Party Dozen, The George Tavern, East London, 15th November 2024 – It was just impossible to resist, the thought, the treat, the power of Sydney two piece experimental noise band Party Dozen in a proper East End of London boozer on a dark dank Friday night in November. We knew they’d be good, their most recent album Crime in Australia is a strong as anything Kirsty Tickle and Jonathan Boulet have done so far (and no, whatever Jonathan might have said midset, you do feel they haven’t peaked yet). We’d seen them at festivals and opening for others but not in a beautiful venue like this and of course the room is packed, of course there’s a battle to even squeeze through the front door let alone to get to the bar (never did make it to the bar!). We’re slightly late, mostly due to an annoying lack of information, not even a hint of a stage time to be found let alone a mention of who might be supporting, the two of them are just easing into their set as we get there – actually it was well worth arriving that fashionably bit late just to hear the glorious noise from outside where it feels like there really is something special happening, a real sense of an event, it looks and sounds brilliant from out on the street (this is a rather special venue, why the hell are they having to keep on campaigning to save it!).

Party Dozen are renowned for their live shows, incendiary is indeed the word and he might be behind his kit, leaving her with a whole stage to fill by herself, that’s no problem though, Kirsty Tickle commands the space and pretty much the entire building with her noise as well as her movement, her intensity, her attack. This place is seriously cooking, everything is cooking, this is seriously good from the off, they’re flying, we’re flying, the whole place is flying. Largely instrumental, they do keep referring to their tunes as songs, now and again telling us what they’re about, tunes that are occasionally punctuated by Kirsty Tickle’s unique screaming words or maybe whole lines of what might be lyrics into the bell of her saxophone which itself goes through a whole stew of effects pedals and whatever she keeps kicking at down by her feet. Kind of difficult to see much in here, to see who’s doing what, we’re all jammed in, we’re all having a great time, intense is the word, no idea what the two of them are actually doing to create this glorious wall of noise, they sound like there’s at least six of te mup there.

What are they actually doing? Well, I guess that’s up for some kind of debate and really who needs a damn debate, who needs all that word-dancing around this glorious building, around this proper architecture? No one is chin stroking in here tonight, all we can tell you is that this is gloriously good and whisper it, she’d give the Thunder Rider one hell of a run, Nik Turner would be grinning from ear to ear in here in the darkness of The George tonight as Party Dozen belt out round after round of some sort of locked on Jazzy hardcore psychedelic no-wave new wave attitude-drenched art of noise punk rock thing that needs no words, debates or indeed anything else. And let it be said that Mr. Boulet is no sidekick here, Kirsty Tickle might be upfront, but he’s right there with her, impossible to say who’s leading this dance, impossible to pick which one to watch, the chemistry is magnificent, if they are improvising parts of it then the triggers ARE impossible to spot, the need to watch even stronger than the need to dance, this is seriously tight, this is seriously good, that infinite potential of a power duo, they are unique, there really is no one quite like them. There’s such a confidence here, a yeah, I’m doing this, nothing is going to stop me, like she came out of the either just doing it, fully formed, ready to go from day one, like they both did. Kirsty Tickle and Jonathan Boulet kicked up one hell of a Friday night storm in the East End of London, you really need to go see them next time they head this way…  (sw)          

Previously – ORGAN THING: Hey look, just fire it up, do it once and you’ll want to ride it again and again, Party Dozen have easily followed their 2022 breakthrough, this new album is an excellent set of crimes…

Bandcamp / Linktree / Instagram / The George Tavern

here’s some footage filmed live at Camp A Low Hum 2024, Wainuiomata, Aotearoa which will tell you far more than words can