A View From The Back Of The Room: ClownSmashEverything (Spike)

ClownSmashEverything & Washed Up, Dead Wax Social, Norwich, 15.11.25

Norwich: Birth of the Sock Chopper

Dead Wax Society. Norwich. It’s always great to see a new venue start up and despite a warning on the day that due to some structural issues there would be no tickets on the door the place was full and looking forward to the show. We’ll come back to the structural stuff later.

ClownSmashEverything (9) and Washed Up (8) baptized the place with pure, unadulterated noise. This is what small local venues need, some DIY punk, bands who clearly were having a laugh, connecting to the crowd and delivering some awesome music at the same time.

The opening act, Washed Up, arrived with their self-proclaimed title, "saviours of rock and roll in Norwich." And honestly, they played like it. They had the privilege of being the first band to ever assault the Dead Wax stage, and they didn't waste the opportunity. It was pretty evident that if there was indeed structural issues then they were just going to add to it. Their set was a swaggering, unpolished blast of high-energy punk rock that was loud enough to settle the sound issues immediately and tight enough to prove the local scene is thriving with glorious arrogance. They did their job: they lit the fuse, introduced the chaos, and secured their own place in the venue's small, sticky history.

But the main event, Clownsmasheverything, brought the absolute, necessary wreckage. This band operates on the thin line between groove and organized violence, and they introduced the crowd to the night's new ritual. In a brilliant, highly localized nod to Skindred's legendary "Newport Helicopter," the band commanded the crowd to execute the "Norwich Sock Chopper" during their new track Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre.

This wasn't just headbanging; this was a full-contact, low-altitude cyclone where everyone was instructed to hold a sock in the air and whip it around their heads during the final breakdown. The sight was ridiculous, glorious, and perfectly hostile, turning the whole room into a messy, glorious spectacle of airborne footwear.

Their set was built on thick, crushing grooves, the bass lines were epic by Peters almost nonchalantly whilst the rest of the band focused on the aggressive stage presence and delivery that embodies punk rock, executed with a sense of fun that belied the technical heaviness. These are damn fine musicians delivering songs that truly high the mark. They are the sound of a good idea executed at maximum volume. Clownsmasheverything proved that the best part of the scene isn't the pedigree; it's the shared, ridiculous violence. Norwich now officially has its own pit move, and that's all that matters.

Verdict: History was made, and socks were lost. Essential local chaos.