www.deathrock.com - Sinnersday

THE BOLLOCK BROTHERS are the real proof that new wave was punk’s successor. Founded in 1983 by Scotsman Jock McDonald, they immediately rose to fame by covering an entire SEX PISTOLS album (guess which one, actually) in an electro style. It became an overnight success and mockery, irony and gay cynicism became their trademark. The inspiration for their songs could easily be referred to as quite unusual: The Bunker (Albert Speer), Serge Gainsbourg’s Harley David and horror movies to name but a few. With the beginning of the 90s, the group went into some kind of hibernation until its revival in 1996. Mark Humphrey on keyboards and Pat Pattyn (ex-NACHT UND NEBEL) on drums completed the band.

Belgium is important to the band (Pat Pattyn was not the only Belgian member, in the 80s TC MATIC’s Serge Feys and even Bart Peeters were part of the club) and they performed a lot in the surroundings of Ostend. They developed a penchant for horror pulp and were not afraid to tackle religious themes; even French lyrics are part of the concept. They distinguished themselves from others by playing original music with a lot of punk, wave and gothic influences. In March 2009, they released a new album called ‘Last Will and Testament’. http://www.bollock-brothers.com/

Music & Performance
The set opened with a very long and emotional guitar intro which slightly resembled THE SIMPLE MINDS and even brought the intro to ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ by FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to mind. Singer Jock MacDonald entered the stage in some kind of old fashioned and worn down, oversized tweed suite like those associated with homeless people. He immediately grasped the audience’s attention and never lost his grip. The lyrics were funny and the music exactly what we expected. After linking Jesus to Kurt Cobain, the focus now was placed on Serge Gainsbourg. Everybody knows the phrase “Harley David, Son of a Bitch”. Or you should if you’re in your 30s or 40s.

In-between songs, Jock dragged his son onto the stage, just to say hello to the people and then continued with more fun and anarchy, and talk about football. Considering the band’s origins, a SEX PISTOLS cover was unavoidable and that the band’s drummer Patrick Pattyn used to be with NACHT UND NEBEL, a Belgian wave and synth band from the 80s, a cover of ‘Beats of Love’ was played and set the crowd on fire. In Belgium, you never can go wrong with this song. A lot of the old cult hits were played and Jock maintained a good interaction with his audience, making this gig a great experience. It was fun, it was good and it was what the crowd wanted. Perfect!