Spotlight – The JOHOs
Anybody passing through Newtown two weekends back may have noticed the punk cluster spilling out of Black Coffee onto Adelaide Rd. New Zealand punk archivists Up The Punks recently released their first zine, coupled with an exhibition documenting their recent stay in Beijing, and to celebrate their return Newtown was treated to the best punk gig Wellington’s seen in a long while. Phone Sex Robots, the JOHOs, Johnny and the Felchers, the Dilfs – each band fecking fantastic, though none more enjoyable than the JOHOs. Lord, strike me blind! Every opportunity to see them should be taken before drummer Jessie McNamara crosses the ditch. “Propaganda slinging pests” Sam Thurston (Rogernomix, Meth Drinker) and Axel (Awkward Death) share vocal duties and play a lightning-fast set of equally abrasive and surprisingly catchy songs at the expense of hapless Jehovah’s Witnesses (‘Johos’). The tongue-in-cheek is genuinely funny too, helped to no end by the Watchtower-styled zine that accompanied their Zero Style release late last year ( zerofuckingstyle.blogspot.com). The 11 tracks featured on Knock, Knock! It’s… the Johos offer a great representation of the band, and although it’s now sold out, the digital files are still available through Bandcamp. They’re playing on the 24th at Valhalla with “cheap piss from 6-8 and a late night greasy fry up” alongside Rogernomix, Awkward Death, Wizzkids and Gutrot – be there.