Teenage Mutant Ninja Crackheads - Roadmender, Northampton - 23/05/13

For a band who have existed for a relatively short period of time, and who have coped with the turbulent departure of band members, Teenage Mutant Ninja Crackheads gave a memorable debut performance. Lumbered with an opening slot, their set formed part of a Northampton College event at the Roadmender, Northampton. This wasn't really apparent, however - there was nothing amateurish about it. They have the same enthusiasm, if not more, of professional bands you may find at the venue on any given night. Perhaps lacking in technical proficiency at times, with a notable loss of lyrics, their obvious energy completely accounted for it. After all, isn't that what rock'n'roll is all about? A test of a good band is often their ability to cope when things don't go entirely to plan, rather when a set runs smoothly. This ability was apparent tonight, to a level you might expect of a band with years more experience. Stage outfits of Scooby Doo and a vampire? onesie (I'm not entirely sure), showed them as inherently quirky, although the drummer was lacking in said onesie, disappointingly! A variety of cover song choices including Paramore and Disturbed, portrayed their diversity and ability to switch between genres, although it feels necessary as they are obviously capable, for them to venture into the world of original songwriting. A band with these positive and endearing qualities, can only really go onwards and upwards. As their friends, I hope this will happen, and I'll promote and back them to the hilt, but as a music journalist, I honestly encourage you to encourage them. The music industry needs to keep fun bands alive. I hope I'm able to review their original music some time in the near future!