Sex Gang Children, November 1982
"A variety of bizarre hairstyles and an assortment of black leather."
I saw the Sex Gang Children a few weeks after Futurama, this time in Liverpool (but without the skeleton). I got a bit bored – they weren’t as dark and dangerous as they liked to think – so I amused myself by taking the piss out of their mustard and cress haircuts. There was a letter of complaint in the Melody Maker after my review was published, but it was worth it. They took themselves a bit too seriously.
The review
Melody Maker, November 6, 1982
Asexual charades in the playground
SEX GANG CHILDREN, Warehouse, Liverpool
LET'S face it, the main reason that the Sex Gang Children stood out from the mass of bands at this year's Futurama Festival was the fact that they had the fire-eating skeleton as part of their line-up. Sadly the skeleton, apparently, only appears on special occasions (or, one suspects, under higher ceilings) – so, two days to Hallowe'en and he's nowhere to be seen.
All you get from which to draw some kind of sinister or menacing atmosphere is a variety of bizarre hairstyles and an assortment of black leather.
The singer does his best; a small impudent figure with pointed painted face, malevolent eyes and a hairstyle that resembles nothing more than a luridly pink crop of mustard and cress sprouting from the top of his smooth scalp. Though his accompaniment lacks their clarity and metallic edge, his voice recalls early Siouxsie and the Banshees. In fact, I spent some time listening to him under the delusion that he was a woman. It didn't make much difference: the gender of the creature on stage seemed irrelevant.
So, you get sexlessness, not sexual ambiguity: make-believe, not gothic horror. There's nothing here that's really disturbing. This is the sort of apparition that disappears as soon as you put the bedroom lights on – and doesn't even linger in the mind afterwards.
Even the music fails to shock, it merely stuns. Too one-dimensional to hold the attention, it merely dulls the senses when it should stimulate them. This is what made the second half of Futurama so paradoxically cosy, despite the painstaking images.
That occasion showcased many of this new generation of mutant rockers, among which the Sex Gang Children are in the vanguard – spiritual descendants of groups like Killing Joke or Birthday Party. But while those dared you to listen, to open yourself to your darker side, the sense of danger here is never quite real.
The name of the groups, embellishing a number of backs in the audience, is ironically apt. These walking advertisements are the "gang", needing the reassurance of the tribe. The use of the word "sex" is just another meaningless attempt to shock, like the self publicity of early Ants (another obvious influence).
Both audience and band are really only "children", playing at their chosen roles, in the rebellion that is, after all, the most innocent of pastimes.
The backlash
This is the letter that was sent to Melody Maker in response to my review. I’m not going to include the name of the writer, because that wouldn’t be fair.
The assumptions made by the fan were way off the mark. I hated ligging and I was always too shy to talk to musicians.
SEX GANG CHILDREN
I FOUND the recent review of Sex Gang Children in your music rag quite a biased one. How anybody could concoct such an opinion is beyond me. It looked as though Penny Kiley was writing the review as to take out personal revenge on SGC and their audience.
It's bad enough with the tabloid poison dailies, let alone this sort of tactic to disenchant a would-be audience of an up-and-coming new band. It's a good job there are people who can think for themselves and make their own minds up. As long as there are, SGC and their audience will no doubt prevail.
Also where were Penny Kiley and the other musical hacks when the poet appeared with SGC at the Futurama? No doubt she was ligging in the bar. Print this letter in your rag if you've the guts to. I'll certainly remember if you don't.
PS: Did Penny Kiley speak with the band after their performance? A lot of other people did. Or couldn't Penny get to see them because she was stopped for some reason, thus deciding to take revenge with a savage review of SGC?
So we’re SGC more of a group of poncy hairdressers?