Intimate London showcase for the continued renaissance of an elusive post punk icon
Peter Perrett, former frontman of late 70s post punk misfits The Only Ones, returns to the London stage prior to the release of his third solo album, The Cleansing, gracing MOTH Club with a tight set spanning a career full of surprises.
Having recorded three consistently strong albums and one all timer of a single and yet failed to even scratch the surface of commercial success, The Only Ones and Perrett seemed to run out of road. Since an acrimonious split in 1982, Perrett’s misadventures have been manifold, becoming something of an addict’s addict who elicited concern from Johnny Thunders and reverence from Paul Westerberg.
Clean since the early 2010s, Perrett surprised anyone who was still paying attention when he emerged in 2017 with How The West Was Won, a contemplative but captivating record made with his son Jamie’s band in tow and containing a surprisingly optimistic set of songs, and quickly followed with 2019’s similarly impressive Humanworld. Tonight’s set is drawn evenly between these two records, Only Ones classics and a selection from The Cleansing, which looks set to be his most ambitious project yet; a double album strewn with guest appearances from Johnny Marr, Bobby Gillespie and Carlos O’Connell among others.
The show opens with the two singles currently available from the new record, and Perrett couldn’t be any quicker in stating his intent. I Wanna Go With Dignity begins with one of his classic couplets, South London drawl intact on stage despite a chronic lung condition. “It’s a losing battle trying to be sane, leaves me tired and listless, if I’m gonna jump in front of a train I’ll wait til after Christmas.”
Disinfectant, with its faintly disco strut and ringing, angular lead guitar, instantly translates to a live setting, as does the threatening stomp of My Secret Taliban Wife, which builds from quiet beginnings to bursts of wailing guitar. The new songs feel more powered by the rhythm section than recent solo work, and fit neatly next to earlier material, an inverted reminder of the suspicion the Only Ones once faced from contemporaries for their sheer musicality so soon after punk’s golden year.
It’s testament to the consistency of Perrett’s career that the setlist feels so coherent. When Only Ones favourite The Big Sleep is followed by How The West Was Won’s An Epic Story, they feel like natural bedfellows despite the 37 year gap between them.
Perrett’s confidence in his material is such that Another Girl, Another Planet isn’t kept for a set closer or encore, coming sandwiched between Humanworld’s gorgeous Heavenly Day and early Only Ones epic The Beast, but its impact on the crowd is predictably electric, fans from the old days defying weary joints to clamber onto chairs and booths and dance as if 1978 were only yesterday. It helps that MOTH Club, a former social club for the armed forces, looks and feels like this could be possible.
The show ends on a gently optimistic note, an encore of Someone Who Cares, from the more wistful, less caustic end of the Only Ones canon, and Take Me Home, a stately, thoughtful closer, both featuring The Bangles’ Vicki Peterson on backing vocals, another flex of Perrett’s late career cachet to complement the array of star contributors to the new album. He simply had too much vitality to stay a lost legend, and those of us in a cramped room in Hackney were fortunate enough to share in it.
Useful Links!
Peter Perrett – I Wanna Go With Dignity