was no doubt the band helped everyone forget it was late on a Sunday night.
They also sold out of vinyl, which is an impressive feat in itself.
