The Jesus Lizard, Glasgow review: 'a prowling, punky psych odyssey'

The Jesus Lizard | Joshua Black Wilkins

The Jesus Lizard and OMO, QMU, Glasgow ★★★★

Chicago-via-Texas alt.rock heroes The Jesus Lizard were one of the most acclaimed cult bands of the Nineties. Touring again on the back of their first new album in 26 years, the cult has grown with the first date of their UK tour stuffed to capacity with whiskered men of a certain age but also their offspring, eager to learn from their elders.

Proving you are never too old to crowdsurf, shaggy shamanic frontman David Yow wasted little time getting down into the crowd as his wingmen churned out a rock solid soundtrack of crunchy guitars and curt rhythms. Within minutes, Yow was down to his cowboy boots, posing pouch and Billie Eilish t-shirt, looking like some gleeful gangster on a mission to disrupt.

Later, perched on a stool, Dave Allen-style, for a prowling, punky psych odyssey, his vocal delivery had a beat poetry to it – his bandmates have dubbed it “free jazz” – but the dynamic nature of a Jesus Lizard set was such that a straight-shooting roots garage number was just around the corner.

Their superb guitarist Duane Denison roamed way beyond punk with some choice burnished licks, especially during a low-slung Led Zeppelin-esque encore while a second dub-infused encore was laced with the influence of Bristolian post-punk trailblazers The Pop Group.

Yow was not the first Loki-like performer of the night to get his legs and bum cheeks out. OMO frontman P6 shimmied out of his camouflage kilt at a suitable point in proceedings, all the better to deliver his guttural intimations over a sludge metal soundtrack played by, among others, Mogwai bassist Dom Aitchison.

There was further Nineties nostalgia in the air when Silverfish frontwoman Lesley Rankine – later dubbed by Yow as “the Queen of Scotland” - guested on a heartwarming duet, lending a punky edge to a particularly groovy and pacey number.