The Sneaky Nixons at Zanzibar, Liverpool. July 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of a lonely trumpet, mournful, respect inducing and being blown as if the last vestige of light was being snuffed out across the city and the rampaging hoards under the command of the Four Horsemen were clambering at the old walls, played out with a kind of skittish solemnity; for not everything in life sounds as though it is seen. Not every great explosion and brutally exquisite note is heralded by beauty in some eyes and yet as the dark shadows collected in the late July evening and the party revellers bounced to a incoherent beat somewhere in the distance, The Sneaky Nixons stormed the troops and the true beat of nature was there to be felt and admired in droves.

With their new single, Sex, being unleashed and the sound of their music creating a stir, a tremendous chaos in such a way that the makers of marmite would clasp their hands and try to purchase the secret formula behind the band’s appeal, The Sneaky Nixons strode with the assurance of the mighty and the talented through their set and who thought nothing of a little home blown destruction; this was a sight of old, of the playful and the mesmeric; theatre pure and simple beautiful theatre.

The four main members of the band, having been heralded in by the lone trumpeter raged against a machine, gave the order for conquest and with a twisted snarl of beautiful contempt, the same twisted snarl that fitted the great John Lydon down to a tee and a beat that had you checking your own pulse for irregularities, supplied in generous quantity by both dramatic drums and bass showmanship, this was an evening’s late night session in which to savour and allow the heart the honour of being taken on a ride that roared and gave thanks for anger.

Aside from Sex, the band performed numbers from their previous E.P.s, The Coup De Grace, and their forthcoming new release with grace and bundles of antagonistic value. Tracks such as Let’s Talk About Girls, Riverside, Love Is A Funny Thing, Anna, Having Fun and Dietary Requirements were so well received that the thought of a revolution hung greatly in the theatrical air and the sweet taste of musical freedom was unavoidable and complete.

Brilliance comes in many forms, not least the coolness of a band who know what buttons to push to get an audience talking about them. For the Sneaky Nixons that talk is a full blown conversation and aided by flip charts, presentations and the sneaky grudging respect of an audience that really gets their tale.  

Ian D. Hall