White Rose Movement / Rubicks

It was a night of electro-fused punk rock at Glasgow King Tuts, headed up by German anti-Nazi resistance party The White Rose Movement. Actually, The White Rose Movement don’t have any ties what-so-ever to any anti-fascist faction, but it’s a cool name, so sod the irrelevance.

The main support act was Rubicks, a male/female duo who generate music based around a repetitive drumbeat, replicated by their drum machine. Petite front-woman Vanessa Redd has obviously borrowed one or two style tips from Debbie Harry, and their music seems to have subtle links to bands like Sleeper, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and unsurprisingly, Blondie as well.

Quite possibly one of the best-chosen support acts for a tour, Rubicks blend all the best elements of The White Rose Movement’s music and end up producing a very atmospheric sound, complimented by Redd’s poignant vocals. It’s always difficult for a two piece as the attention is focused on one of the two members and if one should falter then it becomes all the more obvious. It is not a problem Rubick’s have to worry about, as they have become an impressively tight pairing.



‘Midas’ has a powerful bass line, and a distinctly 80’s synthesised pop feel. Don’t mistake me though; there is no cheese factor with Rubicks. Despite the influences they manage to avoid being like ‘The Killers’, and don’t actually sound like an 80’s copycat group.

The quieter tracks are the more distinctive ones. Rubicks are at their best when they blend their menacing effects, and deep thundering bass lines with Redd’s sexy vocals. It’s a perfectly matched juxtaposition. At one stage she puts down her guitar and struts around the stage, allowing the audience to see just how much of an entertainer she is. First she’s on her knees, and the next she’s leaning into the crowd with her feet balanced precariously on the edge of the stage. Rubicks are definitely a potential festival favourite for the summer.

Sticking with music saturated deeply in 80’s nostalgia, White Rose Movement take over the stage, possessing a sound like a piston driven demonic version of The Human League. The emaciated figure of Finn Vine, bearing a rather disconcerting gaunt expression, resembles one of a number of characters pulled from a Tim Burton animation. He dances as if his limbs are being forcefully shocked into movement by electricity created through White Rose Movement’s sound.


Merging simplistic but catchy bass lines with military drumming, and synthesised sound effects, White Rose Movememnt manage to capture a sound nestled somewhere between French disco and camp 80’s electro pop. However, the music takes sudden divergences, leading into frenetic crescendos, where a discordant collaboration between effects and instruments takes place.

There is enough of late 90’s Primal Scream in White Rose Movement to chart them as a major influence. At times it seems like the only thing missing is Bobby Gillespie crying out “She’s got...Swastika Eyes!” There’s nowhere near the same level of variety with White Rose Movement, but there is certainly the same desire for experimentation.

‘Girls in the back’ may well have been better suited to Franz Ferdinand. It’s probably the song that you are most likely to dance to. Certain mid-90’s influences can be heard here as well, Pulp being the most obvious. Although it does offer some differentiation between a lot of the band’s material, it doesn’t have nearly the same impact as ‘London’s Mine’.

They leave the best till last. ‘Alsation’ is a fantastic tune, that would sit quite nicely on any movie soundtrack that has fast car chases, big guns, or violent fight sequences. It’s a shame that a lot of people have already left by the time the stomping urgency of the song really kicks in. This is the highlight of the whole set, and is probably the best song to summarise White Rose Movement’s sound.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.