The Baby Seals
Live At The Portland Arms Supporting Lydia Lunch
Trapped Animal Records
Vinyl / DL
★★★★½ 4.5/5
A fantastic live recording of an unbeatable, gloriously messy performance which the band had no idea was being recorded at the time. UK all-woman band support US all-woman icon(oclast) and inadvertently produce their best album of feminist noise, characterful fun and defiance.
Subscribe to Louder Than War
(and help keep independent writing alive)
Independent music journalism, interviews, reviews and more.
This is an unexpectedly brilliant album. One that proves the band are head and shoulders above and beyond all of the competition. All-Female, female-fronted, ‘riot grrl/riot women’ bands that is, AND all of the male, indie-rock, indie-sleaze, new-punk/post-punk noise-makers who take themselves far too seriously and believe their own press (releases).
‘Live and Dangerous’, ‘It’s Alive’, ‘Live At Leeds’, ‘Live at the Counter-Eurovision’…. if you are gonna release a live album then it’s gotta have a catchy title.
‘Live At The Portland Arms Supporting Lydia Lunch’ isn’t that snappy. It has a definite vibe of undersell about it. And a hint of coat-tail-hanging. But it’s honest and it’s factual and it’s actually a fucking superb live album. Musically messy and raw but it captures probably, one of the best sets they have ever played.
The Baby Seals were chuffed as fuck to get the support slot with a genuinely influential figure in the hysterie of ‘women in rock’.
The band were understandably in awe. Kerry from The Baby Seals, introducing herself over a whiskey led to an unforgettable exchange, when she nervously asked whether Lydia would rather be left alone, the reply came:
“If I want you to fuck off. I’ll tell you to fuck off. “
Lydia and Kate form the Seals bonded over Russ Meyer. Lydia invited Kate to sit on her knee for a photo, saying,
“I like a woman who looks like her thighs could break a man’s neck!” (taken from here)
The Baby Seals are a Cambridgeshire all-female trio who have been a band for ten years and have ‘core values’ which as well as ‘fuck the patriarchy’, appear to be ‘take no shit’ and ‘take the piss out of everything, including ourselves’. Some of their songs are deceptively simple and silly-sounding:
‘I Will Panic If I Want To Shirley’ is about everyday stress, ‘Tamoo Trance’ about addictive online shopping and ‘ID’d at Aldi’ about the sheer delight of being mistaken for a teenager when you are in your mid-30’s.
All pretty ‘light’ and a bit ‘Riot Women’ compared to some of Lydia Lunch’s dark, grisly, exorcisms. But, live they become absolutely ferocious and feral and fit into a set which is as dark and twangy as The Scientists (Swampland era) and as raw and instant as any ‘Girls In The Garage’ predecessors.
Opening and closing with their longest, slowest songs (Irene and Chaos) is a smart move. Irene slithers like something out of the Reptile House (Sisters of Mercy 1984 always opened with the painfully slow Kiss the Carpet) and Chaos is a seven minute dirge-riff-monster like the Cramps with a Jim Morrison thing goin’ on.
It’s only when I saw The Baby Seals live that I realised they were a cut-above and have a more American Gothic sound they’ve worked towards – an English L7 or The Darts, without the dressing-down or dressing-up.
Onstage banter about “having your pre-shop poo” locates them in Victoria Woods England. But songs like the feedback-riddled Vibrator – a hymn to female masturbation – is far more visceral than male equivalents (‘Turning Japanese’, ‘Dancing with Myself’ or ‘Orgasm Addict)’.
Mild Misogynist and My Labia’s Lopsided, But I Don’t Mind played live -and fabulously recorded & mixed -are far better than the studio versions too.
Invisible Woman is terrifying and brutal musically, echoes of Huggy Bear and the No Wave, and the vocal ‘falling off a cliff…’ is sublime.
As well as The Scientists, the Baby Seals sound like the USA’s perfect band, La Luz playing the Sausage Machine in 1990. A combination of songcraft and sheer noise. But its with an intoxicating fuck-you-if-you don’t get-it attitude that Lydia definitely approved of. (She shared her Jaffa Cakes with the Seals post-performance and watched them from the wings I read.)
The first time I heard Lunch was on the split EP with The Birthday Party – her side was challenging to say the least, but Cave and co’s side is the most beautifully unhinged and unbridled music I’d ever heard. And nothing has reached that standard since…. but the fact that the Baby Seals come close to it, is the highest compliment I can pay them.
An unplanned rather than stop-gap release, ‘Live At The Portland Arms Supporting Lydia Lunch’ is an introduction-to the band if you’ve never seen them before and a wonderful surprise for existing fans.
If the first 30 or so seconds of Vibrator don’t convince you that this is a great album then you are a dick… with no musical taste.
This studio version of Irene is a bonus track at the end of the live album.
BUY FROM BANDCAMP
All words Ged Babeywith press release content in italics.
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief