On the day they begin the WA leg of their I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken tour, The Hard-Ons have released a new single and video from the album.
The “Needles & Pins” 7″ single will be released on coloured vinyl as a strictly limited edition of 300 – 100 in hot pink, 100 in clear teal and 100 in black. It features the exclusive non-album B-side “Spider Tree” (an out-take from the album) and will be available from the band at the shows as well as on the Cheersquad Records & Tapes Bandcamp page and from select retailers..
Of the new single and video, Hard-Ons co-founder and bassplayer Ray Ahn has said “The Hard-Ons are in love with the music and beauty of pop. We wanted Mike Foxall, the director to capture the sentiment and tenderness of the melody – all the while showing some light-hearted humour… ”
Guitarist and fellow co-founder Blackie adds,“People usually scoff (politely Emoji) when I insist we’re a pop band .. SEE!!”
The WA dates follow the band’s recent AIR Awards ‘Best Independent Rock Album Award’ nomination for I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken, and the group’s much-viewed surprise APRA Awards performance of “Know Your Product” in tribute to The Saints’ Chris Bailey.
The Hard-Ons’ new album I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken is out now via Cheersquad Records & Tapes. (Distributed by Magnetic South)
Day three of Rebellion 2022, and just like in previous years Saturday’s bill leans perhaps a little heavier towards the Oi!/streetpunk/skinhead side of punk rock, especially in the Empress Ballroom, and that’s exactly where we start today catching the revolutionary sounds of Italian Oi! outfit Los Fastidios. A few songs in though and we’re distracted by the appearance of our old mate Gaff lead guitarist with Desperate Measures NZ and Rich Ragany & The Digressions. He’s not been to sleep since the Measures closed out the Empress in the early hours and I can’t help but think he’s never left the building following what he describes as “perhaps the band’s best show ever!” I’m ashamed to admit I missed this set, due to my lack of sleep the previous night, but as usual Gaff is cool about it all heading for the nearest bar to keep the celebrations going.
Getting things back on track we make our way to the front of the Empress for what appears to be the final gig from Devon’s finest streetpunks Arch Rivals who really are back in Blackpool for one last round. It’s an emotional affair for sure played out to a crowd who really do not want to see the quartet leave the stage. But after a set packed full of terrace anthems, leave they must, and as ‘The Crowd’ brings things to a close its easy to understand why frontman Mike Brands struggles to hold it together, such is the fantastic send off the lads are afforded by the Empress faithful. Let’s hope they can get back together soon, eh? Oi! Oi! Oi!
Next up, it’s time for some Chaotic Dischord over in Club Casbah. Now, this is the band we all aspired to be back in 1983/84 as we were all as equally as shit as they were musically with one band that my old mate Darrel Sutton put together (long before he was playing with Trigger McPoopshute and System Reset) designed specifically to have people walking out after just 2 or 3 songs. I’m pleased to say that with Chaotic Dischord nothing has changed in that respect and after just 3 songs (during which I’ll admit I’m pissing myself laughing) culminating in ‘Who Killed ET? (I Killed The Fucker!)’ it’s all over for me. Yes, it really is a joke you know….
And with that in mind we briefly pop our heads around the folding doors of the Pavilion to catch some of The Gonads set, Garry Bushell openly taunting the locals with a “Blackpool Boys We Are Here” chant that segues almost perfectly into a song our Woking Oi! correspondent was dying to hear, the legendary ‘I Lost My Love (To A UK Sub)’. Perfect half time entertainment for Charlton Athletic fans everywhere.
The reason we have to leave The Gonads set early is that the anticipated crowd for The Bar Stool Preachers second set of the weekend up in the Almost Acoustic stage in the Spanish Ballroom is probably going to test that venue’s capacity to the maximum. So, getting in early doors we manage to get a prime viewing spot for what has to one of the real highlights of the weekend. Playing with a reduced kit drummer and a keyboardist led on the floor to help get around the stage’s rules of what can be included as “Almost Acoustic”, frontman TJ McFaull plays an instant trump card by ensuring the front rows are only made up of young fans and their families. Admittedly his wise words on the realities of trickledown economics (that proceed the song of the same name) are well over the heads of his band’s latest fan club members, but that doesn’t matter one iota as the pure delight on their faces as they get to dance and sing with the band is a total joy to behold. Thankfully the band’s signature tune does get played today, and as the lads say goodbye to everyone one last time before heading off to tour Europe with The Interrupters, I’ll say it once again. “Watch these boys fly….”
Something I wish I could do myself as due to the massive crowd up in the Spanish Ballroom I manage to miss over half of Last Resort back in the Empress Ballroom. Still, I get in in time for a new tune called ‘No Man’s Land’ followed closely by the immense ‘Never Get a Job’ before Roi and the lads rattle out the classics ‘King of the Jungle’ and ‘Violence in Our Minds’ from their legendary 1982 debut album. Look, I know they have Lars Frederiksen within their ranks these days but I still can’t help but miss the monstrous Les Paul chug that Beefy used to bring to the Last Resort sound, and I really never thought I’d be writing this…yet again.
It’s at this point in proceedings where stage clashes were always going to shape the rest of our Rebellion Saturday as up next in the Empress is the tribute to Mensi, something I would love to hang around and sing along to, but when we also have IOW skinhead all-stars Grade 2 playing over in the Pavilion at the exact same time, and their third album ‘Graveyard Island’ pretty much helped me through multiple lockdowns, there’s only one place I’m going to be. Having previously witnessed Grade 2 supporting The Interrupters, the band that bursts onto the stage at Rebellion is unrecognisable from the largely static trio that had failed to impress me in Bristol SWX a few years prior. Their tour with Social Distortion has certainly helped the lads with their stagecraft, but it’s the quality of the songs from that aforementioned album that really is the difference this time around. ‘Tired Of It’, ‘Murder Town’ ‘Bowling Green Lane’ are all delivered with ruthless efficiency and I’ll defy anyone not to be impressed with this mob right now. Grade 2 are another one of the absolute highlights of Rebellion 2022 and along with The Bar Stool Preachers it’s reassuring to know that the future of punk rock (in all its various sub-genres) is safe in these guy’s hands.
Staying put in the Pavilion for the UK debut of Mick Rossi’s Gun St it’s great to see that we are not alone in having enjoyed Slaughter’s return the previous evening and Mick and gang have assembled a very healthy-looking crowd to entertain with songs new and old, plus the odd cover like ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ thrown in for good measure.
With an 8:30 curfew on entry to the RFest stage it’s at this point in proceedings that we leave our Woking Oi! correspondent to pick up on matters in the Empress whilst me and Dom head off to the seafront for some proper goff (double eff copyright Jimbob from Pizzatramp) action in the shape of Peter Hook & The Light and Gary Numan.
I really hadn’t been impressed with the sound at RFest when we caught up with The Undertones just 24 hours earlier, so tonight, we pick a spot nearer the stage and thankfully everything is crystal clear, Peter Hook delivering a wonderfully gloomy set on a glorious summer’s evening with Joy Division’s ‘Dead Souls’ being a particular highlight. As for Gary Numan, tonight is largely the same exceptional arena show that I witnessed on the opening night of the tour in Cardiff University back in April, albeit it’s now honed to perfection with the more recent material still taking precedence over any trip down memory lane, and the fact Numan continually mixed the set up throughout the ‘Intruder’ tour (tonight is the final night) is really why I’m here instead of watching the bands in the Empress. Playing to within a few seconds of the strict 10:45 curfew the fact that he chooses to encore with ‘The Fall’ from 2011’s ‘Dead Son Rising’ album and not say the likes of ‘We Are Glass’ or ‘Films’ (both of which he had played in Cardiff) shows just how happy and confident Gary is within himself right now, and for me this is easily the set of the weekend. Glorious stuff!
Heading back to the Winter Gardens, it’s the first time this weekend we have to queue to get back in, but as Cock Sparrer have just finished their set in the Empress that’s totally understandable, as this new Conference Centre entrance merges straight in with the traffic from the Empress and as a result could very easily lead to overcrowding. Anyway, a short wait in the cool night air never hurt anyone, and apart from my glasses steaming up when we do pass the Empress that’s thankfully the only inconvenience I experience.
Meeting up with our Woking Oi correspondent in the Arena he’s full of stories about how emotional the Cockney Rejects set was with the band now starting to wind down on touring from this year onwards and how Cock Sparrer once again delivered a killer headline set that has perfectly set up their two fiftieth anniversary shows in London’s Roundhouse in just a few weeks’ time. Which RPM will hopefully be covering too. Bosh!
With The Chisel being one of our must-see bands of the weekend, that’s the reason we are all in the Arena, and having witnessed them deliver an explosive set just a few months earlier in Le Pub in Newport I was half expecting the dancefloor to turn into something resembling an MMA event…BUT…it just never happens. Maybe it’s the fact that where we are standing the sound is so poor that it takes me three songs to actually recognise a song, and then it’s the title track from the band’s stunning debut record ‘Retaliation’, or maybe it’s the fact that it’s chucking out time in the pubs and having been on it most of the day, many (myself included) are just so tired all they really want to do head back to the hotel for some much-needed shut-eye. Who knows? But it’s the latter we choose to do and as such forego the chance to watch Bob Vylan’s upgraded set in the Empress at around 1 am, which turns out for many to be the event of the weekend. Ho hum!
As we walk back to our hotel near Blackpool’s south pier shooting the breeze, it’s the sound issue in the Arena that makes me missing Bad Nerves’ set on Thursday not seem quite so bad, and as Sunday would soon prove this wasn’t to be an isolated incident either.
Hip Pries four stringer noise bringer eases back with his debut EP. this is the first video to accompany the EP that we reviewed several weeks ago. The video features Lee relaxing in his downtime from day job duties and cutting up the dance floor at the Wigan Pier.
We’ve now entered the alternate virtual reality that is Rebellion Festival where the world outside no longer has any bearing on us and the searing heatwave is only a mirror of what we experience when entering the Empress every year as the greenhouse effect takes place.
We take our usual leisurely pace of getting up for the exceptional breakfast in the relatively palatial and calm setting of our temporary home just down the seafront before our leisurely stroll through the tourists looking like extras from the Walking Dead before we enter the rabbit warren of the Winter Gardens for round two of Rebellion 2022. Its a quick two-step to the bar for some light refreshments as we enter the Casbah venue to catch some of the garage rock noise that has been recommended to us – known as Tiger Sex – this three-piece female garage punk ensemble churns out a Stooges zero fucks given noise but in the vast surroundings of the Casbah it’s missing the low end of a bass guitar that would turn these tunes into a real tour de force and nail your feet to the floor. I guess it doesn’t help not being familiar with any of the songs but the Stooges vibe hits home and I wanted to like what I was seeing and hearing so will have to investigate more. A decent opener for what was going to be a very interesting lineup as we dig deeper into this years festival.
Now, next up for us is a visit to the venue that used to house the acoustic sessions for what has become a Rebellion institution following Bingo with Max which in the past has given away some wonderful prizes such as the ironing board from his hotel room to name but one treasure (eat your heart out bullseye) none other than the surreal universe that is Ratboys Magic Show. Now I don’t want to give away any of the secrets as to what goes on because I’ve never been able to unravel what it is that I’m truly watching but on the quieter more reflective moments I have of weeks after the festival has faded I hear Rat Boy singing karaoke or his chant of “Rat Boy Rat Boys magic Show” and my head does a wobble and I have a flashback. If you’ve never seen him at the festival then give yourself a slap and take in one of his performances it’ll reaffirm your faith in all things alternative in entertainment and punk rock… We’ll leave it at that. Brilliant comedy light entertainment genius!
Next up was a return to the Casbah for the final performance of Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions who have pulled in a big crowd to say farewell to their heroes and their punk rockin’ party anthems such as ‘DNA Failure’, ‘Crossfire’, and the classic ‘Knobhead’. Spunk takes the mic and leaves the guitars to others as he prowls the stage punching the air to his everyday tales of growing up in Britain and most relatable. The heart and soul of Spunks performances are infectious and when they are punched out with as much anthemic gusto as you could muster it’s always an enjoyable singalong spectacle. Expect the best from the Showaddywaddy of punk rock and they always deliver thanks to the tunesmith that is Spunk Volcano, who deserves every bit of praise he ever gets, the guy pens top tunes and everyone around us has a beaming smile as they debate if crossfire is indeed better than Subbutteo (just for the record it isn’t) which is a testiment to his quality songwriting ability that is undeniable. They bid farewell and sign off with a maybe one day we’ll meet again who knows. Top set as usual.
We then enter the oven that is The Empress ballroom for a dose of Oi! streetpunk courtesy of Booze And Glory who dish up a slick sing-a-long that is lapped up by the bulging audience. These ‘appy ‘Ammers sing songs about West Ham, Booze and Glory with a bit of a jig in their step. Songs like ‘Days, Months and Years’ mix elements of The Pogues through to Cock Sparrer and all the street punk like the Dropkick Murphys for good measure. Personally, I can take it or leave it but there is a decent audience who clearly loves it and a good time is being had by all as the steam is rising from the pit.
We then decide to take in Suede Razors in the goldfish bowl that is the Pavillion stage in the middle of the sweeping walk around where the bands merch tables are set up where the sun beats down through the glass roof creating an absolute greenhouse heat effect where the only remedy is to take on some fluids and get in amongst it as the band knock out their tunes with gusto. Plying the street punk mixed with some good traditional time honored hard rock handed down from the likes of classic DC or some Thin Lizzy it helps to have former Harrington Saint frontman Darrel Wojick delivering the vocals with his passionate style that is like a sledgehammer to the chest.
One of the better mixes around the festival site The Pavillion is delivering the good once again. As the punters pack the room (Which always helps) the band’s tunes are what really deliver the good – ‘TV175’, ‘Bovver Girl’ raise the heat off their debut EP but its ‘Vive Le Rock’ that elevates this set to one of the best so far at the festival, the sheer energy is fantastic and the title of their new release says it all – ‘No Mess, No Fuss, Just Rock ‘n’ Roll’! message delivered and understood!
Its a hop skip and jump out of the Winter Gardens for some much-needed grub before we dust ourselves down and re-enter for some Bite Back in the Empress as Slaughter fronted by the superb Edwina Banger delivers some mighty fine old-school New York Dolls inspired Rock n Roll with the VU cover ‘White Light White Heat’, aptly describing the feeling in the Empress Ballrooms palatial surroundings. The band’s guitarist Mick Rossi is the perfect foil, knocking out the licks to some top tunes. It was a fantastic performance showing that the old school still had the chops to deliver the goods on the biggest stages and judging by the swelling audience we were not alone in knowing this was the place to be and the band to be watching. ‘Boston Babies’, ‘Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone’ and ‘Cranked Up Really High’ always were and still are some of the finest songs to come out of the whole seventies scene. Tonight they were dusted down and given a new lease of life for what will be one of the festival’s best performances, no question about it Bite Back 2022 was a real treat. Rossi, Garrity, Bates and Rowland showed why they are the real deal and Rock and Roll is alive and healthy when in the hands of professionals who most certainly Bite Back.
It’s time for us to venture outside to the new R Fest stage. Perched right on the seafront, pretty much beneath the Blackpool Tower (which to be fair as the sun sets is an impressive sight) to catch The Undertones. Having recently reviewed the new compilation of their last two studio albums ‘Dig What You Need’ I was ready to catch this lineup for the first time and even with some swirling PA moments the set was fantastic delivering exactly what the people wanted to hear. hit after hit after awesome album track. Derry’s answer to the Ramones has got more top tunes than most and tonight they managed to play twenty-four of them! How about that then?
The set reminded me of Buzzcocks from half a dozen years ago when they played I think it was a late night Thursday set and in an hour they managed to play pretty much every single they released one after the other without any bull shit and it was simply stunning. Undertones did pretty much the same tonight in the searing heat as the sun subsided over the sea it was a cool breeze that swept the site being the perfect environment for such a good set. Paul McLoone is energetic and delivers the songs perfectly for what has to be said is a headline-worthy set and a great introduction to what R Fest had to deliver from the smooth entry and exit from the site to the view, and amenities, and a welcome break from the Winter Gardens. Tied in with hearing ‘Billy’s Third’, ‘Male Model’ and ‘My Perfect Cousin’ was memorable hattrick from a superb band.
Being described as one half of the Goldfish Brothers due to the inability to remember pretty much anything since arriving in Vegas for scum I had to use my phone to record where I’d been and who I’d seen and in what venue as I would never have been able to remember everything as its a full-on weekend by anyone’s standard. I didn’t need my digital reminder to tell me I had to go to the Acoustic venue to witness The Boys performance which was well attended and a full band set up as the dusted-off versions of classic Boys ‘TCP’, ‘Weekend’, ‘Terminal Love’ and the superb sing-a-long that is ‘Brickfield Nights’ it was great to be able to sit back and relax and witness something different from one of my favourite bands. It flew by way to quickly and before I knew it ‘First Time’ signaled the end of the set and it was already time for this scribe to meander back into the Empress to catch some Sham 69 to bring the curtain down on another full-on yet thoroughly entertaining Rebellion experience. It was band after band and venue after venue yet it had flown by and we were halfway through.
Now Sham 69 knows exactly how to play at these festivals. Knock out exactly what people want to hear don’t preach, don’t pfaff about just count em in and bash em out with the energy and verve those classic punk anthems deserve. fifteen songs plus a two-song encore of ‘Hersham Boys’ and ‘Hurry Up Harry’ that the pit can throw themselves around to. to be fair Sham are a great festival band and right from the off you get ‘I Don’t Wanna’, ‘Ulster Boy’ and ‘Borstal Breakout’ but these days it comes without all the bullshit and bollocks of when they first burst onto the scene with all the violence and politics going on in the audience these days it’s as it should be and people just getting on with enjoying what are top punk rock anthems (and plenty of em). Pursey plays the villain perfectly well throwing round his drinks and sneering at the audience whilst introducing most songs with a pun but once the songs are counted in how can you not smile at ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’ and sing along to ‘Questions and Answers’? by the time the band had reached ‘If The Kids Are United’ I’m exhausted even looking at the flair of Robin Guy as he adds his hefty thump to proceedings. Again worthy of headlining a festival like Rebellion Sham deliver the goods pretty much exactly as you’d expect. With most of the stages now closed it was waiting in the Empress for an hour and a half for Desperate Measures or nick off and get some much-needed shut-eye for what was going to be a grueling second half and we didn’t want to get subbed so we made the mature and responsible choice and bowled down the seafront to our residence whilst trying not to make eye contact with the scallys looking for a fight or the ladies looking for a good time that walk was getting exhausting. Night folk it’s been a pleasure thus far, bring on Saturday!
South Wales punk n Roll darlings Deathtraps are back with their new record. Pre-orders are upon us and this new video is here for your viewing and listening pleasure. ‘Red Eyes Black Kisses’ is the first video off the album and we want to share it with you. The album ‘Appetite For Prescription’ is available Here You can catch the band playing with Crazyhead in Le Pub Newport this coming Friday with a very limited number of tickets still available Here
Three years on from the last Rebellion Festival and we are finally back at our spiritual home, and there’s a few things that have changed. The Winter Gardens has opened a new Conference Centre main entrance, and the old backstage area where we’ve done so many great interviews with bands over the years is no more, so sadly bang goes any chance of doing any of those for you this weekend folks…. sorry! Then of course there’s the new outdoor stage going by the name of R Fest that you can attend on its own if you so wish, at £50 a day, or its free to those with Rebellion weekend wristbands and then finally there’s this sense of freedom in the Blackpool air, something that I certainly haven’t felt in quite some time.
What hasn’t changed though is the fact that Rebellion is still the number one punk and alternative festival here in the UK, returning with another knockout bill (that a few cancellations aside) has the RPM team arriving a day earlier than we have done previously, just so we can ensure we don’t miss any of the bands playing early on the first day of the festival. It wasn’t that long ago that I remember Thursday being the kind of “warm up” day for the event, now it’s the surrounding pubs and clubs that provide that, and we find ourselves crammed into an uber sweaty Tache watching Suzi Moon, when really we should have been getting an early night preparing for the weekend ahead, but fuck it, we really are back, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
THURSDAY
Arriving early doors at the Winter Gardens to catch Janus Stark opening the Empress Stage line up, the first thing that hits me is the size of the queue outside the conference centre waiting for the wristband exchange. We’d followed the festival’s advice online and got ours the night before, so we sailed through, but I can understand some of the anger vented within Facebook groups if you did get caught up in this and missed a band you wanted to see. As it is Gizz Butt and the Stark guys get to play to a smaller crowd than they might have given these circumstances but this doesn’t bother the quartet one iota as they deliver an outstanding performance that proves once again that every little thing does in fact count.
“Alright you English cunts, I bet you wish you’d been stuck in queues too rather than watch us,” is certainly a risky opening gambit from Pizzatramp frontman Jimbob Theodore Logan, but having risen from playing a slot at the festival’s Introducing stage just a few years back to now playing the flagship Empress Ballroom, he’s a man on a mission, and if he can make you laugh, or indeed cry (more of that in a moment) then what the hell? Jimbob’s other half Tia is in the line-up today on bass and backing vocals and that female voice does add a new dynamic to call response element of some of the band’s back catalogue, but then when you have songs as insanely catchy as ‘CCTV’ and ‘Ciggy Butt Brain’ within that canon of work how can the Chepstow pizza crew possibly go wrong? There’s even a touching moment when Jimbob calls his son mid-set just for the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to him, something that sees the frontman getting “sweat in his eyes” before the obligatory ‘Bono’s A Cunt’ closes a resoundingly successful set for the trio. You know, when people say you have to be “in the know” to get on the Rebellion bill, I always say “well Pizzatramp did it and they are fucking clueless.” There’s really no come back from that one is there….
I first saw Suzi Moon take to the Rebellion stage twelve years ago, playing one of the two stages they then had over in the Olympia, when she was a member of the Hellcat signed Civet. I have to admit I wasn’t that enamoured with the set I’d witnessed at the Tache the night before, largely due to a muddy sound, but Suzi seemed to love it, and for her set in the Pavilion this afternoon, it’s the almost absolute opposite. Here right from opener ‘Special Place In Hell’ the sound out front is stunning, thus ensuring that tracks like the strutting ‘Sonic Attraction’, the glamtastic ‘I’m Not A Man’ and the sultry set closer ‘Animal’ rip through flesh to get their hooks in you. It’s up on stage where Suzi is having guitar problems, that she doesn’t seem quite as in her special place as she did just twelve short hours earlier, and smashing the offending article into the Pavilion stage, you can feel the frustration she must have had boiling up inside. Rest assured though Suzi (If you are reading this) this was a great performance, and pretty much everyone around me seemed to think so too. I mean a bit of mid-set tension never hurt Texas T at Rebellion now did it?
Heading back to the Empress for some Wonk Unit, it’s now a decade since I first witnessed Alex Wonk live (that being at Slugfest 5 back in my hometown of Abertillery) and boy how things have moved on since those early(ish) part spoken word/part grunge/part punk rock days of the band. Only the main man and bassist Pwoison remain from that gig, but once again within this performance today the spirit of vaudeville is still there for everyone to delight in. I’ve often referred to Alex as the “Ian Dury of his generation” and here in the same hall that so many tortured geniuses have played over the years he seems in his element, conducting his glorious-sounding band through the likes of ’Pathetic Merry Go Round of Existence/Heroin’, ‘Day Job Wanker’ and a furious sounding ‘Nan Is Old’. It takes a pitch-perfect ‘Awful Jeans’ to get the sprung dancefloor bouncing for the first time this weekend, and just as ‘Go Easy’ tears out the PA we have our first band clash of the weekend, as we hop, skip, and jump over to Club Casbah in time for the arrival of Dirt Box Disco.
It’s also a decade since I first witnessed the mighty Dirt Box Disco deliver their slamdunk debut at Rebellion, and today they return to the Olympia, now retitled Club Casbah, playing perhaps their finest set since that jaw dropping debut. Some might argue that this is because the set list draws heavily from the ‘Tragic Roundabout’ EP and ‘Legends’ album, but when you have a song as strong as ‘Burning’ that can immediately get the whole of the packed-out Casbah singing as one, you just need to make sure you don’t lose the audience, and then when you can follow that anthem with the likes of ‘Peepshow’ ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You’ and ‘My Girlfriend’s Best Friend’s Sister’ you really are ‘Unstoppable’ and even when Spunk calls his band “rock ‘n’ roll dinosaurs” towards the end of their set, I’m sure he means it in a “Jurassic Park” Alan Partridge kind of way. “Back Of The Net!!!”
After a quick pitstop for some food (we do have to eat too you know) we move back to the Empress for Anti-Flag, or as they like to pronounce it An-tie-Flag, and I have to admit that I’ve never been a huge fan, thinking them to be a band consisting of more style than substance. Tonight, however even an old cynic like me can’t help but get caught up in the moment and singalong with the likes of ‘You’ve Gotta Die for the Government’ and ‘Fuck Police Brutality’ and whilst these tunes might now be over 26 years old they still sound as relevant today, maybe even more so. I do find it odd that in amongst their strongly politically driven setlist that they still have time to do a ‘Stars on 45’ kind of run through some cover tunes like ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘If the Kids Are United’, but the Empress faithful lap it up and send Anti-Flag off into the night like all conquering heroes. Me, I’m properly distracted by what’s about to follow.
Drawing the largest crowd of the day so far, it’s LA hardcore punk legends Circle Jerks who are up next in the Empress. Originally confirmed for the 2020 Rebellion Festival for what would have been the 40th-anniversary celebration of the band’s seminal debut record ‘Group Sex’, tonight, two years on it’s also the 40th-anniversary celebration of the band’s second album ‘Wild In The Streets’. Guiding us through tonight’s 32 (there may have been more) song battering of the senses that the band like to call a set list there’s the ever-convivial Keith Morris to relay the background story behind each of the blocks of songs the band, made up of bassist Zander Schloss, guitarist Greg Hetson along with guest drummer (the man who makes it all possible according to Morris) the monster that is Joey Castillo, deliver like men a third of their age. From ‘Deny Everything’ through to ‘When the Shit Hits the Fan’ via ‘Red Tape’ there’s even a point towards the end of their set where Castillo has to ask Morris to keep talking just so he can get his breath back, and if you remember that his day job is currently laying down the backbeat for The Bronx then that is surely some feat indeed. With the crowd thinning a little towards the end I do wonder how much of this is down to the relentlessly intense nature of the Circle Jerks set or if it’s just another one of the weekend’s many stage clashes, and as I’d actually forgone a long overdue chance to watch Hawkwind down on the R Fest stage for this Circle Jerks reunion set I for one was certainly glad I made this choice here tonight, as this was something I really would have hated to have missed.
Another potential stage clash was taken out of my hands literally a few days before Rebellion started when Bad Religion were forced to cancel all of their remaining European dates, including their headline slot in the Empress Ballroom, due to a family emergency back in the US. With The Skids stepping in to save the day and me having never been a fan of the band I instead headed over to Club Casbah to catch The Boys once again ploughing through a 19-song set that covered most of the hits from their back catalogue as well as a few deeper cuts to keep the diehards on their Cuban heeled toes. Singer/bassist Kent Norberg may lovingly refer to Boy’s songwriting machine of Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel as the “Lennon And McCartney of punk rock” but through squinted eyes, Dangerfield would certainly pass more for Keith Richards these days, and not just in his looks either. There’s also the clang of his tight yet loose guitar proving to be the perfect counterpoint to Honest John Plain’s stand in Chips Kiesbye and with Steel closing down the set keyboard-less for ‘Sick On You’ he was giving us perhaps a rare glimpse of his inner Mick Jagger, albeit a slightly reluctant one. Oh, and here’s a footnote to the organisers of Rebellion too regarding this performance, because as The Boys have for some time featured two members of the fantastic Swedish punk rock band Sator. How about asking them over to play as well especially given they’ve just scored a number 1 album back home with their ‘Return Of The Barbie Q Killers’ record?
With just a couple of bands left on my must-see list it’s during the changeover between The Boys and The Bar Stool Preachers that I rechristen my RPM travelling compadres for the weekend, the Goldfish Brothers as everything I seem to tell them they immediately seem to forget. It’s no wind-up either, and never mind how many times I tell them I want to watch Bad Nerves at the ungodly hour of 1 am over in the Arena they instantly forget and ask me “who?” and “where?” time and again. In the end I have to put it down to the cider visors they have both been wearing for most of the day and the fact that one of them left home at 4 am this morning to get here, so instead I just settle in to watch the return of the mighty BSP as their career takes yet another stellar upwards turn.
Having recently announced that they have signed with Pure Noise Records on a two-album deal Brighton’s favourite ska-punk sons can seemingly do no wrong at the moment. Granted, a couple of band members do resemble extras from Nick Love’s The Business as they take to the Rebellion stage with a drum and bass intro tape booming out over the PA, but as soon as ‘Choose My Friends’ kicks in there’s no disputing this is the sound (and look) of The Bar Stool Preachers at the very top of their game. There’s also a smattering of new tunes given a spin around the Club Casbah block tonight and if this is the sound of what is to come then this is probably the last time we’ll be seeing TJ and the lads playing small venues here in the UK. This new stuff is essential listening, and I can’t wait to hear what the third album will sound like when it does finally get released. There’s only one downer tonight and that’s the fact that the band’s signature tune ‘Bar Stool Preacher’ doesn’t get to be played as the lads are on a strict curfew, but that tiny set list blip aside, this is the sound of the future of punk rock, bold, ballsy and most of all, absolutely brilliant. Look out for them across Europe and UK as the support for The Interrupters tour, things are about to go major league for these guys, you just mark my words.
So with that performance still ringing in my ears, it’s at this point I give up on ever getting the Goldfish Brothers to ever hang around to watch Bad Nerves, but as the weekend progresses I actually find myself not regretting missing them quite as much as I was fearing, but more of that to come.
Adios for now I’m off to bed for some much-needed shut eye. “Woking turn that fucking phone off!” Ha!
Back in 1974 when Leo Sayer famously sang “Well I’m a one-man band, nobody knows nor understands” he could very well have been referring to Australian-born but now Brighton-based psych space cadet Dez Dare, albeit he was almost four decades too early.
Not that time really bothers Dez, that’s more of an abstract constraint in his world, where music, art and mind expansion blend into one, and ‘Ulysses Trash’ (his second full album to date) is a melting pot of thirteen tracks that take you on a musical roller coaster ride quite unlike any other.
Totally DIY, with Dare playing/recording everything on the album, the production is shot through with the associated garage rock feel you get with such recordings, and there’s an underlying feeling of early Sub Pop within the acid-soaked grooves of ‘They Scream, My Head Is So Full I Can’t Dream’ and this is something that continues through the likes of the wonderfully titled ‘Bloody Sea, Holy Fuck’ and perhaps my fave track on the record ‘1.9.8.5’ which features a spiraling space rock riff over which Dare riffs his spoken word lyric before wrapping it all up in a Stooges-like chorus to die for.
I actually think if some of this stuff had been released a couple of years earlier you may even have found a track cropping up on ‘A Better Dystopia’ Monster Magnet’s covers album that paid tribute to obscure (yet great) garage rock music through the ages.
In fact, if you discovered fantastic bands like Table Scraps from that record then I highly recommend you check out ‘Ulysses Trash’ when its released on August 19th on CD and download via the Bandcamp link below.
‘Ulysses Trash’ is the soundtrack to the fourth dimension baby! Can you dig it???
Legendary rock ‘n’ rollers The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs are gearing up for the September release of their two-CD cover collection, All The Covers (And More), and ahead of the action, they’re sharing their rendition of the iconic “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways. The cover also features the one and only Cherie Currie.
The collection wrangles every cover song the band has recorded over their 25-year career, featuring a slew of guest stars in addition to Currie, including Wayne Kramer (MC5), Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls), Jimmy Zero (Dead Boys), Deniz Tek (Radio Birdman), Bryan Small (The Hangmen), Jeff Dahl (Angry Samoans), and many more.
A band that should need no introduction or rather in an ideal world a band that is a household name we all know and love – The Joneses! Bandleader, Vocalist and Guitarist Jeff Drake has written an autobiography. It’s not just any old run of the mill autobiography about a Rock Star who hit hard times then fought his way back up like a bazillion other this one is the work of a man who doesn’t mince his words and titled the reads ‘Guilty: My life as a member of the Joneses, A heroine addict, A bankrobber and a federal inmate’. Intrigued? You bloodywell should be. The Joneses paved the way for many of the band who hit the big time on Sunset Strip had it all, lost it all and a whole heap of shit besides. Fans of the site should be failiar with his sibling Scott ‘Deluxe’ Drake who now fronts Geurilla Teens and was also Jeffs bandmate on the Vice Principles album as wellas being one of The Humpers and a lovesore but this is Jeffs Story so RPM wanted to wet ones apetite for some proper destruction. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Jeff Drake...
Firstly I’d like to know what made you pick up a guitar?and way back as a kid was there a lot of music at home that inspired you?
I determined to be a guitar player after I saw Jimmy Page in the Song Remains The Same. I saw it in the theater several times when it first came out. There was a lot of music at home. Good stuff, too. My dad was a teenager in the 50s and we had his Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddely and Coasters records. My mom liked the Beatles and CCR. Those are the records I listened to as a kid.
That’s cool having such greats filling the air at home. So can you remember your first guitar? and did you teach yourself to play?
Yes. My first electric guitar was a black Les Paul copy. All my friends were impressed cyz they thought it was a real Les Paul. But it was a cheap copy. The input jack kept falling out so I had to keep taping it up. It sounded good though. I pretty much taught myself to play. I would come home from school and play for hours. When my parents punished me they would take the guitar away.
How old were you when you first decided you needed to be in a band? and play guitar. What about vocals was that something you wanted to do as well rather than be just a guitarist in a band?
I was about 16 when I started learning to play guitar. I wanted to be in a band right away even though I couldn’t play. That was about 1977 so punk was breaking so that was okay. I never wanted to be a singer. I was only supposed to be the singer of the Joneses until we found a real one. I was the singer cuz I was writing the songs and I knew the words. I just wanted to play guitar, sing back up and write songs.
Were the Joneses the first band you were in writing original material?
No, in fact I started writing “songs” before I knew how to play guitar. ‘Pillbox’ & ‘Criminals’, two early Joneses songs, I wrote when I was 16.
I just wanted to get a bit of background before jumping in with the book for those who know nothing about the Joneses. As for record releases, (all the Joneses songs have been remastertered by a US label (Projectile Platters) and released on vinyl in three volumes) I didn’t know that was happening haha. New music?
No, nothing new, but this label, Projectile Platters, is releasing everything the Joneses ever recorded on three 12″ LPs. It’s called Jonesin’ the Discography Volumes 1,2 ,& 3. They just came out and are available now.
It’s always been a bit shit over here in the uk pre internet especially. Hearing about bands like The Joneses was so difficult. when we did get to hear we were well behind the curve. Then when we see you get mentioned as an influence on someone like Guns n Roses people like myself needed to know. Imports were expensive so when a record popped up that was as good as ‘Tits and Champagne’ or ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’ I had to find out more until I had everything hahah
I understand. I didn’t even know people were crazy about the song ‘Pillbox’ until the internet happened and everyone loved ‘Pillbox’.
The song has aged fantastically, one of those timeless classics if you don’t mind me saying. Even seeing pictures of you guys live and since the internet, reading peoples recollections are fantastic, If tinged with a bit of regret that it happened so far away.
Thank you kindly. I hear that a lot. I think it’s kinda funny because I don’t really like that song, the Joneses stopped playing it for years and I wrote that song when I was 16. Was it all downhill from there? Long ago and far away…..
How did the new releases come about?
I was just sitting at home, had just made a deal with HoZac to publish my book and Nat from PNV contacted me through a friend about the idea he had to release the definitive Joneses releases. It was really fortuitous timing with me just finishing the book.
Are they remastered or did you have to search for the tapes?
They are all remastered and sound great. Nat did a great job with all that. They each have a bunch of photos and liner notes written by me. They sound and look great.
How long had it been since you listened to the tapes of the Joneses? Did they sound better than you remember?
Oh brother, I don’t really listen to the Joneses if I don’t have to. Probably since FBK put out that stuff. So, 13 years maybe?
Actually, yeah, they always sound better than I remember. Part of that I think is just getting used to hearing my voice again.
Man you do yourself an injustice. Those records were and still are fantastic and when I read quotes that get thrown up about your band being the “Originals”, “should have been huge” “LA’s most influential bands”, “Best kept secret in Rock n Roll” how does that make you feel? because I would agree. looking at the timeline of what came out of LA it is a mystery how you didn’t blow up (or is it).
Cool, thanks. Well, hearing that stuff is gratifying, but it’s also a bummer cuz it seems like we did start something and then got passed by. People have asked me what it’s like to be a cult figure, and I say it’s kinda like a consolation prize. Like, sorry there’s no fame and fortune, but people write about you! It is nice to hear people that appreciate the Joneses and how we were sort of influential. I’ve had people who are now Rockstars who told me that seeing me play when they were young made them wanna get up there and play rock n roll. Kinda like with me and Jimmy Page!
I get you, were you offered decent deals? foreign tours? Why do you think you got overlooked as you put it? Do you look back on the mid-eighties with regret? Of the LA bands who made it “Big” I can’t think of many who had a ‘Pillbox’, ‘Ms 714’, ‘Criminals’, ‘Tits & Champagne’, I could go on. I guess the landscape was pretty different when you started compared to when the band called it a day?
Well, the band never really did call it a day, just faded away. In 1984 we were on the brink of a major deal with Elektra Records. We were the biggest band in L.A., drawing big crowds, we had a celebrity manager, Danny Sugarman, and it didn’t happen. Part of it was Danny was a junkie like us and couldn’t really manage anything. He had an in at Elektra cuz he was managing the Doors’ affairs and the A&R guy there, Tom Zutaut loved us. But over Xmas holiday 1984 all the A&R people at the record companies played musical chairs. Zutaut went to Geffen and a guy named Peter Philbin took over at Ekektra. Philbin had been at CBS and didn’t like us. So Elektra was out. That was Danny’s ace in the hole and that was all he had. Zutaut went to Geffen and they had Elton John and Neil Diamond and didn’t want the Joneses. Zutaut was new so didn’t have enough juice there to sign us. Also, we were considered too dangerous cuz of the drugs and our general reputation. Which is crazy cuz Zutaut ended up signing GnR to Geffen a few years later. Then everybody, Poison, GnR, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, other bands I can’t remember, all the “Joneses clones” started getting signed and we were left behind. We never could tour overseas cuz of our drugs and legal issues. I still can’t get a passport. I only look back at the mid-80s with regret cuz we didn’t get a big deal. Otherwise, those were great times. We were the biggest band in one of the musical capitals of the world. The Joneses started Xmas Eve 1981, so yes, things changed considerably over that time.
Were European tours ever an option before you weren’t able to travel? Here in the UK at the time we had like Hanoi Rocks, Lords Of The New Church and punk crossed over like the Damned and UK Subs. Had you guys played the Marquee over here it would have been the thing of legend.
Not really. We did a couple of tours of the States in 82 & 83, played with the Lords of the New Church, in fact, but 84 was spent in L.A. trying to get a deal and by 85 I was too strung out to go anywhere. That would’ve been really cool to go over there.
Looking at America from this side of the pond the coasts of America look different musically and had somebody played me your music without me knowing anything about where you came from I’d have said 100% East coast, how did you go down when you played the East coast? was there a buzz on the other side of the country considering you were at the top of the pile on the West coast.
It’s funny because on our tours we were more popular back East than we were at home. That’s why we did them. We had recorded two songs on THE BYO comp “Someone Got Their Head Kicked In” and people knew of us from that. “Pillbox” was on there. We were way more popular in New York than L.A. We were surprised anybody back there knew about us at all. By our second tour, they were treating us like Rockstars in NY. We didn’t start getting popular in L.A. until we got back from our second tour.
I just received a promo from a company and a band called the Cheats have covered ‘Pillbox’ as the second track on their new album haha
Wow, cool. Seems everyone loves that song.
I literally just got the email 10 minutes ago and when I opened it that got my attention
freaky (Jeff had to duck out for a while and I opened some emails I received whilst interviewing)
Why did you decide to write a book now, and was it something you have had on your mind for a while or was the seed sewn by someone else?
Someone else. I have a friend named Jeff Davis who has been bugging me to write a book for about 30 years. About 18 months ago my wife left me and Jeff said do it now. You’ve got time on your hands and you’re not getting any younger.
Was it something you found easy? Did your mind play tricks with you regarding dates places etc?
There was a little of that mind-playing tricks business, but not too much. I’ve got a really good memory. It wasn’t easy to get started. That’s why I didn’t do it for so long. I didn’t think I was disciplined enough. All I had ever written were songs and those take 20 minutes. I knew the book would take longer. When I started I would only write about an hour a week. I knew at that rate it would take forever. So I made myself write every day. After a while, I got into it and it went really fast after that.
Was there a ghostwriter involved at all?
No ghostwriter. All me.
Did you find it hard to revisit areas of the past? Judging by the title alone there must be some content from your past that most of us won’t begin to comprehend
I didn’t really find it hard that way at all. In fact, once I got going, I really enjoyed it.
I won’t dig into the bank Robbery and the federal inmate time I’ll save that for when I read the book. Saying that what goes through your mind when you got caught?
Well, to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I thought I would either make off with a bunch of money and have a big party or I would go down in a hail of bullets in a blaze of glory. I wasn’t too particular which. Getting caught and going to prison wasn’t in my plans.
How did you manage to kick H?
After many years and many different attempts, I think I was finally just sick of it. You have to really want to stop. Life is so much simpler without it. I think heroin definitely contributed to a lot of really bad decisions, cost me fortunes, limited my ability to do many things, led to a tainted reputation, played a major role in not being more successful musically. Sometimes writing about stuff like that it almost seemed like I was writing about a different person because some of it was so long ago.
Do you have many cuttings or did you keep diaries to reflect on?
I’ve never kept diaries. Luckily, I usually gave clippings, etc to whoever was my girlfriend at the time and they sort of archived them. They really didn’t help with the writing of the book, but they came in handy for illustrations, etc.
The book will contain many pictures, articles, ads, listing, all sorts of ephemera.
Do you still see or speak to the other Joneses?
There have been so many Joneses over the years. I keep in touch with a few. Some are dead. One, who I won’t name, was fired from the band about 40 years ago and still threatens me on Facebook.
Oh wow, holding onto a grudge for 40 years? man, pfew. I guess some live shows are out of the question then? As a result of writing the book is there any unfinished business?
Live shows aren’t necessarily out of the question. The main problem is geography. I’m about 300 miles north of L.A., so it’s hard to put anything together. The guy holding the grudge is angry because I “get all the money & credit” and without him I’d be nothing. Crazy, right? I don’t understand the unfinished business?
Just with regards to putting anything to rights after writing your life story. Like recording more music or playing the songs live. that was what I meant.Are there unfinished songs you think need to be completed that sort of thing. and if there was anyone you’d love to have recorded or worked with?
I don’t really have any plans for anything like that. I’m just kinda taking things as they come. I’m not a young man any more.
I do have a handful of songs I’ve written and never recorded. I would need to write some more. I’ve been talking to my good friend Pleasant Gehman about doing a record of duets. I’d like to do that.
cool I think there would be a market of fans who’d love to hear it.
I hope so. I think it would be really good.
Finally, I appreciate your time and taking up a chunk of it this evening but I want to ask about The Vice Principles album. How come there was only the one record? I think that album has some of the best work both of you have done and it still sounds fantastic. Was it only ever meant to be the one album? (The Vice Principles was a band Jeff put together with his Brother Scott.)
Well yes and no. Originally that record was gonna be a solo album for me. Then my brother and I decided to make it a band. We laid the plans up to and including recording the album and everything worked like clockwork. Then my brother and I disagreed about what to do next and it kinda fell apart. I’m proud of that record and it’s a miracle we were able to do it. We’re both used to being the creative force in our respective bands and there was just too much genius for one band. Ha! I’m also really proud of the record I did with Amanda Jones. I think that’s some of the best writing and playing I’ve ever done.
Awesome I’ve just had an email about who is pushing the records in Europe so I’ll try there for shipping to the UK, fingers crossed. Fingers crossed The book should be fine getting hold of in the UK. HoZac is a name I know. I can’t wait to get stuck into it and find out the you full story and I hope many others dig in as well.
Yeah, so make sure you tell everyone about the records and the book. This has been a real pleasure.
I’ve been a fan of your music since the 80s and with the internet, the world has become a smaller place and it’s always a pleasure, never a chore to meet (even virtually) people I admire and whose music has soundtracked even a small part of my life. Thank you.
Like I said, it was my pleasure. Thanks for appreciating what I do and taking the time to talk to me. Good luck with all you do and maybe our paths will cross again.
HoZac Books – ‘Guilty: My Life As A Member Of The Joneses, A Heroin Addict, A Bank Robber and a Federal Inmate’ by Jeff Drake
Coming across like a down-under Devitto era Buzzcocks meets AC/DC old Skool the Chats do anything other than getting Fucked on this their second offering of Aussie punk rock.
‘GET FUCKED’ opens with ‘6L GTR’, a takedown of a speed-crazed status-symbol driver – a critique piqued when Eamon spotted the titular license plate in an airport carpark. It’s an album that shows the band’s maturity from the off on this here 13 high-velocity punk tracks. To be fair they’ve hardly matured and started writing prog whilst playing a flute one-legged on a toadstool. This bad boy rips from start to finish, as they’d say down under. Lyrically it covers topics from panic attacks, junkies, prison breaks, the price of smokes, surf mafia, and being drunk in every pub in Brisbane amongst other heady big ticket topics.
There’s a rumor that Opener ‘6L GTR’ saw Eamon Sandwith nick a bit of Dave Lee Roth which was taken out of the tune after management got a knockback from Diamond Dave but hey ho them is the breaks they should have just done it and send double D the V sign with a sue us if you want letter. The non-PC album title came from a brainstorming session (imagine that one folks?) where Matt Boggis said imagine how funny it would be if kids go to the record store and ask for Get Fucked from the salesperson. Yeah pretty funny slinging it on yer Christmas list from your nan to pick up. But hey this isn’t Roxy Music or Genesis or some high-brow prog This is working-class Aussie punk rock yer Fuckers!
Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, thirteen songs. The first single and album opener down The Chats have got sharper and tighter that’s for sure and all that touring has paid off for sure. Most of the album is your usual Australian HC one and a half minutes of rage then boom! but there are a couple of tracks that tickle the four-minute mark which in itself is almost Maiden-esque pro in length rather than Ron Jeremy Length in the puns and goofiness stakes. so good on ’em for that.
‘Struck By Lightening’ is a warning to take cover in storms maybe go inside and put this on the earbuds – thundering along with a rapid verse with sloppy doo wap backing vocals and a cautionary tale. the solo is majestic to be fair as the song hammers along. ‘Boggo Breakout’ is punk as fuck from the vacant riff to the snotty vocals it’s another banger and benefits from volume and multiple plays. ‘Southport Superman’ is just a heads-down race to the finish line in true punk as fuck style. ‘Panic Attack’ is more restrained from the intro with a military slap on the snare and pluck on the bass before Josh joins in with his Shelly meets Diggle meets the Undertones wall of punk rock guitars lifts the song up.
The first of the long songs is the excellent ‘ The Price Of Smokes’ which is about the economic cost of living stuff where the band thrust the cost of living to the forefront. It’s a cool bass and drum intro where they lock in and take this baby to the bridge then drop her off gently. An excellent song that asks the important questions of the day. Sidestep from the heads down crank it up that had preceded it, (See I said The Chats had moved on and matured). Oh hang on ‘Dead On Site’ is a razor-sharp riff delivering exactly what The Chats fans are clamoring for. Punchy, full throttle, punk rock mixed with some fine Angus Young inspired old school solos – magical stuff!
‘Paid Late’ is a fine slice of Smash and Grab punk rock before the let’s go to the pub banger that is ‘I’ve Been Drunk In Every Pub In Brisbane’. If I’m honest this album has added elements of Rock and old-school hard rock, even when they speed up proceedings it’s a great crossover full of energy and street punk rock n roll. Their no longer on Smoko their running the gaff. There’s no acoustic ballad but there’s lots of loud guitars. I think one of my favourite tracks is ‘Emperor Of The Beach’ with its cock sure riff that tips the hat to the daddy of tone Steve Jones and is a thumper of a track. The band signs off this second album with the punky ‘Getting Better’ and so they are. God bless these noisy cunts from down under for they’ve taught this old dog a few tricks on this album and tightened up the loose ends of the debut and thrown in a few curve balls but above all delivered a fantastic record that I’m thoroughly enjoying
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