Live Review: The Love Junkies

The Love Junkies provided an outlet for the deadbeat kids of Adelaide’s west end with an impromptu free show at the Ramsgate Hotel.

Transforming self-mutilating grunge into an abrasive storm of internalised aggression, caustic woe, existential sarcasm and all the reckless, senseless insanity required to tie those elements together, The Love Junkies brought out the animal in everyone, inspiring testosterone-fuelled mosh pits that saw bodies colliding violently like sub-atomic particles. A failed stage dive resulted in security barricading the previously unprotected stage and punters continued to smack the wooden floor boards with their face and elbows as they were sent to the ground by the brute force of aggressive dancing. All the while Mitch McDonald strummed and sang with a fervent look of manic glee that pervaded his entire face.

The hard-hitting second release, Blowing On The Devil’s Strumpet, was an absolute tour de force, and the few songs this reviewer had previously seen critically made complete sense in a live setting. The crunchy riffs and projectile outpour of distortion in songs such as Television wove perfectly with its clean moments, and the voice of Mitch McDonald explored erratically not only an expansive range of sounds, but a lightning-fast bipolarity in the emotion expressed. The clever lyrics ensured fans each had their own favourite line to adamantly yell out, while songs such as Lonely Ride courted Robbie Rumble’s eerie backing vocals juxtaposing cheeriness with a stout lunacy.

When I’m Lookin’ In The Mirror is one of the most fantastic songs of the year, and its one-minute run time will make a little girl out of you. Inciting crowd members to charge into each other head on, the filthy punk ditty inspires a sense of psychotic and narcissistic aggression. The scream of “When I’m lookin’ In the mirror I see a selfish prick, and he’s got me on my knees while I’m sucking death’s dick!” marked the conclusion of this consensual group violence. A rendition of Alma Street pulled strongly at the heart strings, firing sympathetic and contemplative energy into the air.

Closing with Blowing On The Devil’s Strumpet, an older song that inspired the title of the recent LP, The Love Junkies had the crowd lapping sedately at their feet and are my tip to be an international sensation. Their stark power, vivid imagery and overt originality bear a similarity to System of a Down when they were in similar stages of inception.