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TRZ Band Gig Review New Cross Inn Jan 2019

By Pól Ó Géibheannaigh
12 January 2019

New Year, new start is the old adage and what a way to kick off
2019 but with the newly reinvented Tara Rez band at the New
Cross Inn in the heart of south London’s now famous art hub.
Tara, formerly of Now Wave punk sensation The Duel kicked 2018
firmly in the bin with her new line up of top talent with a raucous
performance in front of a packed house of appreciative fans.

Another beautiful night begins as ‘Camden Town‘, a barnstormer
tune from her Duel days opens the gig — working it hard with
musical partner, collaborator and veteran of the British punk rock
scene - John ‘Segs’ Jennings of Ruts DC and Ruts fame on bass.
The energy is palpable, not surprising given the line up that stand
beside them — cut from the same cloth — with their own
legacies.
Guitarist Paul Laventhol, an original member and songwriter with
King Kurt, playing along side him is fellow guitarist Ed Sonsino.
Drummer Spike Smith wan extensive pedigree to boot, playing
with flamboyant crooner Morrissey, punk legends Killing Joke, the
Damned and Conflict.

It's about the pump of the music. Did you hear that tempo? It's a
certain tempo that really gets a crowd rolling and the audience lap
it up gyrating and singing along. Splash’n’go!
Sirens sing! Segs and Tara penned the new rip-roaring tracks
Shadow and Dying. Segs reckons the Rory with Rez is like this:
’I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to do these recent shows with
Tara Rez and the band. Studying her songwriting and great lyrics
has inspired me to continue writing for RUTS DC. May our ongoing
collaboration continue through the Black Snake EP and beyond? Is
my cheque in the post?’

The TRZ band are much more than your run of the mill eclectic
punk — there’s an underlying current that flows — mental health,
charity and good will — a hat tip to Tara’s Iranian roots. Born in
pre-revolutionary Iran with her ancient heritage steeped in
tolerance, philosophy and understanding but hey she’s Brighton
bred.
She conjures up an image of the poet as privileged seer in the
tradition of Zoroaster, of Iran’s distant past who preached to his
disciples; the Zoroastrians — the cosmic struggle of light and the
dark — and whose moral code is truth, charity, and benevolence.
The TRZ band acts as an intellectual messenger and broker more
complex, meaningful ways for self — a voice communal
understanding during these divisive times. Pre-Brexit Britain - isn’t
it something?

Punk rock in their view enables previously marginalised voices to
gain a platform to speak about their lives and thus create a
pluralist mode of thinking to question the dominant binary in
society.
Broke, busted and torn, child of pain, an éminence grise — as the
phoenix rises from the ashes - Tara is reborn in the detritus of
21st century Britain.
Rez is a troubadour, a modern day Scheherazadeh - whose poetry
is designed to be literally sung rather than inscribed for the
discreet pleasure of the solitary read.
Fluid complexity exists in the lyrics covering politics, feminism,
intellectual and personal freedom.

Tara fits squarely into punk avant-garde, along with artists like the
Slits and Patti Smith who challenged masculine assumptions of the
genre.
‘Think for yourself, be yourself, don't just take what society gives
you, create your own rules, live your own life,’ she says. ‘Punk will
alter reality and change someone's life.'

‘Moscow Rules apply — dead simple and full of common sense!’
says Rez, referencing the CIA’s unwritten rules of engagement for
their spies and also a nod to her part Russian heritage.
Russian punk crock Pussy Riot ‘faux radical chic’ it’s not — this is
the real deal! Get on board the crazy train people; audio karate.
Simple and direct: Kung-Foo fighting!

Scissor and glue - the D.I.Y. attitude, the independent punk
musicians order of the day: ‘The D.I.Y ethos and path I’ve
trodden….with the Duel, and I am now putting into process with
P4MH. I wanna make this national btw — my D.I.Y. ethic has come
from the first day — started my own biz with 35 quid when I was
19.’ Rez explains.
‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way! You don’t need money to
make things happen. YOU need people and passion, the rest is all
just creating seamless and enjoyable process in the organisational
with communication and beyond admin.’
Geezer bird! Outlaw! Muse! Engage! Tara cuts it like giving a razor
to a child!
Chihuahuas in handbags is the future — and vegan balsa wood
laptops collecting for beard trimming sessions for the homeless
and making pacifist Stanley knives out of celeriac. (Tut)
wronguns! Pirates unite and keep it punk!
TRZ GIG

by Admin