Tweak

They've come a long way – both literally and figuratively – from their debut performance at a school talent show in South Africa. Hundreds of South African girls and boys in gym slips and honours blazers thought they rocked, the four boys had a pretty good time entertaining the pre-pubescent crowd and so, TWEAK was born.

Since moving to London four years ago, I am ashamed to admit that I got caught up in the big band hype. I was like a kid in a candy store. Never before had tickets to see bands like U2, The Foo Fighters and The Chilli Peppers been so accessible to me (Holy crap – I even went to see Madonna – and I'm not really a huge fan – just because I COULD) Back in South Africa pre-naughties, we were lucky to have a handful of kick-ass bands grace us with their presence every couple of years. In my quest to milk London's music scene for all it was worth, I neglected to keep up with upcoming South African bands – which are all completely unique and so horribly underrated.
When I heard TWEAK would be performing at the Half Moon in Putney, I raced over there to see what all the hype (back home) was about…and I wasn't disappointed. I had heard a couple of tracks from their debut album "The Romantic Lure of Possum Worship" (their single ‘Friends" went to No.1 in S.A), as well as ‘House Party' off their second album "Dirty Sanchez and the Misfit Kids" – yup, these boys have a sense of humour which extends beyond their album titles. Their sound is genial, less serious punk rock – not as antagonistic or hard-core as the Sex Pistols, but by no means mainstream. Think Green Day or Blink 182 infused with that very unique SAFFA (South African) energy.

The boys went ballistic up on stage, the crowd was amped – damn it was good to be ‘home'. Songs were performed from their latest album "The Lost Boys Club' – which is a little harder, a little faster and little more grown-up than their older stuff, but just as good. ‘Take Everything", "I Hope You Cry" and ‘Losing Faith" are killer tracks. The awesome thing about this gig was that it was obvious to all that TWEAK were having a kick-ass time. They're unpretentious, unaffected and hell-bent on making sure their audience has a good time too.

As I left, I rang my brother who lives in Cape Town, to ask him to send me the TWEAK albums (yup, all of ‘em. It's a travesty it's such a mission to get hold of them on this side of the pond). He told me they'd just opened for Miss Avril Levigne while she was out on Safari back in my neck of the woods. ‘Oh yeah" I replied "Maybe one day she'll be opening for them" Rock on boys.