Healthy Junkies @ Dingwalls 2, London, 26.03.2025

A few tube stops from their manor in Islington, Healthy Junkies rock up in Camden this evening for a headline set at the legendary Dingwalls.

Playing the second room, a space which not unpleasantly feels like being sat inside a wood panelled boat, the ‘Junkies are a stalwart presence on the capital’s music scene. With a catalogue stretching to six albums – most recent Listen To the Mad was released last month – the outfit’s work rate is highly laudable.

Focusing on the genre demarcations of punk / metal / rock ‘n roll / psychedelia / goth, for the purposes of music journalism pedantry, another category that can be thrown into the mix to describe the band is new wave, the spikily melodic late 1970s form.

Showcasing their skill at heads down rockers, the buzzsaw riffage of This Is Not A Suicide and I Don't Give A Damn are delivered in vociferous fashion.

Celebrating a decade since the release of their second LP Box of Chaos, a score of tracks are weaved into the set alongside material from the new LP. From the latter Dead Souls builds from a Killing Joke style arpeggio into a storming chorus, while an excursion into dub, Son and A Daughter skanks along impressively, supplying the highlight of the set.

Powering the set with furious elan, sticksman David rages round the kit, complemented by bassist Joe. Axeman Phil’s Gibson SG guitar lines navigates the territory between punk thrash and straight up rock n’ roll, while lead singer Nina is at the centre of it all, constantly in motion throughout.

Concluding with an extended sonic pummelling as guitars, bass, drums do battle with one another, the evening is complete. A group who aptly named their US tour doc Forever On The Road, the ‘Junkies long-running mission continues apace.