Following the rollicking and crashing guitar-driven ‘Ballad of the Knucklemen’, The Balladmongrels second single ‘Trouble’ is the title track from their forthcoming debut album. A towering anthem that will have you singing along from the start, it sets the standard for this eagerly anticipated record which is due for release 12th May 2023.
Its been a decade since Ming City Rockers first filtered through my speakers with a debut single that was proper mint – a real slab of modern punk rock n roll that tipped the hat to the originators and plowed on doing their own thing. A couple of albums in and a few line up changes they had their second album ‘Lemon’ produced by Steve Albini and the big time beckoned. The band seemed to stutter and splutter before seemingly disappearing off the face of the punk rock universe. Then boom during lockdown there seemed to be signs of these contenders from Immingham re-emerging from the underground with talk of a new album which we now have blasting out of our speakers entitled ‘Lime’.
This Ming City trio are back in the groove and this is what the kids would say is a right fuckin Banger! Right from the start this album isn’t messing about and the first single that was released punches you square on the eardrum with intent. ‘Jill Was An Anarchist’ might still be one it matters not but the band sound on it, tight, and focussed. Great lyrics spill out of a rapid noisy slice of cool Punk n Roll.
If Jill wasn’t enough to convince you then hold up because Jim is in da house. Speeding along on a buzzing sharp guitar this nifty ditty motors along on a cracking melody as the story of ‘Poor Old Jim’ is hacking it out of the speakers and before you know it you’ll be bopping along spilling cheap lager onto your lino and dropping ash from your fag as you get right into it. Ming City Rockers are firing on all cylinders here with some bright and sharp punk n roll. Its got a bit of Pete Shelley in its DNA one of the bands best songs to date.
Of the eleven songs on offer you hit the Ramones inspired banger ‘Desperate’ that is the sound of a band in total sync just giving it large having the best time hacking out melodic, loud punk rock. Without a care in the world and its infectious groove is paid on to the listener ten fold. Love the care free guitar break that opens up with the band locked in and killing it.
‘Nancy I’m Bitter’ is another rapid slab of harnessed chaos with a great melody sitting on top of a thunderous rhythm with a Buzzcocks one stringed guitar break adding light to the shade. The album reaches the mid point before you can really take a breath as the fuzzy stomper that is ‘Another Head’. A shift of gears and the band turn in a fantastic tune that reminded me of some Beastie Boys turned up to 11. I thin gthe band are really comfortable living in the space of music that finds ‘Void’ rumbling along with a rock steady beat and murky bass rumble with the guitars cutting in to lift this song above the ‘Void’ an excellent song on what is turning out to be an excellent album.
Sure theres nothing new going down on ‘Lime’ but there is a band who have penned some awesome tunes and put together a really punk smart album that has plenty of variety and a tonne of melodies on what will no doubt be one of the years best albums and its only January! ‘Paul’ is happy and fresh and you have to love the energy and melody it all makes for a top tune.
The pace drops for ‘The Ballad Of Sue and Steve’ as the trippy picked chords married to the clean melody works perfectly. As the fuzz lifts the chorus into the ether with a soaring departure. ‘Lollipopper’ is more of that Beasties hacking at punk rock and it works a treat. Leaving the grungy surfesque ‘Strangers’ to sign off ‘Lime’ with its brooding tempo that has some grunge in the melody and mixes up those trashy elements with some Britpop. A fitting sign off to a rather good album.
Don’t take my word for it or let this one pass you by, do check out ‘Lime’ it’ll quench your thirst for whats hot in 2023. Ming City Rockers are having it large and they ride off into the sunset with an exquisite album thats packed with top notch tunes that get better with ever play. Absolute banger!
“Psychic Vampires” is the third single leading up to LUCIFER STAR MACHINE’s fifth studio album Satanic Age. Featuring guest vocals by Mark “Sparky” Phillips of DEMENTED ARE GO, “Psychic Vampires” is released together with a music video.
Lucifer Star Machine comments: “Toxic relationships and narcissistic behavior are poison for our well being. Watch out for people gaining your trust so they can wear you down and suck out all your energy. Keep psychic vampires out of your life.”
”Psychic Vampires” is out now on all streaming platforms. The album, ‘Satanic Age’, will be released on The Sign Records on the 14th of April, 2023, and will be available on vinyl, CD, and all streaming platforms.
Next up we have the new tune from MÄRVEL –
MÄRVEL’s new track “Catch 22” delivers the band’s distinctive high-octane and super catchy rock’n’roll style. Gearing up for their 20th anniversary Double Decade vinyl offering, “Catch 22” is a previously unreleased track from the Swedish power trio. Stream “Catch 22” here! Double Decade will be unleashed on February 24th viaThe Sign Records.
“Sometimes, no matter how hard you try you end up with your beard in the mailbox or pants down to your ankles with a school-bus full of idiots laughing at you. You just can’t win. And even more sometimes, you’re in a relationship where you can’t stand each other but still can’t exist without each other.
‘Catch 22’ was recorded during the studio sessions for the album Graces Came With Malice. We felt it didn’t quite fit the theme of the album but it was still a strong song that we wanted to highlight in a special way. By including it in Double Decade we’re looking backwards and forwards at the same time. Like a rear-view mirror facing forwards.”
The double vinyl contains MÄRVEL’s greatest hits, previously impossible to get B-sides, and rare tracks, all newly mastered by Magnus Lindberg (THE HELLACOPTERS, IMPERIAL STATE ELECTRIC, CULT OF LUNA, THE DATSUNS, TRIBULATION, LUCIFER). The compilation also includes two brand new, previously unreleased songs, mixed by Robert Pehrsson (Dundertåget, Death Breath, Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker).
The double vinyl Double Decade will be available in two different set of colors, one containing 2x transparent clear vinyl, and the other containing one transparent orange and one transparent purple vinyl. Both versions come in a luxurious gatefold with an exclusive booklet.
Now I have to admit that I was looking forward to this baby hitting the virtual deck, especially after hearing and reviewing the debut, trouble was I thought I knew what to expect, how wrong could I be? As is often the case with Sophomore releases the music advances at such a rate as the band begins to Gel and more influences are brought to the fore and the players own taste changes and mutates giving you something very different.
Introduction to this baby “Sunrise” has a very 60’s garage rock/psychedelic feel and then “Walking Backwards into the Future” snarls its way out of the speaker, echoing Iggy and the stooges, real time garage rock/punk hybridisation. Next up “Instrument” introduces a very different slant, heavier more intense with almost an Industrial underpinning, maintaining the garage sound but bringing it bang up to date. Three tracks in and I’m bouncing around the room and then a pause hang on did I just have that almost psychedelic interlude? Must have been the drugs because then everything just ramps up a gear within Instrument! “Bigots Vs the mad professor” to me draws down that early Seattle garage sound introduced by bands like The Gits before its over way too Quickly. “Rinse Repeat Rinse” throws another curveball, hitting almost a post punk vibe before “Keep moving” has the perfectly sampled intro/interlude before sending you down another wormhole with almost a trip hop background, a great point to take a breath, this is seriously good stuff, right up my street its all over the place while holding on to the garage punk DIY Ethos.
“We make Bombs to Feel safe” has one of those riffs that build and build, the intensity being led from the lyrics, and again that curve ball kicks in leaving you smiling. There are some seriously good ideas here, at times reminiscent of Killing Joke.
FUck me what’s this!!! Before “Letter from Yootha” kicks in at 100mph, and then we’re into “First they ignore you” again this moves to a very different beat, swirling esoteric guitar work, but still that incessant punk riff picking at you from the background. “Liberez Wayne Kramer” again is one of those interludes, before “Johns Gone” again dropping fully into that post punk vibe, this is potentially my fave on the LP, alongside “We make bombs” it’s all over the place. “Seek shelter” another corker, starts with the white noise that all us gig goers live with, before again we have that dark Killing Joke edge.
This is a seriously good LP, Dealing with Damage are really finding their feet embracing their influences, throwing them in the mixer and coming up with something unique. “Write it down” is flat out from the intro, hard edged picking at you, drawing you in. Next in “May I help you” again provides the interlude to “Sunset” before we’re back into that 60s Psychedelica with “Sunset” bringing the LP through a full cycle, looping you backwards to the beginning.
This is an LP that everyone needs to listen too, more mature than the debut, packed with ideas and bringing a distinctly new sound to the place, get it on repeat, purchase it, buy the t-shirt and more to the point enjoy a fucking good LP. Can’t wait to try to catch them live (Camden Rocks next year maybe?)
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LEGEND RETURNS WITH STAR-STUDDED NEW ALBUM
DEFIANCE PART 1 SEES COLLABORATIONS FROM LATE, GREAT JEFF BECK, JOHNNY DEPP, JOE ELLIOTT (DEF LEPPARD), BILLY F GIBBONS (ZZ TOP), TAYLOR HAWKINS (FOO FIGHTERS), DUFF McKAGAN (GUNS N’ ROSES), TODD RUNDGREN, SLASH (GUNS N’ROSES), JEFF TWEEDY (WILCO), ROBERT TRUJILLO (METALLICA), WADDY WACHTEL (STEVIE NICKS, KEITH RICHARDS), BRAD WHITFORD (AEROSMITH), DANE CLARK (JOHN MELLENCAMP), BILLY BOB THORNTON & J.D. ANDREW (THE BOXMASTERS) and DEAN DELEO, ROBERT DE LEO & ERIC KRETZ (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS)
FIRST SINGLE, “BED OF ROSES,” FEATURING MIKE CAMPBELL AND RINGO STARR
DEFIANCE PART 1 ARRIVES VIA SUN RECORDS ON FRIDAY, APRIL 21
Rock ‘n’ roll legend Ian Hunter has announced the release of his landmark new album, DEFIANCE PART 1, arriving via the Sun Records label on Friday, April 21, 2023. Pre-orders are available now HERE.
Easily among the most star-studded original albums ever recorded, DEFIANCE PART 1 sees Hunter joined by the late, great Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp, Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Billy F Gibbons (ZZ Top), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Todd Rundgren, Slash (Guns N’ Roses), JeffTweedy (Wilco), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards), Brad Whitford(Aerosmith), Dane Clark (John Mellencamp), Billy Bob Thornton & J.D. Andrew (The Boxmasters) and Dean DeLeo, Robert De Leo & Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots).
“It was a fluke,” Ian Hunter says. “This was not planned. Really, I’m serious. I really couldn’t believe some of them. I mean, it’s amazing what’s happened. It’s been such a buzz.”
Now in its seventh decade, Ian Hunter’s illustrious career has long been marked by collaboration, from the golden age of Mott the Hoople to his fabled partnership with Mick Ronson and 21st century renaissance with his crack backing combo, the Rant Band. Now, with DEFIANCE PART 1, the legendary singer-songwriter, author, and rock ‘n’ roll star takes creative solidarity to an unprecedented new level with spectacular accompaniment from a truly awe-inspiring roster of special guests, famous fans, and lifelong friends.
The album first came together in early 2020 with the dawn of the pandemic era. An inveterate hard worker, Hunter took the lockdown as a creative opportunity, writing a series of new songs which he tracked in his Connecticut basement alongside his longtime collaborator, guitarist/producer/multi-instrumentalist Andy York. Working with little more than a computer, guitar, V5 piano, and “a very small keyboard,” Hunter and York created a collection of bare bones demos but with quarantine rules still in effect, were unable to flesh them out further by hitting the studio with the Rant Band. Manager Mike Kobayashi and renowned rock ‘n’ roll photographer Ross Halfin suggested reaching out to some of Hunter’s fellow legends who might perhaps use some of their own lockdown to contribute a track or two. To Hunter’s delight, the project quickly escalated, with a galaxy of stars clamoring to be involved. With time on their hands due the pandemic, his fellow musicians took the demos and stems that Hunter and York put together in his basement and added unforeseen power and creativity through their own trademark talents.
“Everybody’s sitting around,” says Hunter. “It’s Covid. Nobody’s going anywhere. We started sending them out. Slash started doing something. Robert Trujillo from Metallica. Ringo Starr, Mike Campbell. Joe Elliott is on a few tracks. Johnny Depp said ‘Jeff Beck’s with me and we’d like to do a couple of songs.’ I know Todd Rundgren, I toured with Todd way back, he’s done an amazing job. Billy Gibbons. Billy Bob Thornton and JD Andrew from The Boxmasters. It’s never ending. I mean, every day we’d get a phone call, this guy wants to do it, that guy wants to do it. It was like, I can’t believe this.”
Despite its genesis during the pandemic, DEFIANCE PART 1 is remarkably upbeat, ablaze with the life-affirming energy and unbridled passion that has marked Hunter’s music since the start. Indeed, “Pavlov’s Dog” is Hunter at his ferocious best, a snarling rocker featuring the surviving members of Stone Temple Pilots – brothers Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass) and Eric Kretz (drums). Songs like “I Hate Hate” and the album’s rebellious title track – the latter showcasing the one and only Slash on guitar with Metallica’s Robert Trujillo carrying the groove using the late Jaco Pastorius’ signature fretless bass, the same instrument played by the legendary jazz musician on Hunter’s groundbreaking second solo album, 1975’s ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY – offer indisputable evidence that Hunter’s voice remains as uncompromising and provocative as ever before.
Having spent the better part of two years on the project, Hunter isn’t done yet. As its title promises, DEFIANCE PART 1 will be followed by the arrival of DEFIANCE PART 2. The second chapter will feature an equally stunning range of special guests while projecting an entirely different thematic approach and songwriting aesthetic.
With the wind at his back, Ian Hunter has somehow managed to pull off something impossible. DEFIANCE PART 1 is a full-speed-ahead rock ‘n’ roll record rarely heard in this day and age, recorded with a crew of irrefutable rock ‘n’ roll all-stars and released on the definitive rock ‘n’ roll label.
“There are a lot of reasons for calling this album DEFIANCE,” says Ian Hunter. “It’s like, people my age shouldn’t be making records, blah, blah, blah. But we’ve still got a bit left.”
Swansea’s finest TRAMPOLENE release a new song/spoken word diatribe entitled Money on January 19th on the Strap Originals label. Listen here: https://found.ee/trampolene-moneyThe track istaken from the band’s eagerly awaited fourth album, Rules Of Love & War (r/d 17th March ’23).
Money is the third song (following the release of Thinking Again and Sort Me Out last year) to be taken from Rules Of Love & War which features 12 new TRAMPOLENE original songs and was produced by Mike Moore (Baxter Dury/Liam Gallagher), Richard Jackson (Super Furry Animals) & Jason Stafford (Albion Rooms).
Says singer and boss Tramp Jack Jones: “Money was probably the fastest poem I ever wrote, just woke up one morning full of anxiety and anger and upset about the fact I knew I didn’t have any money…not even enough to eat properly. It just pissed me off…how we always end up being the ones suffering and the government gives tax breaks to the ones with all the money who are already rich…and now we are in the middle of a cost of living crisis I guess everyone’s feeling the same way.”
Says the legend that is Ray Davies: “I’ve known the dynamic Mr Jones for many years. We spent a memorable time writing songs in Lumb Bank – Ted Hughes’ old mill house in West Yorkshire. I admired his ambition and skill as a musician and I was then impressed by his courage to move to London at such a young age. I’ve had the pleasure of watching him bud from an exciting young writer to one of the finest young poets and composers in the country. He has a wonderful gift for melody, finding the deeper meaning in his compositions, and has been blessed with a supernatural gift as a wordsmith. Let’s not forget his formidable aptitude as a guitarist, either.”
Rules of Love & War will be available on CD, cassette, digital download and 12” black or red vinyl, as well as exclusive formats and signed items. Preorder the album here: https://lnk.fu.ga/trampolene_rulesoflovewar
Taken from the movie Free LSD Go Keith, “Keith, a defeated adult store owner, falls for a younger woman who visits his shop looking for a gift. When their relationship turns physical, Keith’s failure to perform leads him to a strange doctor who offers hope in the form of a new experimental drug. The experience gives Keith much more than renewed manhood. It also provides a glimpse into a parallel universe where he is not only the singer of the band OFF!, but also the target of an evil alien species that will stop at nothing to prevent the group from making a new album that holds the key to an awakening of human consciousness”.
Ash announce the reissue of their second album, ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’. Newley remastered and reissued for the first time since its original 1998 release, it will be available on limited edition Clear and Nu-Clear green splatter colour vinyl from 24th Feb.
After the runaway #1 success of the band’s debut album 1977, the release of follow-up Nu-Clear Sounds showcased a darker but no less melodic side to their writing. Explored in songs that covered a loss of innocence and drink and drug misuse, Nu-Clear Sounds captured the frustrations of the time with stark sincerity, its joining of grunge rock and gloomier balladeering giving rise to the hit singles ‘Jesus Says’, ‘Wildsurf’ and ‘Numbskull.’ It would be the first of three albums released with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley as a full time member.
Drummer Rick McMurray comments: “We’re absolutely buzzing to announce we will be re-releasing our Heart of Darkness in the shape of the splatter vinyl edition of our second album, ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’.”
As 2022 came to an end, I wondered if there’d be many new albums to really interest me in this new year. A lot of my favourite bands had just released albums, and I’m always looking for exciting, new bands. Then, two things happened almost simultaneously. The Damned showed a tantalising clip of snippets of songs from their upcoming album, and Wingmen released tracks from their debut.
Now, whilst new, young bands can be exciting, this isn’t exactly a project by whippersnappers. However, the combined experience from their individual bands does whet the appetite. With Baz Warne of The Stranglers, Paul Gray of The Damned, Ruts D.C’s Leigh Heggarty and Marty Love from Johnny Moped, it’s surely worth a spin. Well, yes, it is. And don’t call me Shirley.
Initially a studio project, they quickly realised that they had a collection of quality songs that deserved to be heard. What strikes on first listen is that, while the parts were recorded remotely, it doesn’t sound that way. It gels like a band who’ve been together for a while, and enjoy playing together.
I’m not the first to say that it often sounds like elements of The Stranglers and The Damned, particularly ‘Strawberries’, but this is hardly surprising and, also, not a criticism. I suppose it’s inevitable, though the album has a distinct feel to it. As a fan of both bands, it’s a real treat to hear new songs worthy of their respective back catalogues.
And from the instrumental ‘Starting Blocks’, it doesn’t disappoint. ‘The Last Cigarette’ is a breezy piece of psychedelic pop, not unlike The Sensible Gray Cells, ‘Louis Smoked The Bible’ is a classy, jazzy tune. Mature pop with a dark edge, as you might expect. ‘Brits’ tackles the downside of some of the clichés of being from the septic isles; “you complain when you’re grounded, you complain when you fly”.
‘I Would If I Could’ handles the subject of health care privatisation in a style that would please World Party, while ‘Down In The Hole’ is the sort of tune you could imagine Mr Vanian relishing singing, complete with lysergic keyboards and theatrical drama. ‘Oh, What A Carry On’ describes the Little England mentality of those brave Brexiteers, and ‘Backstage At The Opera’ is driven by a bass line that is classic Paul Gray.
Overall, very impressive, and they are joined by Rob Coombes of Supergrass on keyboards for their upcoming tour, so mark those dates in your diary. I wonder if they could support The Damned? That would be a great night out.
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