C.O.F.F.I.N. – Whammy Bar, 4 February 2025: Review & Photo Gallery

6th February 2025

C.O.F.F.I.N. make their New Zealand debut with well-tempered Rock’n’roll from the white-hot crucible of the best Aussie pub band legacy.

The triumph comes with their molten version of AC-DC’s Riff Raff. The riff machine begins with the big V8 motor turning over and igniting. Fiery Rock with some boogie swing as it heads out on the highway. Metal buzzsaw guitars take it out.

Children of Finland Fighting in Norway. These guys started as teenage Young Punks back in 2005 in Sydney, and they came up with this under pressure for a name. Being Nordic Black Metal fans at the time.

COFFIN has a certain trash aesthetic B-movie appeal. Screaming Jay Hawkins, of I Put a Spell on You infamy, had the schtick of rising up out of a coffin on stage and using skulls as props.

There are four on stage for their Whammy Bar premier. Ben Portnoy on drums also sings lead vocals, which is a little unusual.

They were known for playing with three guitars and no bass. I can identify Abijah Rado on stage. I do not think there is a bass tonight, so the other two are likely Arty and Aaron.

Chugging rhythm riffs dominate on second tune in, Fast Love. Fire when ya wanna/ Try if ya wanna ending in a declamatory Fuck!

Done By the Dogs is the fastest in Punk attack mode and the drums set a blistering pace.

They throw out a fair number of older, classic Sixties Rock’n’roll licks, slowing the tempo down on songs like Dead Land with great meshed guitars.

Give Me a Bite, off their most recent album Australia Stops, sounds a lot like Search and Destroy off the third official Stooges album.

There’s the Detroit link that they share with other great Aussie cult favourites like Radio Birdman band.

Cum In the Street is a good example of their straight-ahead attack. Guitars like industrial metal saws shedding white hot steel sparks, rather than a chainsaw.

The industrial sound of Bo Diddley and the cadillac assembly lines.

Smell of cannabis vapes as Beasts roll out. Gravelly vocals, a slow march tempo and Blues guitar licks abound as they take this Terraplane out for a ride and extend on the vamp.

Another highlight as it plays straight after Riff Raff.

Good support tonight from two acts.

Bloodbags from Auckland are a Rock power trio of Andrew Tolley guitar, Sam Ralston bass, and Matt Rapley drums.

No fat or extraneous stuff. Just satisfying and locked-in rhythm riffing and explosive drum fire.

Dick Move are resident Punk stalwarts and reliably blast out a high energy set.

Bass player Lucy Macrae is part of the management and ownership team of Whammy Bar.

This cave still carries a certain idiosyncratic warmth and charm, being the Kiwi equivalent of Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club. It has hosted seminal gigs for years.

Lucy Suttor stands out as the familiar raving vocalist as they again slam-bam out a dozen songs under 25 minutes.

It all goes quickly but not quietly. Rampage, Under My Skin, Wet.

Eyes For Xmas a nice Power Pop banger. Shut Your Mouth is feminist Punk and a tight Rock’n’roll unit.

I Am Your Dog and drummer Josh reaches warp speed as they do their best early Black Flag impression.

C.O.F.F.I.N. are open about their activism and their support for indigenous land rights specific to their own country.

White Dog is preceded by a little polemic on colonialism. Strikes a chord with some of the audience, being close to Waitangi Day and the recent reactivated drive for separatism.

But the song is nasty riff-laden Rock’n’roll, heavy and ponderous at the start, which becomes epic.

Fast, molten guitar Rock closes the show, in Metallica fashion, with Sewer.

C.O.F.F.I.N. are fast and explosive pub rockers and they are playing all over the country.

Rev. Orange Peel