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COLOURSØUND – ‘COLOURSØUND’ (The Great North Western Recording Company)

COLOURSØUND – ‘COLOURSØUND’ (The Great North Western Recording Company)

COLOURSØUND is a project created by none other than Billy Duffy of The Cult and Mike Peters of The Alarm, who first recorded under the name COLOURSØUND in 1998 /1999 when both Duffy was on extended hiatus from the Cult and Peters was going through all sorts with the use of the Alarm name.

The project was unveiled with a set at the Legendary Gathering weekend in North Wales when along with Craig Adams and Johnny Donelly it still to this day rates as one of the highlights of any Gathering and I’ve seen every single on for the last 25 plus years. There was a demo CD ep first and then the album that I’m about to review containing a remastered version with a few added bits here and there I guess but listening to it on record is a real joy.  What essentially is the best Cult album the Cult never recorded. It might well have been the catalyst to Asbury regaining his Mojo and getting back with Duffy for Cult duty but that wasn’t until I’d managed to catch a whole bunch of shows from Coloursound in sweaty venues with plenty of volume and a handle on the new material. Revisiting this once again all these years later is cool and its lost none of that rawness and joie de vivre it had back then in the late ’90s. So much so that when I heard that under lockdown they had reconvened to record another album but this time its Duffy and Peters minus the talent of Adams and Garrett.

If I’m being honest Duffy brought out the best in Peters and maybe having that creative riff machine to bounce off Peters excelled and turned in a fantastic performance and it has to be said the same vice versa.  Duff plays some of his finest licks for many a year on this album and I have even imagined how it would sound if it were Astbury singing these songs would it have been a smash hit?  I believe it would have been but them is the breaks,  I’m glad we have this album now and the best-kept secret remains in all the participant’s resumes.

‘Under the Sun’ kicks off with a classic Duffy riff – loud – distorted – loud and with plenty of punch a fantastic album opener in anyone’s book. I remember attending a Coloursound weekend in North Wales where we were played the album in its glory and asked to pick which track should go where and I think I remember correctly everyone in that room had ‘Under The Sun’ as the opener.  Still to this day a corker. Considering the album is now twenty-one years old it sounds as fresh as a daisy and the remastering has given it a new lease of life.  The record sounds bigger than the CD ever did or at least that’s what my vain brain is telling me (sonically Speaking of course). Maybe changing the tracklist for the vinyl is a time consideration for vinyl or the original running order wasn’t what it should have been (can I collect my prize now?)

I have no clue as to who brought what to the table which must be a compliment to the band seeing as they are all capable fo being involved with some of my favourite songs with their respective bands but with the distance of not having played this in some time songs like ‘State Of Independence’ take me right back to those nights in the Barfly in London and squeezing into the back room with the psychedelic lighting and the melody rattling around my head for ages and loving that bridge.  One of the albums standout tracks on an album full of stand out tracks.

For the people who aren’t keen to jump on board with Peters and his day job songwriting need to check out ‘Heavy Rain’ and then give themselves a good shake. A fantastic, vibrant and pulverising song that builds and builds with a thunderous rhythm courtesy of Adams bass thump which enables Duffy to keep it simple sure it leans on The Cult formula on the chorus and the bass distortion before that solo is still fuckin’ awesome.

‘Alive’ still has the brooding drama before the punch and who doesn’t like a trademark pause before Duffy unleashes his trademark riff and I would say solo but he does that all over this one. Sounds awesome through my speakers sir. Even if it does seem weird with it ending side one after all this time.

‘Fade In Fade Out Fade Away’ opens side two and always was a great sing-along and again time hasn’t dulled the song at all. from the moment Adams bass enters as Duffy wanders across the fretboard this song was a live favourite and the remastering hasn’t killed any of that live feel when the drums kicks in.  Peters best vocal performance on the record hands down. The original long sold out versions came with a bonus single-sided lockdown re-recording of ‘FIFOFA’ but its never going to hit the heights of the original.

I’m happy for the rejig of the running order its breathed new life into songs like ‘For The Love Of’ which might have been overshadowed on the original running order (if that makes sense?) sometimes its nice to just put on your shit kickers and do it!

The album does chill for a bit with ‘A View From A Different Window’ I always liked the rhythm and the acoustic guitar fits in nicely. I’ve no clue why but it always reminded me of Bowie maybe from his Tin Machine project but I always loved this song. with only a couple of tracks left I guess it’s fair to say I love the fact that this record finally gets a vinyl release which it most certainly deserves.  The news that it will soon be joined by Coloursound two is a beautiful thing and I’m excited to hear what they’ve come up with a couple of decades later. Now if this virus would kindly fark off maybe just maybe we could accompany the release of Coloursound two with a live show or two that would be jolly nice please Gents.

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Buy COLOURSØUND Here

Author: Dom Daley

CHUBBY AND THE GANG SIGN TO PARTISAN RECORDS & release video

CHUBBY AND THE GANG SIGN TO PARTISAN RECORDS & release video

The good news just keeps coming for these city Herberts with the release of a new song ‘UNION DUES’ – LISTEN HERE

Their album ‘SPEED KILLS’ will be reissued on Nov 20th  Eagle-eyed viewers will clock famed West London venue Bush Hall in the video and the band are thrilled today to announce a live show there for May 15th 2021.

 

Fronted by local electrician Charlie Manning, Chubby and the Gang have been leading a pack of bands coming out of a new wave of British Hardcore. Underneath an unrelentingly fun concoction of hardcore, pub rock, doo wop, and blues, Speed Kills boasts songs of deep substance and political conscience with a precise sense of time and place. Produced by Jonah Falco of Fucked Up, it has also proved to be one of this year’s surprise critical hits.

 

The album was remastered for vinyl at West London’s Metropolis Studios. The standard edition will be available on yellow vinyl and include a cartoon sticker sheet. There will also be a limited-edition version that includes a black-and-white colour-in sleeve with crayons.

Chubby and the Gang will return with a new album in 2021 – more details on that coming shortly.

MOTÖRCAST PODCAST MINI SERIES & Ace Of Spades Box Set

MOTÖRCAST PODCAST MINI SERIES & Ace Of Spades Box Set

ANNOUNCE NEW MOTÖRCAST PODCAST MINI SERIES AS THEY CONTINUE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS SUBSCRIBE HERE

ACE OF SPADES
DELUXE ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS
AVAILABLE OCTOBER 30th
PRE ORDER HERE

WATCH HENRY ROLLINS UNBOX THE DELUXE ACE OF SPADES BOX SET HERE

Rock N’Roll renegades Motörhead continue the 40th anniversary celebrations of the dirtiest, meanest, toughest album of them all, Ace Of Spades, with a new podcast mini-series called Motörcast, telling stories from the recording studio, on the road, behind the scenes and of Motorhead’s phenomenal growth in popularity following the release of this seminal album.

Told through interviews with a selection of guests who were in the midst of the Motör-machine during 1980 and 1981, the Motörcast series will reveal all the tales, warts and all! The teaser trailer for the ‘Ace Of Spades’ Motörcast is available now on all podcast platforms here.

Episode one will go live next week, with subsequent episodes released every two weeks. Make sure you subscribe to the Motörcast series!

In addition to the previously announced expanded editions of ‘Ace Of Spades’ and the deluxe collectors box set, the album will also be released digitally in 360 Reality Audio – a new immersive music experience utilising Sony’s spatial audio technology that will let listeners hear this behemoth like never before. The 360 Reality Audio content will be available on Deezer and Tidal and can be enjoyed on any headphones and also on Amazon Music HD, playing on the Amazon Echo Studio. For additional details visit the 360 Reality Audio official website.

Spaghetty Town Circus

Spaghetty Town Circus

Mark your calendars!  October 22, 9 pm ET/6 PM PT, Spaghetty Town Records are having the live music streaming event of the year, and it’s FREE! Live performances from Criminal Kids, Pale Lips, Killer Hearts, Fast Eddy and Motosierra.  Hosted by the only person that replies to their emails, Sleazegrinder!

 

some of RPM Online favourite current rock and roll bands are heading to Town and we’ve cleared our diary -Will You?
RSVP Here

 

Diamond Dogs – ‘Too Much Is Always Better Than Not Enough’ (Wild Kingdom)

Diamond Dogs – ‘Too Much Is Always Better Than Not Enough’ (Wild Kingdom)

I think we’re up to reissue number sixty nine or something like that but I couldn’t care a less. When it’s the Diamond Dogs it’s all about the song and the Double D’s have ’em in spades.

Record label Wild Kingdom is re-releasing Diamond Dogs’ first 5 classic Long-Players (1993 – 2003). and including the singles and EPs from the same period.

Diamond Dogs were formed in 1991 in Katrineholm, Södermanland. From the very beginning hugely influenced by British Early 1970s R&B rock like Rod Stewart and The Faces, Frankie Miller, Dr. Feelgood, etc. and they are most unapologetic about that and so they shouldn’t be too.  When a band rocks up with an opener like ‘Charity Song’ and along with that huge swing, they have more horns than you can shake a big stick at, and before you know it whatever shitty day you were having will be transformed.

By the time the band made it to ‘Too Much Is Always Better Than Not Enough’  they’d changed personnel a bazillion times except for the lifers and integral members the Diamond Dogs built a formidable reputation for their live shows, with the charismatic singer Sulo, as well as The Duke of Honk and his organ (ooh er Mrs) The sound and style of gritty rock’n’roll was cast in stone. Sören ‘Sulo’ Karlsson also being the main songwriter, and Henrik ‘The Duke of Honk’ Widen serving as the group’s principal producer. as long as the quality of songs was being written the sound was going to be died in the fabric of the bands DNA. Former Oddball Stevie Klasson has the deft touch of a Keith Richards or a Ronnie Wood and could crash out a chord when he needed to like his old boss Mr. Thunders. Such is his quality and the fact the guy oozes it every time he picks up a guitar he was exactly what the Diamond Dogs stood for and then some and he really came into his own on this record.

This their third proper album ‘Too Much Is Always Better.. ..Than Not Enough’ showed they weren’t done yet, the album was released in 2002 (almost twenty years!),it opened some cool doors enabling the band to tour with the likes of The Cult, Nazareth, Ian Hunter, Hanoi Rocks, The Damned, The Quireboys, Dan Baird/Georgia Satellites, Sensational Alex Harvey Band to name a few.

‘Bound To Ravage’ was released as a single and its slide guitar-driven upbeat rocker was classic boogie-woogie. but the band weren’t just about the good times as they mixed it up with the slower more reflective rockers ‘Sad To Say I’m Sorry’ and the epic balladeering of ‘Somebody Else’s Lord’ with the swirling organ is a match for the Rod the Mod classic ‘I Would Rather Go Blind’ or the Stones ‘Get Your Ya Yas Out’ version of ‘Love In Vain’ and I kid you not when I say that. Then to follow it up with the wonderful ‘This Ones For My Lady’ shows that The Diamond Dogs had many strings to their bow and were experts when dealing with the precious tunes that were bestowed upon them. They step back into the beginnings of Rock and Roll with the 50s inspired swing of ‘Desperate Poetry’. Strangely this album is preserved with the same twelve tunes that made up the original release but somehow after all this time the wonderful tones of Stevie Klasson have somehow elevated it for me and his playing gives it the edge on the previous releases.  It might not have the bands best songs on it but as a complete album it’s exceptional.

Now had the Black Crowes continued on the trajectory of the first two and a bit albums I would hold them in the same esteem but alas they went all beardy Casey jones on us and fucked it up.  It always puzzled me how the Robinson brothers could fill large arenas and got people wetting their panties at the prospect of their reunion to play the money maker album but the real tunesmiths are here hiding in plain sight.  Ripping the shit out of rock and Roll and cooming up with top-notch album after top-notch album yet playing in local pubs.  Sometimes life does indeed give you lemons but if my words help one soul turn the way of The Diamond Dogs then I’d be happy and if you remember the band who dished this treat of an album up almost twenty years ago and want the chance to hear it on vinyl – well this is your chance because Too Much Diamond Dogs is never enough just buy it!

Buy it Here

Author: Dom Daley

The Factory – ‘The Factory’ (Acetate Records)

The Factory – ‘The Factory’ (Acetate Records)

I had the pleasure of reviewing the original unearthed Sleazy glam rock n rollers many years ago after these tapes had been unearthed and dusted down from the bowels of some DC studio. Sure there is a healthy mid to late ’70s Stones going on but these cats did a great line in sleazy Rock and roll not a million miles from the Lords and Hanoi as well as a few another top tier Punk n Rollers.

I’ll confess to not playing this CD for a while and when this cropped up with bonus songs I gave it another spin and wondered why the hell I’ve not pulled this out from time to time to go for a spin. Songs like ‘True Romance’ were a match for early Dogs D’Amour and the Lords meets Hanoi jonesing on the Mid to late ’70s Stones still sounds exciting.

The Factory burned like a roman candle, then disappeared into the night. The Washington D.C. opened for Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Public Image, Ltd. and Johnny Thunders, in the late ’80s and gained a lot of fans.

Led by Vance Bockis it was Unfortunate that outside influences got the best of them and The Factory broke up in 1992 without formally releasing anything more than a track on a compilation LP. Until this that is. To be fair ‘Ecstacy’ is perfect Lords meets Hanoi from that James jangle crossed with the saxophone its a great tune.

Growing up in DC, Acetate Records president Rick Ballard was a fan of the band and he held on to their demo for the last 20 years. He recently found the band online and immediately contacted them to discuss a release – the master tapes were located, cleaned up and mastered.

‘That Girl That I Want’ is a belter.  Pure sleazy Punk n roll with some top horn honking over a great Thunders like rolling riff.  The band gets a little funky on ‘Love To Dance’ which could have easily fallen off The Second Lords Album But the band really excels when they cut loose and just strut their stuff.  The last two tracks being excellent cases to ram home my point especially ‘Six Feet Down’ with its dirty riff but it ain’t over quite yet as the bonus material that’s been unearthed is a trio of live tracks kicking off with a belting take on the Dolls classic ‘Chatterbox’ when a band gets it they just get it and effortlessly sizzle. ‘Sweet Jane’ is the perfect LES anthem for these DC rockers to pour into the speakers and a jolly fine job they do of it as well. Then to wind it all up they throw in a live rendition of their own ‘Misfortunate Son’ wrapping up a really awesome thirteen.  If any of the bands I’ve mentioned in the same company as The Factory then you should down tools and clock in and give this long lost band a new lease of life and this really impressive record a second chance.  You know what to do kids…I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Buy it!

Bandcamp

 

THE RETURN OF THE FUTURAMA FESTIVAL – EASTER 2021

THE RETURN OF THE FUTURAMA FESTIVAL – EASTER 2021

  A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES

THE LEGENDARY 2-DAY POST-PUNK FESTIVAL RETURNS TO LIVERPOOL APRIL 3-4, 2021

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT CONFIRMED TO PERFORM JOY DIVISION’S SET FROM FUTURAMA 1979!

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM SEE TICKETS HERE:

Website

Futurama, the legendary post-punk festival is back after 40 years and takes place at the Invisible Wind factory / Make Arts Centre and Ten Streets Social in Liverpool over two days, 3rd and 4th of April 2021.

The Futuramas were a series of ground-breaking and innovative post punk and electronic music festivals in the late 70’s and early 80’s. They were the brainchild of one-man, John Keenan, a legendary Leeds promoter who has put thousands of bands on over 40 years at his famous F Club. In 1979, he decided to do a 2-day festival at the Queens Hall in Leeds and put on all of his favourite up and coming bands and curated the first alternative indoor festival in Britain. Nearly all of Britain’s most important and influential independent bands played these festivals and many of them went onto considerable success in Britain, Europe, and the US. The roll call reads like the greatest who’s who of alternative music and they include Joy Division and New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, PiL, Killing Joke, Teardrop Explodes, Bauhaus, The Fall, The Smiths, Gang of Four, Sisters of Mercy, Theatre Of Hate, The Psychedelic Furs & even a fledgling U2. The Futurama festivals caught the zeitgeist perfectly and not only put on many female fronted bands, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Young Marble Giants, Bow Wow Wow & Altered Images, but also many of the new wave of electronic & synthesizer acts including Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, OMD, Simple Minds, Clock DVA & Vice Versa who later became ABC.

The post-punk era still casts an enormous influential shadow over contemporary music, making the timing perfect for the festival to return, combining both legendary acts from the festival’s history with the absolute best in up-and-coming talent.

pic by William Ellis – www.william-ellis.com

Bringing Futurama full circle, Peter Hook & The Light are confirmed to perform Joy Division’s set from Futurama 1979 in full, promising to be an absolute thrill for fans of the iconic band.

“Futurama was one the first festival experiences I ever had,” remembers bassist Peter Hook. “John Keenan the promoter became a lifelong friend. He was one of the first legends. The gig was the first time I’d ever seen caravans used as dressing rooms indoors, but it had a great atmosphere. It really put Joy Division on the map and the groups on the bill were very well matched to the audience. There weren’t many indoor festivals prior to Futurama so it was quite ground-breaking for the genre in the north. Funnily enough it gets talked about a lot even now. John became a legend and, in many ways, so has the festival. Let’s hope we can capture that wonderful atmosphere again.”

Also linking the festival’s history are Kirk Brandon’s Theatre Of Hate who will be celebrating their 40th anniversary of playing Futurama 3 in 1981, returning in 2021.

With a headliner still to be announced, these iconic acts join a host of bands from the many different strains and spectrums of alternative music, with respected website Louder Than War hosting the main stage on one day, and the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll and punk magazine Vive Le Rock the other day, whilst The AF Gang (the IDLES legendary fan club) host the up and coming stage.

There are 4 stages at the Futurama.

Invisible Wind Factory Main Stage: Headline acts and supports

Substation Downstairs in IWF: Electronic, synth and experimental noise

Make Arts Centre: Some of the best new and vintage post punk bands on the circuit

Ten Street Social: The AF Gang hosts the up and coming stage plus DJ sets

Other acts confirmed to appear include Warmduscher, The Chameleons, The Blinders, The Lovely Eggs, Spizz Energi, Imperial Wax, Just Mustard, Membranes, Evil Blizzard, Sink Ya Teeth, John, Heavy Lungs, We Are Not Devo, DSM IV, Bob Vylan, Billy NoMates, Witch Fever, Tokky Horror, Pozi, Crows, St Agnes, LibraLibra, Courting, Crawlers and Joe & Shitboys, with many more to be announced.

Tickets are Early Bird £80 for the weekend from See Tickets HERE:

£20 deposit scheme and four payments scheme in place

For more info head to: futuramafestival.com

Cabbage – ‘Amanita Pantherina’ (Brassica Records)

Cabbage – ‘Amanita Pantherina’ (Brassica Records)

Oddly enough this is the second record I’ve reviewed recently based around mushrooms or fungus how weird?  To be honest I didn’t have a scooby what ‘Amanita Pantherina’ was all about and I’m still none the wiser other than I wouldn’t want to ingest any.

Those boys from the North West or Mossley to be precise are back and this time they have sneaked under the radar without any big splash or fanfare and slung a post-punk, post indie post-pop whatever you want to label it record. Maybe wearing a cap fitted by the likes of The Fall or super Furry Animals and a whole lot more besides Cabbage simply write top tunes with wit, humour, clever, abrasive political lyrics and a whole bunch of suss and cool thrown in for good measure.

Live they are a joy a heaving mass of exactly what a live band should sound like and effortlessly hitting the spot with a beautiful noise. I’m not sure if this is the difficult second album or the third joyful cutting loose and experimental one that’ll fuck with you.  Either way its Cabbage doing what Cabbage do best – Just getting on with it.  Writing tunes that flow (even if they don’t) and subtle earworms that burrow in and hatch over time.  The laid back acoustic strum of ‘Hatred’ sits uncomfortably next to throb of ‘Medicine’ with its menacing bass thump and jarring chiming guitar chords its all good stuff mixed in with the 80s inspired key stabs and weird sample noises jumping out of my speakers.

The album’s opener is a right to do entitled ‘Leon the Pig Farmer’ with its rapid racket of guitars thundering along whilst they follow it up with a tune that already sounds like Cabbage if they have a particular sound that is.

Cabbage manages to mix bands who propped up scenes like Madchester maybe a Black Grape with some DK’s or Killing Joke and some PIL for sure just listen to the roar on ‘Once Upon A Time In The North’ its abrasive and dark but always engaging.

‘I Was A Teenage Insect’ God knows?  I don’t but the keyboards are 70s pop mixed with some alternative from the post-punk fall out maybe this ones calling for a keytar when we get back to live shows it could be Abba on acid Marc Almond would approve of these shenanigans as would Marc Bolan if he were still here. ‘Direct-Dictate’ is a twisted Glam Rock riff twisted into a dreamy pop melody.  Head well and truly fucked!

‘Piles Of Smiles’ might be the one that inspired the album artwork and album title. Which only leaves ‘Terminates Here’ to slow dance us out of this one.   A gentle exit if ever there was one, so far from the album opener yet as the album winds and twists through each track its the logical conclusion to a hugely impressive album.

Don’t store this in a dark place let the dim light of fame shine upon these loons and maybe just maybe the kids will all want to play guitars and write loud songs.  The future can be theirs even with a name like Cabbage!  Fuckin’ nutters.

Buy ‘Amanita Pantherina’ Here

Author: Dom Daley

The Wildhearts – ‘30 Year Itch’ (Round Records)

The Wildhearts – ‘30 Year Itch’ (Round Records)

If 2019 was the year the music world once again woke up to The Wildhearts, then 2020 really should have been the year that they cemented their position as the very best seven-legged live band the UK has to offer.

 

Luckily for me The Wildhearts were one of the last bands I got to see live before the world was consumed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and now when I think back to that amazing Friday night headline slot at Butlin’s Punk & Alternative Weekend – where playing to a largely partisan audience they made so many new friends – I take one look at the track listing of ’30 Year Itch’ (the band’s soon to be released double live album) and I must admit I can’t help get a little robot chubby on at the prospect of hearing the band delivering the goods once again…albeit right here in my living room.

 

Consisting of 17 tracks spanning the length and breadth of the band’s (almost) three-decade long career – and thankfully avoiding some of the perhaps more obvious tracks – this album was recorded across both The Renaissance Men and Diagnosis tours undertaken by the band in 2019 and achieves what every great live album sets out to achieve by making you feel like you are right back in the audience stage front and centre (don’t worry though as other crowd positions are available if the pit is a bit too rough for you). Plus choosing to work once again with the wizard that is Dave Draper really does add plenty of sonic salt ‘n’ shake to proceedings, making this one of the most remarkable sounding live albums I’ve heard since Exit_International’s ‘Live At Le Pub’.  Anyone spot the connection?

 

From the furry boxing glove opener that is ‘Dislocated’ through to the set closing – best song ever with a music video filmed on a flatbed truck – ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’ there is hardly a second to catch your breath as riff after motherfucking riff hit you from every direction, and whilst ‘Let ‘Em Go’ might not be in my list of all-time favourite Wildhearts’ songs it’s impossible not to be swept along in the moment and I suddenly find myself singing along at the top of my voice.

 

Highlights? Well hearing the likes of the sublimely brutal ‘Urge’ and err anthemic ‘Anthem’ live is most welcome in my house, whilst the huge singalongs that are ‘Sick Of Drugs’ and ‘Vanilla Radio’ are just designed to have you bouncing down the street when you plug this sucker into your in-car stereo system.  Of the deeper cuts aired here ‘The Revolution Will Be Televised’ and ‘The Jackson Whites’ perfectly capture the band’s latter years, whilst in ‘Diagnosis’ (which seems to be  everyone’s favourite song from 2019’s ‘Renaissance Men’ album) the guys have written perhaps their most ‘Earth V’s’ era sounding song in many a long year, and thus perhaps unintentionally brings them sonically full circle.

 

Whatever you may think about this point though in this current rich vein of form The Wildhearts really are a 30-year itch you can’t help but scratch, and what more, if you were lucky enough to pre-order this bad boy from the band’s website you should have also have received a bonus 4 track CD of tracks not included on the album including a blistering ‘Top Of The World’ plus a pogotastic ‘Shame On You’ before ‘Nothing Changes But The Shoes’ and ‘My Baby Is A Headfuck’ sends yours truly ambling off down memory lane via two tracks that still sound as awesome as they did when they first got me into The Wildhearts all those years ago.

 

‘30 Year Itch’ is truly amazing stuff! Make sure you are in on the celebrations when the double album goes back on sale via the band’s website soon.

Buy ’30 Year Itch’ Here

Author: Johnny Hayward

The Spitfires – ‘Live At The Pic’ (YeahRight! Records)

The Spitfires – ‘Live At The Pic’ (YeahRight! Records)

Anyone who was in the Rock and Roll trenches in the nineties and naughties looking for a fix of high octane well before Action Rock or Scandi rock or Garage Rock or Punk n Roll were used as descriptive words there were pockets of musicians all over the globe rocking hard from the Humpers, New Bomb Turks and D Generation to Glucifer and The Hellacopters. The Dragons and Electric Frankenstein as well as a whole bunch of others I could list.  Well, there was a whole scene in Canada too knocking out some top quality rock and roll from the likes of The Black Halos and the Parias to the Spitfires.

Well, it would seem there was about a decade of full-tilt life in most of these bands and that old adage of its better to burn out than fade away was certainly accurate. The CDs were fairly difficult to find before Discogs and Amazon and the records even harder to locate.  the one place these bands would excel was live (if you were lucky enough to catch them) but lots of them had the sense to showcase what they were all about with some quality live recordings. This is why we’re gathered here today to celebrate The Spitfires as ‘Live At The Pic’ sees the light of day finally after being recorded almost twenty years ago in Vancouver.

Mixing the attitude of the Pistols and other punks they had the guitar chops of a dirty AC/DC and I’m sure if you were to thumb through their collective record collection they would have owned the Thin Lizzys, Stooges, Alice Cooper, and Damned records you need to consume to get this music.

 

Opening with ‘High Test Sucka’ from their debut was a snotty enough opener that prepares you for the sonic assault of ‘Bringing Me Down’ that’s got a stinkin’ attitude and they really captured the magic here before kicking the shit out of ‘Alone’ lifted from the band’s third album, ‘Three’.  An absolute belter of a song from the gang vocals they really captured the energy and power on this recording and the show just soars from here with blistering renditions of ‘Drop Kick Me Jesus’ and the rock star riff of ‘Over The Edge’. Every inch a match for the likes of Gluecifer who must have been brothers from different mothers and you can tell they had by this point become a well oiled live machine.

 

For a few quid, you can pick up the Bandcamp digital or go the full hog and pick up the record from yeah Right! and I’m sure this record deserves to be heard on vinyl and played loudly it sure as hell was recorded loudly.  Its records like this that are making me pine for a live show. Hell, there’s even enough time to shoehorn in a flawless ‘Muscle Of Love’ that the Coop would be proud of.

Whilst we wait for venues to open back up and bands to get back out there let’s show some love for the bands that killed it night after night and managed to capture that magic with a live recording that has stood the test of time.  The Spitfires ‘Live At The Pic’ is one of those rare nuggets of gold that get found from time to time and maybe with some distance in the rearview mirror more people will appreciate how damn good a band they were.

Buy the record Here

Purchase a digital copy directly from the band Here

Author: Dom Daley