Virgin

As if you needed another reason to pony up for Black Francis‘ Australian tour this October, it’s also your last chance to catch Brisbane’s Violent Soho in action before they head off OS to take over the world.

2008 has already been a huge year for the four piece, having toured almost non stop with a bunch of other Aussie acts, including their current jaunt with The Mess Hall.

June saw the release of their debut album, “We Don’t Belong Here”, which has been causing quite the stir among music fans and critics alike. It’s a dirty, relentless rock affair that doesn’t skip a beat from opening track “Love is a Heavy Word”, which has been a Triple J favourite.

While the band’s early nineties influences are apparent, the question remains whether or not we are allowed to call them grunge.

“We used to call ourselves a grunge band, but then people started talking about a grunge revolution… we didn’t want to get swept up in some kind of fashion thing, and we don’t want to be pigeonholed”, says Luke.

That would be a nightmare for a band whose lack of pretension is apparent in everything they do.

“At the end of the day, you can call us whatever you want. We’re continually writing and we just want to make good, honest music”.

While Luke says the boys aren’t nervous about playing to a bunch of discerning Pixies fans at the Black Francis gigs, he’s shit scared of what the man himself might think.

“It’s slowly sinking in… we might actually get to speak to Frank Black, Frank Black might actually watch us play”.

It wouldn’t seem that Violent Soho have much to worry about in that regard. In the short time they have been gigging around the traps, they have already carved out a reputation as one of the best live acts going. Said reputation was certainly not harmed by the notoriety of their lifetime ban from popular local venue, The Zoo.

Luke explains that the incident involved a bottle of tequila, some shoe throwing, a lot of fruity language and a case of mistaken identity.

“But we’re not banned anymore, we’re allowed to play there again now”.

“We Don’t Belong Here” is available through Rockinghorse Records and you can check the band’s tour dates here.