Gig Review: Maruja At The 100 Club

Maruja stand for something. Their show at The 100 Club shows why having conviction is important in music, and bringing Opus Kink and Wax Head in tow, show stadium-level acts what music should stand for.

Enough of the self-victimisation. Enough of the fence sitting. There are bands like Maruja out there that have convictions that arena level bands would balk at. This is night two of the 100 Club’s 1976 50th anniversary of punk celebrations, with tickets lowered to match 1976 prices, and the atmosphere in the room is in full swing, perhaps a bit more energy even more than last night given the fact this is Monday as opposed to a Sunday – people in the room want to be there and they up the tempo to match. Last night was Bathing Suits, Crows and Sprints – this night is Wax Head, Opus Kink and Maruja – and the pits form by the time support Wax Head come on stage, and we are away much earlier.

Wax Head are one of the most exciting noise rock bands currently operating in the UK scene at the moment and they are a loud fucking band. Those without earplugs, beware – Wax Head plunge you into the scene from the off. It’s night two of the sweatbox, lace up your moshing shoes and prepare to get stuck in. I first saw these guys way back at the Shacklewell Arms & Outer Town in 2025, and now they’re around with an album that’s one of the best records of the year – ‘GNAT’ – and the confidence to deliver a pure energetic psych chaos to the room, defiant and joyous in the face of punk resistance.

Tracks like ‘Bug Doctor’ are deployed in earnest, as they show this is why they were selected to join Opus Kink and Maruja, this is why they should be up there with the best of them, this is why they are very good at what they do. The full beat of the guitars and the relentless drumming shows audiences the variety of what punk has to offer – it’s not just guitar music – though Wax Head do have guitars – and you know you’re in for a good gig when the band launch themselves into the pit by the end. It’s explosive and then some – the sonic wall of sound testing the umbrella of psych to its absolute limit – bands like Test Plan where the drummer is the frontman is one of my favourite genres of music; and the Manchester band couldn’t have picked a better header with Lewis Fletcher as the Firestarter. Harry Bunker on guitar and Archie Jones makes up the synth and keys – they’re the perfect match for a band that will surely do numbers in this scene. Add in Evan Chase’s bass, and you have the ingredients for a hit as good as the bands Wax Head are playing with.

Opus Kink are next – and the art rock punk chaos continues late into the evening. This is a band known for creating chaos and chaos they create; the six piece featuring Sam Abbo, Angus Rogers, Fin Abbo, Jack Banjo Courtney, Jazz Pope and Jed Morgans struggle fitting on the spacious 100 Club stage – how they managed to all fit in at the Brixton Windmill during its iconic 2025 Christmas Party I’ll never know – but they tear up the scene with gusto and the slow dance fools the audience into thinking they’ll have some time to rest between sets, but the build and build just comes in and does not let up - relentless and then some, packing some heat and few bands rarely look like they enjoy being there as much as they do at The 100 Club as Opus Kink, billing this evening as “50 YEARS SINCE VIVIENNE WESTWOOD STUCK PINS IN SOME LOCAL KIDS”. It kind of does its magic.

The quiet does not last long – they are off – it is a good warm up practice for their headline set with co-collaborators The New Eves in November at Kentish Town, and they encourage the audience to ‘Come on Over, Do Me Wrong’, with a call and response that the crowd revel in. Punk is no longer one umbrella and Opus Kink show their singular unique voice – to put them into the same group as traditional punk rockers like Amyl and the Sniffers and IDLES would be entirely wrong – they are closer to Maruja, the headliners in spirit – and the jazz punk fusion that is entirely its own genre is entirely rewarded with the chaos and revelry. They’re ‘Pretty Showboys’ – and that number goes down a storm with the audience and the slow build of Opus Kink’s unique style as they know exactly what Opus Kink fans want; and deliver on that in spades.

To make something so technically masterful, so intricate appear to be such an easy listen like Opus Kink records is so skillfull, an understated task of its own accord and the charisma and star power of Angus’ command of vocals really carries a room – mixed in with a couple of punchy songs like ‘St Paul of the Tarantulas’. It’s a belter of an evening – and two very good bands in, coupled with a DJ set from none other than Jehnny Beth – you’re left awed at the curation on display here.

Final headliner tonight comes Maruja who are issue a call for a community, respect and belonging and tell audiences to hug each other and embrace random strangers and then proceed to commit violence in the pit. They have toured everywhere from Electric Ballroom to Arctangent festival in recent months, and they’re such an Arctangent booking that you’d expect them to return a year out. The jazz swirls as it looks like the room is being brought in a mass, cult-like exorcism during the slower numbers; the audience wholly respectful of the quieter tracks by this point, sometimes crowds can treat non-lyrical beats as a cue to get a drink and yap and whilst some do, there is not nearly as much noise as a regular venue. Because The 100 Club is no regular venue – it is existing in an independent sphere for the artists to do their thing.

Now an EP and an album deep, Maruja have honed their craft well. ‘Bloodsport’ opens that offers solidarity in the face of disorder – Harry Wilkinson on lead vocals tearing up the room with a fearsome saxophone from Joe Carroll. The Manchester-based four piece celebrate ‘Pain to Power’ with a room that enables to the outside world; something of a cult-like sprawling mass séance – complete with a no-holds barred sweatbox of a brawl.

Adding Maruja to any set with Wax Head and Opus Kink is the equivalent to throwing a grenade into a room full of multiple exploding grenades and watching a small explosion build and build en masse to a firebomb. Chaos, fusion and violence swirl in appropriate order – and with tracks like ‘Resisting Resistance’ being deployed in memorable fashion – Maruja know their place in punk history as inventors, removed once again from the Joy Division/Sex Pistols spirit of old – in tune to the math rock formula that counts among Arctangent’s number – but their ability to straddle both genres with relative ease showcases their skill. They have mastered the art of at once looking aggressive but calling for peace in times of oppression, showing solidarity with oppressed people everywhere no matter their struggle.

To raise a fist is to raise it in solidarity, to hold it – inspire the sense of empowerment and community and it is in that space that Maruja thrive. Bassist Matt Buonaccorsi adds to this and Jacob Hayes’ drums give the quartet a proving ground for organised chaos; the control factor build on the foundations that help create communities. To them they call the Windmill scene their home as much as the Arctangent, math rock movement. Their live shows have build into the hardcore sphere, too – a slot at Outbreak looks inevitable. They pull as much from Nina Simone as they do Alice Coltrane and the punk legends – and that influence is shown in their music – pulling the listener deep into their own world, and that is reflected in the spirit of their shows.

‘Look Down On Us’ wraps the set. It’s a burst of organised call to arms for the common man to unify among those who are “on the Forbes list, smiling hard like they’re proud of their extortion.” When Maruja give voice to the voiceless, you are compelled to listen. This is the backdrop for their jam-led sound – embracing a spiritual movement as an artform. And you’d be hard pressed to turn away from the chaos - jump in, join the fun - and that’s part of the magic of punk bands like Maruja.