Alistair Houghton enjoys a cosy night at the autopsy theatre.
A sound Sound City tip – take time off work, or you’ll do what I did and miss most of Seal Cub Clubbing Club.
No matter, their proggy post-punk noise sounded great in the Monochrome basement, even down to their flicking through the pages of a book for percussion.
Then came a triumphant homecoming from Clinic, who would have been perfect for the autopsy theatre they were scheduled to play in but who made Monochrome their own.
They weren’t quite monochrome in dark blue surgical suits with their trademark white masks but were even further from monochrome musically, moving from angular headbangers to queasy listening anchored by organ chops and the almost-funky gutshaking bass.
It was a partisan crowd in the basement last night, lapping up every tune, but numbers like Walking With Thee and closer Cement Mixer would have won anyone over.