If Carlsberg did punk gigs, then they’d be crap ’cause Carlsberg is shit. So… good thing they didn’t do the Paranoid Visions single launch for ‘California Screaming / Opus Daydream.
It’s a rare Dublin outing for Paranoid Visions at Sound House, as it’s their only Irish headliner this year. The new single is doomy and brilliant, with Dunstan Bruce from Chumbawamba/Interrobang‽ collaborating with his unique vocal interpretations on the AA side. The lineup is excellent, with Joe Maxi, Fluxion and Dubtones supporting.
Joe Maxi are an original sounding mix of experimental post-punk and sort of avant-gardey progishness. Fresh!
Fluxion are a new Belfast supergroup-of-sorts (although I believe they run away from the term ‘supergroup’) made up from The Defects, Runnin’ Riot and XSLF. Strangely less punk and more bare-bones hard rock. They even throw a ballad in to really confuse things. Nice!
The Dubtones are excellent stalwarts of the Dublin punk scene for twenty years. They play tight, hard ska/punk à la Clash/Specials/Ruts. They’re always pleasing to the ear and foot. Great!
Paranoid Visions are Ireland’s longest running punk band. Anarcho post-punk to be precise. They’ve had several hundred members pass through and generally run at an uneven seven, now spread between Ireland, the UK and Spain, making it a bit more difficult for them to get together as often as they used to. So tonight is a bit special.
It’s early doors and a short set, there’s a 10pm club night curfew—gone are the days when they used to go on stage after 12am and even fit in an occasional encore. The set list is made up of a mix from the 80s to the new single.
Deko introduces themselves as ” Dublin’s last punks… the hate of the city” and they bang in with ’40 Years In 45 Minutes’. They’re tight, loud and raw. Deko delivers like he’s looking for a fight. There’a a good crowd and the ones up front start to bounce around.
‘Ego Maniac’ is followed by the savagery of ‘Braindance’ and the crowd go a bit more mental. The controversial ’88 classic ‘Strange Girl’ is punchy and fast, Aoife Destruction taking over on vocals.
Followed by the new single. Paranoid Visions have always done the gloomy, ballady goth-type stuff incredibly well. This sits nicely with the likes of ‘Forever Winter’ and ‘Dead Zoo’.
‘Missing In Action’ from ’06, and ‘Asleep At The Wheel’, a set fixture since the 80s, lift the roof, by which stage the bodies up front are dragging each other around the floor.
And then, at the start of their last number, ‘Outsider Artist’, like in a surreal scene from a David Lynch film, the band are suddenly struck down with dementia. A song from their individual forgotten mists, they each have their own version playing in their ears. Gloriously, everything falls apart. Jay pounds the skins, trying in vain to keep it all together. It’s hilariously brilliant. P.A and Aoife look around in bewildered amusement. Maybe Carlsberg snuck in at the last minute in disguise.
For the culture vultures out there, put 28 Sep 2025 in your diaries. The new Paranoid Visions documentary ‘Outsider Artists’ will be premiered at the Sugar Club. There something else special happening too, so follow the link…
https://thesugarclub.com/tc-events/outsider-artists/
Joe Maxi photos:
Fluxion photos:
The Dubtones photos:
Paranoid Visions photos & set-list:
Set-list:
40 Years In 45 Minutes
Ego Maniac
Braindance
I Am The One
Strange Girl
California Screaming
Across The Holocaust
Missing In Action
Asleep At The Wheel
Outsider Artist
Photos & words Cormac Figgis @themasterswitch