Central Station, Wrexham. 6 July 2011.

The Suzukis are a UK rock band based in Wigan. Band members are Chris Veasey (vocals), Adam Bamford (guitar), Robert Warnes (bass) and Stuart Robinson (drums).

The band started touring in 2005 and signed to the Sony/Columbia “indie” label imprint Deltasonic (home of The Zutons, The Coral and The Dead 60’s, amongst others). Following support slots with various labelmates and most notably, The Fall in January 2006, the band virtually fell off the radar but released their debut Reducer 4-track EP in July 2007. A long gap followed before their second release, the 2-track single ‘Night Time Takes Over’ in late 2008. In July 2011, following the previous year’s estrangement of Deltasonic’s from Sony, the band released their debut self-titled album.

Their press release talks up their back-to-basics agenda, their “primal aggression” and “visceral power”, and claims that the Suzukis are returning to rock’s source to invoke the invigorating energy of the Stooges, Sex Pistols, Nirvana and all those other bands whose purpose it was to get rock back on track. From the label that brought us the Coral and the Zutons, the Suzukis see it as their job to shock us all out of our torpor and torpedo the complacent and bland with bursts of high-voltage rhythm ‘n’ bruise. The Suzukis hammer out their tunes knowing that simple songs are the best - to quickly appreciate the medeocrity of the age and the anger/frustration that results, especially amongst the young.

The first single to be released from the debut album is ‘Are You Happy With Yourself?’. “It’s about asking yourself if you’re happy with the life you’ve been allowed to live,”  explains singer Chris Veasey. “If not then not just putting the TV on and going back to sleep because it isn’t going to start feeling better, it’s going to cripple you to the point where you don’t even know or care if you’re satisfied or not.”

I’ve got to say that in 2011 I have been generally less than impressed with new bands, but it took one new debut album and an explosive live show to convince me that The Suzukis are one of the best new bands out there at the moment - a down-to-earth, fabulous exception. The impression given by the guys as they ready themselves for the off is that a serious sense of purpose dominates. And that’s just as well because the music these guys produce is as far removed from the singles chart as you can imagine…