Despite a catalog full of smart punk/garage nuggets and a girl-group-meets-B-52’s vibe, Scottish O.G., new wavers the Rezillos never gained more than a cult following in America. That’s downright criminal: The band’s all-too-brief show last night at the Beachland Ballroom—the final show of its two-week North American tour and, vocalist Fay Fife noted, its first-ever appearance in Cleveland—was shambolic, sloppy and entertaining.
The Rezillos opened its 15-song set with a new song, “Out Of This World,” which segued neatly into the snotty, fast “Flying Saucer Attack.” The rest of the 50-minute show alternated mainly between new songs (the surf-garage shriek “You’re So Deep,” ferocious “Sorry About Tomorrow”) and cuts drawn mainly from 1978’s Can’t Stand The Rezillos. It’s a testament to the band’s talents that these recent-vintage songs fit perfectly among chestnuts such as “Cold Wars,” the b-side “Mystery Action” and a barreling “Destination Venus.”
This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2012.