The Rezillos sound off on return trip to Perth

Jan 27 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

REFORMED punks The Rezillos will play an exclusive gig in Perth next week in front of 100 diehard fans.

Boasting their original line-up, the outrageous late-Seventies hit-makers will be playing at the Fair City’s Corinna Hotel on February 6.

The band last appeared at the Atholl Street venue 18 months ago after deciding to relaunch their career following years away from the limelight.

The Rezillos are made up of front woman Fay Fife, co-vocalist Eugene Reynolds, Angel Paterson (drums), Johnny Brady (bass) and guitarist Jo Callis, who is equally well known for his stint in The Human League, with whom he co-wrote such classic hits as Don’t You Want Me, Fascination and Mirror Man.

Best known tracks by The Rezillos include the ultra-catchy Top of the Pops, Destination Venus and their inimitable debut single I Can’t Stand My Baby, which is still regarded as one of the new wave era’s seminal moments.

Bursting forth through a shared love of Sixties garage rock and the Spector-esque glam of The Ronettes and The Shangri Las, The Rezillos found themselves inadvertently caught up in the punk movement back in the late Seventies.

Their landmark album Can’t Stand The Rezillos reached the UK’s top 10 and they hit the singles chart with the satirical outing Top Of The Pops.

A live recording, Mission Accomplished - But the Beat Goes On, followed later in ‘79, before The Rezillos disbanded to the anguish of fans and music critics alike.

In recent years their music has appeared on various compilations, with the band enjoying a growing status on US underground and college radio stations and rock fanzines.

The Rezillos reformed on Hogmanay in 2002 with a spur-of-the moment gig in Edinburgh, before they embarked on a 12-date tour of the US, where they had only played once before, back in 1978.

UK and European tours followed, with the cult film Jackass: The Movie including The Rezillos’ classic foot stomper Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight on its soundtrack.

The band’s Perth gig will be their first following the release earlier this month of their download-only new single Number One Boy.

Tickets for the show, which will also feature an as-yet-unnamed support band and a punk DVD screening, are still available from the Corinna by calling 01738 622201.