((From LA CityBeat, 16 October 2008)
No sound as forbidding and formidable as Killing Joke's can stay underground forever, nor should it. The British post-punk legends return to L.A this week, and with the original lineup firmly in place - vocalist Jaz Coleman, guitarist Geordie, bassist Youth and Big Paul Ferguson on battering-ram drums, there are few bands who can compete with them in terms of power, drive, and intensity. The 2007 death of longtime bassist Paul Raven still fresh in their minds and hearts, the Joke circa 2008 is a focused laser-beam aimed at political hypocrisy, rampant consumerism, and the exploitation of the Third World. This in itself is nothing new. But in these troubled times, the joke may finally be on all of us. Danny O'Toole Carey and his Pygmy Love Circus opens.
Thurs. at House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood