Katie Lochhead from The Sub Zeros. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Originally published by L.S. Media. July 8th 2012.L.S. Media Rating *****
Like Mercury Midnight and The Guardians before them, The Sub Zeros are a band that has something more to them than first meets the eye.
Fronted by the very fabulous Katie Lochhead on bass and vocals, The Sub Zeros took the o2 Academy, Liverpool by storm and left at the end of their set with heads held high and with the knowledge that there were a lot of converts to their incredible sound.
There have really been some cracking bands that have stoked up the musical express train in Liverpool over the last few years with some bands that, with any justice in the world would be lauded from John O’ Groats down to Saltash in Cornwall. Around 50 years previously the Beatles plus Gerry and the Pacemakers started taking the first strides to superstardom and placing Liverpool firmly on the music world map. For the 21st century, the word should be out that the likes of the Guardians, Stephen Langstaff, Kids With Lighters, The Endings, Chasing Infinity, All We Are and now The Sub Zeros would be creating the type of waves that the first British invasion managed all those years ago.
The Sub Zeros, the aforementioned Katie Lochhead, Jay Tebble on lead guitar, John Smethhurst on drums and Matthew Breen on rhythm guitar, have the kind of perspicacity that sits well with audiences, stunning to watch, a joy to listen to and with a front woman who has all the hallmarks of a natural. When listening to songs such as Clone, Stranger and What You Know/Jenny was a Friend, it was possible to shut your eyes and hear the legend of Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees. Not only is she good, she is excellent, and her interaction with the other three members of the band is beyond reproach.
Perhaps, with some fortune, it won’t be long before another invasion of American culture takes place; rather than use the term ‘The British are coming’, it would be more than possible to hear the words, Merseyside is taking over Manhattan’s music scene.
Ian D. Hall