US punks Bad Religion head to the UK next week for a quick headline tour tickets are still available from badreligion.com
6/3/2022 Bad Religion London O2 Forum Kentish Town
6/4/2022 Bad Religion Manchester Academy One
6/5/2022 Bad Religion Newcastle University
6/7/2022 Bad Religion Nottingham Rock City
6/8/2022 Bad Religion Bristol Marble Factory
Been looking for a band to fill the void since Slayer called it a day? Look no further! After a fifteen-year hiatus, Indianapolis-based thrashers Demiricous have returned with a fucking monster of a metal album. Yes, that’s right, a METAL album. This is as metal as it gets, one minute it’s bouncing from Testament and Slayer-tinged riffage, and the next we are blasted with Biohazard-style gang vocals. The band is as tight as the proverbial duck’s backside, double bass drums aplenty, fast parts, slow parts, huge riffs, fantastic, clear as a bell production values, and memorable songs make for a hugely enjoyable listen.
Demiricous III opens with an apocalyptic piano intro, before Unconditional Hate slams into action with some Gary Holt style whammy bar acrobatics. The track is a good indicator of what’s to come. Terminal Future sounds like Seasons in the Abyss era Slayer with its crunching riffs and pummeling drums. The single Smoke Chaser is a master class in metal, think of Machine Head, Sepultura, Prong, Slayer, Testament, and Exodus giving birth to a bastardised offspring and you’re somewhere close. Superb stuff! I was pulling that metal face while listening, you know the one, where your eyes roll up into your head and you start gurning? We’ve all done it…haven’t we? Haha!
‘The Follow‘ starts off with stabbing riffs and cymbal chokes before more full-on thrash kicks its way out of the speakers. Fuck the Fire settles into more of a double bass groove, this is the track that gives me the Slayer vibes more than any other, love it! ‘Chaotic Lethal‘ delves into more of a black metal style, while the brilliantly titled ‘Merciless Slut Cult’ starts with a sample of someone telling how much he hates people before we are back into breakneck speed thrashing, some Fear Factory style staccato riffing and double kick that gets your head banging. ‘Choke’ offers up more crunch than a share bag of Doritos, and the album closes with the epic nine-minute ‘Faith Crime’ which has more twists and turns than a go on the Waltzers at Barry Island.
A superb album from start to finish with amazing performances from every band member. It’s so refreshing to hear that there are bands that can take over from the old guards that are diminishing slowly but surely. Now, go and buy this, turn it up and piss off your neighbours like real metal fans are supposed to do!
Buy Here
Author: Kenny Kendrick
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/demiricous
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demiricous_official/
Bandcamp: https://demiricousofficial.bandcamp.com/
From a long list of sleazy punk n rollers LJ & The Sleeze rocks up to RPM HQ with their Bandcamp release ‘Stay Sleezy’. ITs down in the gutter rolling around with the Jabbers, The Stooges, and all things proto-punk. I’m guessing from the spelling they want to rattle the most fastidious punk rock police officers who patrol social media and beyond this here internet and will then produce the middle finger at any response.
This Virginia troupe gets things off to a one-fingered piano drill and distorted twelve-bar riff with those Steve Jones fills to accent the end of the bar – then hold it all together with a rock-solid beat and root note bass thump. Hey, chuck in a breakdown and floor tom fill for good measure and away we go. OH, let’s not forget the “don’t give a fuck” lyrics which happen to be repeating the song title over and over and over again. Maybe these punks really don’t give a fuck!
Follow that with a twist on the Beastie Boys ‘Fight For The Right’ and if you’re not hooked then move on mother fucker, Me, I’m in. Slurred vocals on ‘Closing Out The Bar’ and boy this is Sleezy stuff. Loud, in-your-face punk n roll for sure.
We shift through the gears as ‘I’m Bad’ revs its engine and we’re off. I’m liking this – I’m liking this a lot. ‘Small Dick & No Brain’ is a shambolic intro that’s holding on by a thread and that’s as it should be.
Many of these tracks first appeared on the band’s ‘Keeping It Sleezy’ but this is a much-improved version from the recording production to the tightness of the songs. These arrangements are the mutt’s nuts. If ‘Trouble Is A Ladies Man’ doesn’t get the blood pumping then I don’t know what will. It won’t be the best album you’ll hear this year but it might be the most un PC and sleezy for sure. ‘Aliens Exist’ is punk as fuck and clocking in at sub-one minute it’s a belter.
In another time ‘Cocaine’ could have been an L7 number or Betty Blowtorch no doubt about it. I won’t ask what ‘Ripping A Jizz’ is about but it’s got style and plenty of grunt going on but they do use the lyric “Blow me like a harmonica”. ‘Cheri Love Affair’ is a fine love song and is delivered with attitude. Before the band signs off they deliver a solid one-two-three – ‘Live Fast Die Whenever’, ‘Night Time Whenever’ and ‘2 Stoned To Bone’ a trio that encapsulates everything the band is trying to achieve and they do it in style.
Get on this you punks and fill up on the sleeze. Who knows they might learn some new riffs and a solo or two then come back with more tales of depravity and life in the fast lane or they might just get high and drunk or both then crash and burn! until then ‘Stay Sleezy’
Bandcamp Buy Here
Author: Dom Daley
SINGLE LAUNCH SHOW LONDON WATER RATS MAY 20TH THIS FRIDAY! TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE: The Duel and Seven Days and Doesn’t Die are along for the ride!
New Zealand born, London-based rockers Desperate Measures follow their mini-album ‘Rinsed’ on Easy Action Records and a full UK tour with Paul Cook’s post-Pistols rockers The Professionals at the end of last year, with a brand-new single today titled ‘Thinking Of England.’
Recorded once again with Andy Brook (who has produced, engineered, and toured with the like of Status Quo, Ginger Wildheart, Wonk Unit, Hayseed Dixie…) at The Brook Studios in Wallington, Surrey, ‘Thinking Of England’ is the first glimpse of Desperate Measures’ debut full-length album due early 2023.
‘Thinking Of England’ is a high-energy, charging power-pop eruption that guitarist Michael Gaffney says is “about leaving a bad situation, whether it be physically or mentally, trying to find light at the end of the tunnel and staying hopeful, realising that you might be fucked now, but it’s not always going to be that way.”
Originally due to be just an EP, then two EPs (‘Vol. 1’ and ‘Vol. B’, naturally), then something called COVID happened and the band realised that, given the extra time to finish it off, they had actually made an album; argument still rages as to whether this was on purpose mind, however, an album it is and a bouncy, upbeat, positive one at that. No covid lockdown blues in evidence here folks.
Now, anyone who caught these people supporting the likes of The Wildhearts, Vibrators, and Splodgenessabounds will know what to expect and clearly playing with some of the bands that have inspired and shaped how they sound no doubt.
Right from the off these thirteen tracks lay their cards on the table. Loud upbeat guitars, often pounding rhythm sections and melodic vocals are the order of the day.
The album includes previously released singles, (‘Brother‘, ‘Reboot Me‘ and ‘I’m Sorry Indy‘) as well as the further ten new tracks, classing these as Nerd punk is a bit harsh but it is harmonic and at times self-deprecating, they also throw in some ska-punk and every song is epic sounding with a different story to tell. ‘Reboot Me’ is straight from the DIY Wildhearts old-school rock-school. opener ‘For Harambe’ begins with some gang vocals and a bit piraty but once it gets going proper it’s got that gargling bass and some loud drumming happening.
‘Sausagefest The Musical!’ might go against everything I’ve already said and nerd jokey titles spring to mind but hey ho. ‘I’m Sorry Indy’ is a thrasher, causing a circle pit of its own. ‘There’s A Reason’ is something of a ballad but in a piraty way and the vocals are a bit piss takey but they sound like they’re good with that and having fun.
‘Snakebite’ is back on track as it goes for the jugular. ‘Beano’ is the ska jangle in the first verse but it quickly grinds before heading back to the skank. Is the Beano a bit shit though? Didn’t even know it was still a going concern. They even have a song about ‘Rosie & Jim’ The ragdolls on a boat? Ding Dong heads gone me thinks. Me or them I’m not sure.
They clock off with the ‘Ballad Of Colin Dent’ which isn’t a ballad at all. Confused you will be.
The Melbies will play a special album release show on 29th May at the New Cross Inn in London.
To pre order ‘Song for Harambe (Vol. I)’ CD please go to: https://themelbies.bandcamp.com/
To pre save ‘Song for Harambe (Vol. I)’ digitally please go to https://linktr.ee/TheMelbies
Author: Dom Daley
WooHoo! A brand new set of recordings courtesy of JJ & The Real Jerks had this scribe jumping for joy and when they featured on the Rock and Roll Manifesto single EP that got released a while back I was delighted only to find out this long player was in the works. This crazy rock we live on kinda reverting back to some sort of happy place after all the turmoil of the past few years.
It’s simple, I love loud guitars, and can’t get enough of ’em especially when they come wrapped in excellent melodies and arrangments that ooze class then all squeezed onto plastic that we can spin to our hearts content. Welcome to the world where JJ & The Real Jerks are that band.
A tonne of Energy, Saxophone, Electric Guitars, bass and drums all chewed up and captured with understanding and love for what they do. It’s a time-honored format – nothing too complicated. Tip the hat to the good and the great that went before them and paved the way so some could follow. Drain a few beers get the vibe going and then kicked down the door and just rocked the fuck out.
‘Mess You Up’ begins with a rapid beat and thumping bass line then JJ enters the fray before we zoom off with a hack and slash slice of punk rock n roll old school. It’s got the right amount of energy and lip curling bubblegum chewing vocals – pouring out the lyrics that pick up the gauntlet and not so much run with it but blaze the path and keep the cycle of punk n roll turning. JJ & The Real Jerks do this as good if not better than most. Tunes? Hell yeah! ‘Dead In The Water’ is cool as fuck. Nothin’ groundbreaking but thats not their MO, they just wanna rock n roll to the best of their ability and leave a bunch of great tunes that rock like a bastard and the result my friends is a resounding Job Done! The chorus on ‘Dead In The Water’ is easy even if you’re wasted just so long as you’re not dead in the water you can join in. turn up the stereo and let it out..
‘Lost Souls Pub’ is a killer tune. JJ sings with such authority of course I’m gonna join you in the pub get the beers in I’m there and the sax punching in is awesome. My only complaint is there are only eight tracks on offer because I want more, more, more!
‘Ten Cent Beer Night’ continues the party. Then, the title track rolls in on some cool slide Geetar and a chilled backbeat before the fist-pumping gang vocals get involved. This is anthemic Rock n Roll kids but not in some cheesy way it’s the bastard sons of the Dolls and The Dictators and all those bands who cruised around knowing they were out of step with what was the ‘flavour of the month’ but did it because its what was in their soul, it’s all they knew. This is a bunch of tunes that deserve to be heard and those of us lucky enough to tune in and get it will have records to turn to forever just like the bands that helped shape JJ & The Real Jerks like The Humpers, The Dragons, sure some Johnny Thunders meets Hanoi meets Buzzcocks with a twist of X-Ray Spex and Supersuckers (at their evil powers best).
JJ & The Real Jerks understands what it takes to whip up some magical music and then get it pressed on wax. Hell, they close with the epic smoulderingly cool as fuck ‘Sinking Feeling’ which deserves to be heard so I’ll leave you with this – I know it’s only Rock n Roll baby but I love it! Welcome back JJ we’ve missed ya! Now people get out and buy this record it’s a Banger!
Buy Here
Author: Dom Daley
THE SPITS get their first two reissued on cassette tape – not just for Bob Carolgees fans
USA and PUERTO RICO: ORDER HERE
REST OF WORLD: ORDER HERE
Out of print for several years, finally repressed and set to kill, THE SPITS first two albums on one cassette tape!
Tracklist Side One: Dropout, SK8, Die Die Die, Black Kar, Saturday Nite, Remote Kontrol, Tired & Lonely, I H8 Pussies, Suzy’s Face, Tracklist Side Two:Spit Me Out, Black & Blue, PCT, Let Us Play Your Party, Rat Face, No Place To Live, Bring, Take Back The Alley, She Don’t Care
The SPITS have been playing on porches and in front of convenience stores since their early days in Michigan. It was when they moved to Seattle that they really refined their unique blend of ripped-off chord progressions and elementary school lyrics.
First up today we bring you the new video from Crows. After Johnny’s recent review the band have released a video for ‘Closer Still’.
It’s an exercise in pummeling noise-rock. One of several unapologetically political songs on the album, where single James Cox says, “‘Closer Still’ was written about the fit-for-work scandals that kept happening where the Department for Work & Pensions were deeming people fit for work when they obviously weren’t able to, taking away what little support they received from the state in an attempt to save on expenditure. It really highlighted our government’s contempt for the vulnerable. People whose daily lives were incredibly difficult.”
CROWS LINKS
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify
‘Mornington Avenue’ finds Marc Valentine team up with Matt Dangerfield, of THE BOYS and Rock n Roll legend. It’s the second single to be lifted from Valentine’s magnificent debut solo album ‘Future Obscure’. Valentine visits old haunts in Camden Town (ones that are still there that haven’t been gentrified quite yet) and reminisces about his roots at places like his old flat where he put his band together way back in ’89.
Some great use of vintage The Boys footage adds gravitas to the video which captures the sentiment of the song perfectly. Also some great appearances from Marc’s band on the album Steve Fielding, Denley Slade and Richard Davies (of Richard Davies & The Dissidents). ‘Future Obscure’ is available to pre-order here. Facebook
Joyce Manor have announced their 6th studio album, ’40 oz. To Fresno’, set for release on June 10th on Epitaph Records. New single ‘Gotta Let It Go’ clocks in at a massive one minute fifty-three seconds, but it packs a lot in.
Joyce Manor will also be touring with The Menzingers in the UK in October of this year. Enjoy!
With ‘Combat Rock’ getting the special edition treatment with unreleased tracks The Clash also get the 4K treatment on their classic ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’
Hi Geoff, welcome back to Wales.
“Thank you”
Have you got good memories of being in Wales?
“The first time we came to Wales was with Ronnie James Dio in 1984. I have a distinct memory of being in Cardiff on a day off, being in a nice hotel, and being in the bathtub. A fire alarm got set off by some of Dio’s crew members, this was a tour of pranksters. They thought it was great fun, I had to get out of the bath, go all the way downstairs in my bathrobe, go outside and stand in the street!”
Oh dear! Ha ha.
Queensryche played my favourite ever venue – Newport Centre a few times, I believe the last time was supporting Judas Priest on their Epitaph tour in 2011?
“That’s right, that was our last tour together”.
Did you keep busy during lockdown? Is there any more to come from Sweet Oblivion or have you recorded any more solo material?
“I’ve done all kinds of things, that’s all I did really was hang out in the studio, write stuff, yeah, primarily that’s all I did. I worked on the Sweet Oblivion album, the Avantasia album. I also wrote some music for two different projects of my own that will hopefully be launched sometime this year. Busy, busy y’know?”
Did you manage to keep your voice in shape?
“Well, it’s one thing to sing in the studio, it’s a whole different thing to sing live y’know? Starting back out live I had to work for a couple of weeks to get myself back on form again. Singing’s one of those things, that you just have to do, there’s no way around it. You have to power through it and do it. You just have to keep working at it.”
Why did you decide to play ‘Rage For Order’ in it’s entirety rather than say, ‘The Warning’?
“I love the album, absolutely love it. It’s my second favourite Queensryche album. My favourite is the last album we did together, Dedicated to Chaos, that’s the one I listen to the most.
What are your favourite songs to perform live from ‘Rage for Order’ and ‘Empire’?
“I love playing the whole albums. I tell the audience every night that it’s been on my bucket list to play Rage for Order, we never got to play it back in the day. We only played a couple of songs off the album, that’s kind of the curse of most albums, you never get to play everything y’know? You just get to play a couple of tracks because people wanna hear what they know. They are really into hearing what they are familiar with (laughs), some people are not musically adventurous. The best response you have from an audience when you’re playing your album or your songs is, you come out with a new album, you only play a couple of songs, the rest you play are oldies. Next year when you come back, they are starting to like and get used to those songs, it’s a cool dynamic”.
What are your memories about the recording of ‘Rage For Order’?
“The Rage For Order album was a really fun album to make from my perspective. We were working with Neil Kernon as a producer, and he was a wild man that we got to hang out with. One of the greatest personalities to be in the studio with, he could run with your idea, and he had such a vast technical background. At the time, I didn’t have much technical experience in the studio. I would say ‘I want my voice to do this, or I want this sound I’m making to do this’, he’d go ‘ok, I’ll just turn this up here, and oh!, let me plug this box in’ (laughs). He would always have a workaround on how to make it happen. He just came in with a jovial, happy personality, he was glad to be there and contribute, a really good ‘idea guy’. I loved working with him.
On the ‘Rage For Order’ tour, Queensryche supported the likes of Ratt, Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne. Did you ever feel pressured to play with other artists who were very different musically to you guys?
“We weren’t trying to sound like anybody, that whole idea of making bands conform to each other, that was later. We came in that great era when they put all kinds of different music together. We played with Jethro Tull (laughs), Roger Waters and the Psychedelic Furs. We also loved bands like Ratt, we had some great tours together, in fact we had a pretty intense bowling competition with those guys while on tour (laughs).
How do you juggle the touring and family life?
“It is what it is, my wife and I raised our kids on and off the road. They just grew up like that, they are used to travelling, eating in restaurants, being able to order a French meal (laughs). They have high expectations; they won’t go to a concert if they don’t have backstage passes y’know? (Laughs).
This week marks the 34th anniversary of your seminal album ‘Operation:Mindcrime’, how does that feel?
“It makes me feel old! (laughs) Most things make me feel old nowadays, it’s a strange time when you get into your sixties, you’re looking at all of this life that you’ve had. My grandkids are approaching their teenage years now. I’m doing shows, and everyone in the audience, has grey and white hair! (laughs) It’s just a really strange time, I don’t really see myself that way,as being an old fart, even though I am an old fart!”
Do you think that a concept album like Mindcrime would work in today’s environment with people’s poor attention spans?
“I don’t know..it was hard to get people to pay attention back in the eighties (laughs). That’s the thing about music, it’s a personal journey, music is a very personal thing for people. Some people are going to get it, some people aren’t. Some people hold music in a highly revenant regard in their lives, others don’t give a fuck”.
There’s a great line from the song Speak from the Mindcrime album: ‘The rich control the government, the media, the law’. Do you think that line is even more relevant in today’s society?
“I couldn’t even imagine the context of ‘rich’ in today’s situation with people being multi, multi billionaires y’know? (laughs) and then they don’t pay taxes, it seems incredibly wrong. A guy like Elon Musk, with a lot less that he paid for Twitter, he could eliminate hunger in the US for example. He could make a living wage for people, they could work and be paid a living wage which is enough to survive on, or at least live on. He could do so many wondrous things, but he buys a social media site, y’know? I can almost understand Jeff Bezos flying into space because they are looking for minerals and ways to mine that are not going to impact the earth”.
I must ask you about the Hear N Aid project back in 1984, how did you get involved?
“Ronnie James Dio called me, he said that was doing this thing and would I want to get involved in it. I absolutely said yes! I didn’t know what it was, or understand what it was, I just said yes, I’ll be there, just tell me what you want me to do. He sent me a cassette tape of the song Stars and a lyric sheet. A week later, I go down to LA and walked into A & M studios amidst this circus that was going on! There were so many people there, I was a very young man at the time, and I wasn’t used to that kind of situation where all of these very famous people that I looked up to and admired were all gathered together in this room. Many of them were sitting in the same room behind the glass listening to me sing my part which I didn’t know very well (laughs). It was very intimidating! It was a cool moment in time and Ronnie and Wendy (Dio) had great intentions and put their heart and soul into it. They brought together so many different people to participate, it was amazing. Especially as we didn’t have any social media or cell phones back then. I don’t know how they even got hold of all those people! (laughs).
You have a range of wine called Insania. Can we buy here in the UK?
“Normally yes, but everything is kinda messed up with the world transportation issues. If you’re in the UK you can order it from Germany, that’s where we make it, and they can send it to you. I need to find out if the Brexit thing will have an effect on the shipping too actually. Ironically, you can’t get it in the US (laughs) it’s because all of the ships are backloaded and delayed out a year. Thanks a lot Covid!”
You have another company called Backstage Travel, tell us about that. Is it back up and running? Fans can just book up and spend time with you eating and drinking?
“Yes, we just came on this tour from Tuscany, we did a weeklong trip with 32 people, and it was fun. If you like to travel, if you like to drink, if you like to eat great food, and if you like music, it’s a really fun trip to take y’know?”
What are your thoughts on the whole streaming debate?
“As long as they pay people fairly, then I’m all about it y’know? It’s one thing to make music and another thing to sell it, if you have an outlet that’s selling your stuff and you are being compensated fairly, then you’re way ahead of the game. It’s funny, the whole vinyl comeback thing, they’ve been saying that since the eighties, ‘vinyl’s coming back’ (laughs) I dug out my old turntable a while ago, and it was very expensive back in the day. I put a record on and, yep, still got that crackly thing going on!”
I was wondering if you have seen any of the classically trained vocal coaches on YouTube who spend a lot of time analysing one performance of yours, the Tokyo concert from 1984, and specifically, the song Take Hold of the Flame?
“I’ve not seen any of them, but someone has mentioned them to me. Is it a good laugh or what?
Ha ha, on the contrary, the coaches are in awe of your voice. I think they are of the opinion that heavy metal is just noise. They certainly change their opinion after watching the video!
“Oh wow, I’ll have to check that out! Sounds interesting.”
On behalf of RPM Online, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today, I’m looking forward to tonight’s show and I hope the rest of the tour goes well.
“My pleasure, me too, so far so good. And on days like this, it doesn’t get any better”.
Author: Kenny Kendrick
Having recently seen the band perform live supporting The Mission I spent a few days wondering where I’d seen them before (probably due to brain fog, age and the bands inactivity over the last few decades) and then it came flooding back. “Back in the day”, Salvation played that fateful evening of legend (in my house) supporting The Lords Of The New Church when Stiv wore that T Shirt and fired the band on stage. Anyway moving on some thirty years! (ah that brain fog) I find myself listening to this here live album and it sent memories flooding back from that fateful night. To be fair the songs sounded great when I saw them recently, even with the help of the rhythm section in a box it was a decent support on that Mission tour.
Songs like ‘Debris’ and ‘All And More’ sound great and sparked a flick through my record collection knowing I had at least one of their studio albums, and so it was, ‘Sass’ an album that is well represented here with ‘Paint It Rose’ having a great rolling Cult-like riff that leads this upbeat number.
This live recording captures a band that clearly loves the music they play, and to be fair, The songs have dated really well seeing as they’ve not been played for an age. From the opener ‘The Answer’, with it’s vibrant tempo. It’s something many bands, who to be fair, haven’t played a great deal over the past thirty years don’t quite capture. I’ve always liked that big overdriven guitar sound and having strong melodies always helps.
There are eleven tracks on this CD and a twelve-page booklet to accompany it. Sure fans of The Cult, Mission, and Sisters will be all over this and it’s a no-brainer if you caught any of the band’s recent shows some of these songs will be familiar anyway but Rock fans looking for a new “old band” who had a whole bunch of top tunes – dive in!
‘The Shining’ is a burst of energy before ‘Pearl Necklace’ then raises the bar. I’d love to hear what the band are currently creating studio-wise and see if they can still capture a sound that brings back such good memories. Finishing off with the vibrant ‘Why Lie?’ with its glugging bassline and rolling guitar lick it’s a great set ender.
Go seek Salvation in this live snapshot that contains some really good driven hard rock meets Goth that is delivered really well by a band who clearly still loves music.
Buy Here
Author: Dom Daley
Recent Comments