Admin

Total Post: 3524

A turbocharged Rock and Roll website.

The Professor and the Madman – Live at the 100 Club (Self Release)

The Professor and the Madman – Live at the 100 Club (Self Release)

The Professor and the Madman aren’t household names in the Punk Rock, Power Pop fraternity, although they should be. Not just because former Damned drummer Rat Scabies has played on all three of the band’s studio albums or for the latest “Disintegrate Me”.  Rat’s bass playing former colleague Paul Gray lends his considerable talent to it, but because the mainstays of Alfie Agnew and Sean Elliot have just as much Punk cred, having been in the likes of D.I. and The Adolescents and exuded more DIY ethos than both Wickes and B&Q combined.

The birth of this live album deserves a whole section dedicated it itself; publishing approval, Art(?) Work(??) copyright issues, Pressing problems and almost the final nail in the coffin PledgeMusic that had the band putting their hands in their own pockets to fulfill the orders, but enough of the back story let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of The Professor and the Mad Man live at the 100 Club album.

The album was recorded just over a year ago at, obviously, the legendary 100 Club in Oxford Street where Messers Gray and Scabies would be playing together live, something that they hadn’t done since July 1992 when the Damned were either departing or reforming. The twelve tracks that make up this 50 minute album span the bands 3 album career to date with “Peace Bombs” from the “Elixir II – Election” album leading straight into a cover of US Power Pop band 20/20’s “Nuclear Boy” and then “Nightmare” that had me thinking that the band have arranged the setlist as some sort of post-apocalyptic concept. It’s almost as if this live album should’ve been a studio one, no doubt to thanks to various Streaming Services it can be. Even the cover of Eddie and the Hot Rods “Quit This Town”, that features a guest appearance from former Hot Rods guitarist Graeme Douglas, lends weight to this. Either that or this is The Professor and the Mad Man’s stab at their own version of The Monkees “Head” soundtrack done live; brilliantly off the rails but bang on the money. The production is super well balanced; you can hear everybody and everything, no one is too loud or understated. The only thing missing is the crowd appreciation and reaction between songs, until “Quit This Town”, where it springs into life, before mysteriously receding into the background; I was at the gig and remember the crowd to have been on the lively, boisterous side with a lot more stories and antidotes between songs (Adam Ant) and I’m sure “Electroconvulsive Therapy” was the penultimate track and not, as on the CD, the last. Maybe that’s why it fades out?

Overall, it’s a great snapshot of something special that at the time was billed as “For One Night Only”. However, with Alfie, Sean, Paul and Rat working on new material I hope to see “A Welcome Return” sometime next year.

Author: Armitage Smith

Buy PATM Here 

Website | Artist Page | Facebook | Spotify |
YouTube | Instagram

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit C – Rock Video & Hard Rock Video magazine

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit C – Rock Video & Hard Rock Video magazine

 

It would have been hard to imagine, back in the mid-eighties, that a Dayglo explosion of music television that would forever change the way that people got their daily dose of hit music would be reduced, some three-and-a-half decades later, to the fingering of musty pages in salvaged vintage magazines; but that’s where we find ourselves as I prise open the doors to the music memorabilia section of the Pop Culture Schlock archive for the third of my monthly columns for RPM.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, rock and roll,” was how MTV introduced itself to the world, or parts of it at least, when it launched in the US at the start of August 1981. The first video played was, quite appropriately, ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ by The Buggles. Originally using Adult Orientated Rock radio as a template, this newfangled Church of the Cathode Ray, whose altar all with eyes and eyes would come to worship at, would, in three short years, transform into something more in keeping with a standard Top 40 radio station. This fusing of rock and pop, blurring the lines between the biggest chart hits and the heavier duty hard rock anthems, buoyed by Quiet Riot becoming the first heavy metal band to score a Number One album on the Billboard chart with 1983’s ‘Metal Health’, paved the way for a new publication, the existence of which is the very reason that I sit here on a sunny August morn with typing finger set to stun.

Starlog Press (later Starlog Group), publishers of classic magazines such as Fangoria, Future Life, and, of course, seminal science fiction magazine Starlog itself, saw a mullet-sized gap in the magazine market and launched Rock Video magazine in 1984 to cash in on the MTV boom. The first I ever heard of this new title was via a full-page advert in the blood-drenched pages of Fango – the David Lee Roth and Cyndi Lauper covers of issues 3 and 4 respectively offering a taste of this hip new mag, alongside an offer for a suitably tasteful T-shirt design. Typically, this American tome was harder to find in the UK than a Dodo beak necklace so it was some time until I finally managed to acquire some choice examples for my collection.

Issue 1 of Rock Video featured Duran Duran’s John Taylor as its cover star, was indicia-dated April 1984, and immediately pinned its rock and pop cross pollination flag to the mast. But this was nothing like the teeny bop magazines of the Seventies where hard rockers like KISS rubbed glossy paper shoulders with the likes of David Cassidy and Andy Gibb: Rock Video presented serious articles on the making of music videos, on long-form home video releases, and on the hardware responsible for the production of these ever-more-flamboyant video clips. Sure, the magazine included pull-out posters that covered both bases – The Police and Def Leppard; Thompson Twins and Scorpions; Duran Duran and Ozzy Osbourne – but even these pin-ups destined for the bedroom walls of teenage sanctuaries were backed with television set-shaped images from the band in question’s music video back catalogue. The Judas Priest example I have from Issue 7 is pure molten metal machismo backed with 4:3 analogue awesomeness.

Rock Video’s news pages – the “Video Lowdown” – featured production notes on upcoming music videos, details of new video-related soft- and hardware, teasers of future celebrity guest MTV veejays, and a healthy spattering of news on forthcoming tours and releases from artists both new and old. A more “grown-up” music magazine this certainly was: Lisa Robinson’s exclusive interview with Quiet Riot frontman, Kevin DuBrow, opened with a no-holds-barred question on the rumours that his onstage bottle of Jack was, in fact, filled with herb tea; agony uncle Doc Rock gave intelligent, well-informed answers to reader questions -“where did the term ‘Heavy Metal’ originate?” – on all manner of music-related subjects; and the video reviews pulled few punches – Sparks’ ‘With All My Might’, excellent; Billy Squier’s ‘Rock Me Tonight’, poor; Georgio Moroder’s ‘Reach Out’, awful.

Just flicking through the aforementioned Issue 7 that I have before me – Nick Rhodes cover, Judas Priest and The Go-Gos posters – offers a fine selection of page-turning articles. ‘Satanism and Rock Videos’ asked if Pseudo-Satanic Heavy Metal bands were responsible for the corruption of impressionable youths. The murder of Gary Lauwers earlier in 1984 by his friend, Ricky Kasso (the “Say You Love Satan” killer who became the bleak inspiration for songs by artists as diverse as Big Audio Dynamite, Faster Pussycat, and Wheatus), was the catalyst for the article – Kasso was wearing an AC/DC shirt when arrested and was a fan of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Ozzy – but it also questioned the “Satanic” intentions of Mötley Crüe, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Prince, and the “one true Satanist in rock,” Mick Jagger. The feature merely scratched at the surface of the controversial subject, but reading it instead of the usual record label-endorsed hyperbole is refreshing even now. Add to that a two-page spread on the making of Wendy O. Williams’ ‘It’s My Life’ video – “[people] are getting tired of being served pablum, they want some music with the teeth still left in it.” – and Phil Collins’ problems with the ‘Against All Odds’ video (shame) and you are in possession of potential game-changer of a music magazine.

Change is feared, though, right? After a brief dalliance with the Rock Video Idols name, the monthly magazine, in the Fall of 1985, rebooted itself as Hard Rock Video. “Yes!” I hear you cry as you raise a horned salute, Ronnie James Dio-style, to the Artex in celebration. It’s not hard to understand why: hard rock and heavy metal was HOT! This outsider art, the product and lifeblood of the wild, the weird, the warriors, was now the popular music of choice. Whether you complimented your teased hair with as little as a shark tooth earring or as large as a sawblade codpiece, you were a member of the high class clientele that frequented heavy metal parking lots and the top of the hit parade. Power ballads were the new hymns, the new Gods mixed animal print with leather. Not everyone got on board the crazy train, however…

As I flick through Issue 17 of Hard Rock Video magazine (Rob Halford/Angus Young cover), dated November 1985, it is clear in no uncertain terms that heavy metal/hard rock was the enfant terrible of the mid-eighties. “Ban Metal!” was a four-page article obviously inspired by the infamous PMRC witch hunt of the decade. W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest were all namechecked as expected, but, wait… Prince? Sheena Easton? Yes, while Hard Rock Video amped up the denim ‘n’ leather, the magazine still mixed the pop with the rock, albeit in a manner that simply pushed the latter to the forefront, as opposed to the opposite effect that the mag in its former guise executed. So, the Rick Springfield/Nikki Sixx cover of Issue 16 also featured cover stories on Wham, Marilyn, and Ultravox; Issue 17 backed AC/DC with Talking Heads on a poster, and followed a lengthy Rob Halford interview with a two-page introduction to Go West. The pop might have been mopped up in regular features like ‘The Flip Side’ – Thompson Twins, Madonna, Bryan Ferry, The Power Station, Sandra Bernhard, and Boy George making up the contents of Issue 17’s article – but it was still there, and still written about passionately.

A major Hard Rock Video shift was the content provided in the “Video Lowdown” news section. The pop/rock blurring of the lines was still prevalent – King Kobra alongside Sting, Madonna alongside Y&T – but the information was more of upcoming releases/tours than the video clip news of the not-so-distant past. A full colour feature on headbanging horror movies ran alongside a photo gallery of Boy George’s New York birthday party proving that the eclectic nature of the publication wasn’t washed away with the former name(s). Doc Rock was still prescribing excellent advice, and the video reviews were still telling it like it is/was – King’s ‘Love and Pride’, very good; Heart’s ‘What About Love’, fair; Night Ranger’s ‘Sentimental Street’, awful. A noticeable shift was the coverage of more hardcore/punk bands: a three-page Black Flag article featured in Issue 17, as did an introduction to Kraut (!), the hardcore band that got Pistol Steve Jones to play on their debut and whose guitarist, Doug Holland, would later play with the Cro-Mags.

The intelligent probing of musicians in interviews continued in Hard Rock Video, with a Scorpions interview subtitled “No Feminists in Germany!” having the German legends quizzed on their dubious album covers. The ‘Virgin Killer’ cover detailed the mental virginity of 11 or 12 year olds, apparently. A great four-page interview with Robbin Crosby from Ratt asked the question, “Why do you think MTV cut back on heavy metal?” and that, subtly, summed up the problems that the magazine had going forward. “They’re changing their format and they’re trying to please somebody,” Crosby replied, and that pretty much predicted the future of Hard Rock Magazine.

Music video became the norm. Pop metal became the pop music. Rock magazines became as common as the teeny bop magazines. A change of publisher came with another change of name; Rock Fever Superstars fashioning itself more on the original Rock Video model – Poison alongside Madonna on the cover; Duran Duran alongside Mötley Crüe; Beastie Boys alongside Bowie. It didn’t last, though, and soon the magazine went the way of music videos on MTV, deader than disco, robbed from its grave occasionally by heavy metal hoarders…

That a major publication was produced to detail things that lasted just over three minutes and were readily available in another, easier to access format may seem remarkable in an age when MTV exists on a diet of scripted “reality” shite, but exist it did… and the magazine world was a better place for it. In 2011 MTV launched a new channel named “MTV Music” – this basically means Music Television Music. I don’t think that the clowns who thought/think that was/is a good idea could even read a magazine…

I’ll be back next month with more Pop Culture Schlock: I might even dip a cowboy-booted toe into the murky waters of the notorious Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics…

Find Pop Culture Schlock 365 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

ElectraJets  Debut LP ‘Transatlantic Tales’ promoted With Live Shows in NYC and UK

ElectraJets  Debut LP ‘Transatlantic Tales’ promoted With Live Shows in NYC and UK

Jeff Ward (ex Gunfire Dance guitarist and author), and Cynthia Ross (of ‘B’ Girls and New York Junk fame) bring their band ElectraJets to Berlin NYC on Saturday, September 7th; and to the UK in early November to celebrate their critically acclaimed first vinyl release, Transatlantic Tales, on Tarbeach Records.

Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Lydia Lunch, Jon Spencer) is guesting on drums for the New York show along with Sarah Amina on violin and Danny Ray on sax.

Joining ElectraJets for their Record Release Party at Berlin are Beechwood and The Sweet Things. Both bands have recently returned from successful tours of Europe and the UK.

Accompanying ElectraJets on their UK dates are Brum garage rockers Black Bombers. The Bombers have recently released their second LP on Easy Action Records to uniformly excellent reviews. With Alan Byron on guitar and vocals (Horse Feathers), Dave Twist on drums (The Prefects/Jacobites/Filipinos), and ‘Rockin’ Ray Birch on bass and vocals (Walter Lure/Brian James Gang/Gunfire Dance), the Black Bombers boast an esteemed lineage.

Ozzie, (Gunfire Dance, UK WALDOS) is guesting with ElectraJets on drums in the UK.

Catch ElectraJets, Beechwood and The Sweet Things in New York City:

Saturday, September 7th at Berlin NYC

Catch ElectraJets and Black Bombers together for two special UK gigs:

Friday, November 8th at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham 

Saturday, November 9th, 2019 at The Unicorn in London 

 

Jeff Ward on vocals and guitar (Gunfire Dance, New York Junk), Cynthia Ross on bass, backing vocals and spoken word (The ‘B’ Girls, New York Junk, etc.), and  drummer Dahm Majuri-Cipolla (Phantom Family Halo, Mono) are ElectraJets.

Their debut LP Transatlantic Tales on TARBEACH RECORDS out fall 2019, while experimental in nature, has garnered praise from the most diehard trash ‘n’ rollers with Veglam declaring:

“ElectraJets Make Absolutely Epic Psychedelic Glam Masterpiece!” – veglam.com

 

 

“It’s a rocket through time and space, pulsating with an irresistible beat and likely to appeal to fans of Detroit protest music, Julian Cope’s Black Sheep and “Cut The Crap” busking. There’s something here for fans of Pretty Things or Blue Cheer, so beautiful it hurts Love & Rockets-style nocturnal pop, ’60s prog, ’70s glitter, Marc Bolan, Bowie and the Stones.”  – i94bar.com

 

The LP was recorded and engineered by noise guru Martin Bisi at BC Studio in New York City, produced and mixed by Jeff Ward, and mastered by Paul Gray in the UK.

Catch ElectraJets Transatlantic Tales live, on both sides of the Atlantic this fall.

ElectraJets – Facebook

Tarbeach Records 

“Demons” announce Japanese tour dates for 2020

“Demons” announce Japanese tour dates for 2020

“Demons” announce Japanese Tour dates for 2020 to promote their latest album ‘Kiss Off’. They hit the land of the rising sun in January to play four dates

10/1(Fri) QLUB QUE (Shimokitazawa, Tokyo)
11/1(Sat) STEAK & GIG SILVER BACK (Yokohama)
12/1(Sun) SHOJIMARU (Kanda, Tokyo)
13/1(Mon) HEAVEN’S DOOR (Sangenjaya, Tokyo)

 

You can pick up a copy of the new CD Here

Facebook

The Atom Age – Cry Til You Die (Tiger Dream Records)

The Atom Age – Cry Til You Die (Tiger Dream Records)

When you profess to have crawled from the depths of Surf garage punk Rock n Roll and then you get Blag to co-produce you, of course, we’re gonna be all over that like a cheap suit, yes sir. this being the band’s fourth album I have given myself extra homework because I’m disappointed with myself for not hearing these cats sooner –  going almost a decade, they’ve done well to hide their talents for so long. You naughty boys.

As soon as ‘Love Is A Numbers Game’ has finished slinking its hips out of the gate with some cool shakers and organ wheeze we’re off! the vocals are spat out in a Jim Jones kinda way.  Its gonna be a journey for sure, from the laid back cool it’s into the wild and reckless and back around again for a really impressive introduction to the Atom Age. ‘Cry Til You Die’ is up and running folks and its promising to be a wonderful surprise that’s just give, give, give.

‘We Disappear In The Night’ has got that surf reverb but a healthy dose of The Cramps being put through a pissed-off garage punk rock mixer and I like it – a lot! Oh, and another thing ‘Never Looking’ reminds me of Rocket From The Crypt sure that might be due to the surf guitar and dueling saxophone but I’m happy with that comparison and its the second single off the album and one that in a just world would do really well – damn its even got handclaps on it for fucks sake!

The songs hit you thick and fast and little rhythms or sequences jump out every listen from the Hives tempo-n-stomp on ‘Blink Twice’.  Damn, by the time we’re only halfway through this record I’m impressed from the first play right up to the umpteenth play the Organ stabs and saxophone tootin’ interplay on the first single ‘Walk Through Walls’ is infectious and bloody addictive. OK, so we’re onto side two already (time flys when you’re having this much fun)  and that garage Rock and Roll is taking hold ‘Bloodletting’ is cool then we’re into some groovy Rock and Roll with the excellent ‘Lost On Me’ where the howling loony blues distortion on those vocals work a treat.

These Oakland boys are taking us for a day down by the beach with the garage surf of ‘Bad Seeds’ is a wild ride into the raucous ‘When I Crawl Back’ which then leaves just one last hurrah and the bass throbbing ‘Nobody knows You (When You’re Blacking Out)’   and the curtain is brought down on a mighty fine record.  One I had no expectations for but I’m gonna shout from the rooftops using a loud hailer if you love rock and Roll with some horns and a bit of Organ and plenty of attitude ‘n’ rock and roll scuzz then get in here and fill yer fuckin boots ‘Cry Til You Die’ is a modern-day masterpiece of how to do the whole garage surf rock n roll thang and do it with as much cool as possible. Pick up your copy without delay its a banger (as the kids say)

Facebook

Buy ‘Cry Til You Die’ Here

Author: Dom Daley

 

 

 

 

 

HRH Goth is here. Full details of Goth Festival

HRH Goth is here. Full details of Goth Festival

HRH Goth featuring HRH Industrial Unearths Its Dark Take by Fan Demand as Early Bird Prices & Discounts Roll for 6 days Only Without Booking Fees! Hail HRH!!

When our HRH Legions pushed for an HRH Chapter of Goth & Industrial music, we set our algorithms rolling for 18 months to identify what this dark theatre of music would produce & evolve into, for this all-new HRH brand experience.

Taking a subculture like Goth which has spawned from offshoots of the post-punk and darkwave genres and mixing it with the abrasive and aggressive fusions of rock & electronic music known as industrial – we can start to envisage the scope & direction of a cleverly programmed musical journey that takes in both sub-genres.

HRH, which is Europe’s undisputed leader in residential music experiences has dug deep, continued to plot & plan from the elite affinity it enjoys with its fan base and is now proud to launch a non-stop roller coaster of goth and industrial music mashed together over 2 destinations.

The deeper we went, the more we felt that this was an under-serviced market, with multiple acts not seeing the dark masses of fans within the UK shores.

That stops NOW!

The line up is sealed as are the dates which will operate Reading / Leeds style between 2 venues over the same weekend. Mark it well, the 12th & 13th September 2020, sees the HRH Goth featuring HRH Industrial experience hit London at the 02 Kentish Forum as well as the 02 Academy Sheffield simultaneously.

The line up has been monitored, voted and curated from over 189K fans worldwide and at last, after 2 years of research we are happy to stage Chapter 1, in a format that hopefully does us all proud.

So the very first line-up of HRH Goth Featuring HRH Industrial is a true statement of intent.  Sporting triple headliners, HRH have listened to the HRH community and delivered – and then some…

Revered legends of gothic rock, Londoners Fields of the Nephilim are genuine pioneers of the genre – formed in 1984 they had indie chart success in the late ‘80s with tracks such as ‘Moonchild’ and ‘Psychonaut’. Barring a hiatus during the ‘90s, the band have been actively releasing new music and playing to a loyal fanbase ever since.

Considered pioneers of the goth metal movement, Bradford’s My Dying Bride were part of the “Peaceville Three” together with Anathema and Paradise Lost – their pedigree is therefore undisputed.  Since their inception in 1990, the band have released no fewer than 12 studio albums and bring their intense live show to HRH Goth at our twin venue event at London’s Kentish Town Forum and the O2 Academy in Sheffield.

International industrial band KMFDM are said to be one of the first to fuse heavy metal riffs and electronica and take the result to the masses.  Taking a highly political stance, KMFDM are sure to melt our faces at HRH Goth taking tracks from their 20 studio albums to date, and no doubt feature music from their upcoming album release “Paradise”.

If those legends of the genre weren’t enough, we are so pleased to announce Welsh wizard Jayce Lewis, post-punk dark-wavers from Brighton Grooving in Green, Sweden industrial metallers Rave the Reqviem, Portsmouth based electronic-punkers Seething Akira, industrial goth outfit Auger, gothic rockers Red Sun Revival, goth-electronica-punk-spacerock band The Webb, and new romantic industrial hybrids Massive Ego.

Completing the incredible line-up for September 2020 are metallers Sometime The Wolf, post-punk industrial St Lucifer, Londoners Drownd and London stoner-doom-goth merchants Cold in Berlin.

The Sheffield leg of HRH Goth Featuring HRH Industrial will be blessed with guest DJs spinning tunes in Room 2 – so keep your eyes peeled for who we have in store!

Both city destinations for HRH Goth Featuring HRH Industrial feature hotel packages in Standard and Royalty format, with the latter catering for everyone who likes all the extras such as seated balcony, private bar and toilets, security as well as discounted merch. If you are local and just need weekend passes, then once again there are Standard and Royalty options available.

We go on sale Wednesday 14th August at 11.00am GMT and for 6 days only, all Early Bird prices will apply with no booking fees and 20% discounts on weekend passes. London hotel packages will carry a 10% gross discount and Sheffield hotels 15% (which include weekend passes). These crazy rates as mentioned are for the next six days ONLY which finish at midnight on Monday 19th August when they shoot up considerably.

We’re reaching out around the world, for those who like to express themselves, immerse themselves in two highly credible genres of music and feel the energy when sharing it with people of a similar mindset.

This is your destination, your call, your escapism, come and feel the full Dark Wave of HRH in this brand new experience, which is on sale now.

Book online @ www.hrhgoth.com or if you need assistance ring Holly on 0207 193 1845

GHOST TO RELEASE PREQUELLE EXALTED LIMITED DELUXE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

GHOST TO RELEASE PREQUELLE EXALTED LIMITED DELUXE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

GRAMMY-winning Swedish rock band GHOST is known for special, limited edition items that have been tied to its various album releases – an 8-track edition of Ceremony & Devotion, and for Prequelle, a 7-inch die-cut-as-rats vinyl disc of the album’s first single “Rats,” offering the album on a variety of different colored cassette tapes, and the lenticular cover for Prequelle‘s special vinyl edition as well as five alternate covers for the retail edition.  On September 27, Ghost will release a plethora of limited, exclusive items tied to the Prequelle album and world tour:  the Deluxe Collector’s Edition, Prequelle Exalted, with only 5000 sets produced.  Head HERE to pre-order.

 

Included in the Prequelle Exalted Deluxe Collector’s Limited Edition will be:

  • Prequelle Limited Edition Transparent Orange with Black Smoke Colored Vinyl
  • 60-page arena tour photo book, hardbound and wrapped in black gator skin
  • Exclusive die-cut Prequelleartwork with a 12-page booklet featuring brand-new, mind-blowing illustrations
  • Four 12” X 12” live photo prints
  • Bonus 7” with two Ghost rarities
  • Ghost 7“ vinyl adapter

 

For the arena tour hardbound photo book and the exquisite, suitable-for-framing 12” X 12” prints, Ryan Chang photographed Ghost on tour over the course of a year, documenting the band’s live performances throughout Europe, the UK, Canada, and the United States, including the Special Guest spots on Metallica European “WorldWired” Stadium tour this summer.  The 12-page booklet of new prints was created by Ghost’s longtime visual collaborator Zbigniew M. Bielak, offering 10 stunning illustrations, each one a visual representation of the 10 songs on Prequelle.

 

Prequelle was produced by Tom Dalgety and originally released in on June 1, 2018.  The album was nominated for a GRAMMY Award as Best Rock Album, and for Sweden’s Grammis Award as Best Rock/Metal Record of the Year, and Dalgety received a GRAMMY nomination as Producer of the Year.  Both Revolver and Kerrang! magazines named Prequelle the Best Album of 2018, and the album produced three Top 10 singles – “Rats,” “Dance Macabre” (both of which went to #1 at Rock Radio), and “Faith.”  To date, Prequelle has accumulated some 250-million streams globally.

 

Ghost will kick off its Fall North American and European “Ultimate Tour Named Death” headline arena trek on September 13 that will include a performance at Tennessee’s Exit 111 Festival.  The confirmed itinerary is below.

 

September

13   Rabobank Theatre, Bakersfield, CA

14   Reno Events Center, Reno, NV

16   Theater of the Clouds at Moda Center, Portland, OR

17   Toyota Center, Kennewick, WA

19   WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA

20   Pacific Auditorium, Vancouver, BC

21   So. Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC

23   Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB

24   The Corral, Calgary, AB

26   Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA

27   Taco Bell Arena, Boise, ID

28   Maverik Center, West Valley City, UT*

30   Budweiser Events Center at The Ranch, Loveland, CO

 

October

1   Broadmoor World Arena, Colorado Springs, CO

3   Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, SD

4   Scheels Arena, Fargo, ND*

5   The Armory, Minneapolis, MN

7   Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

8   TaxSlayer Centre, Moline, IL

10   Covelli Centre, Youngstown, OH

11   Big Sandy Superstore Arena, Huntington, WVa

12   Exit 111 Festival, Manchester, Tennessee

14   DeltaPlex Arena, Grand Rapids, MI

15   Huntington Center, Toledo, OH

17   FirstOntario Centre, Hamilton, ON

18   Richcraft Tire Center, Ottawa, ON

19   Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, ME

21   DCU Center, Worcester, MA

22   The Oncenter, Syracuse, NY

24   GIANT Center, Hershey, PA

25   Cure Insurance Arena, Trenton, NJ

26   Cool Insuring Arena, Glens Falls, NY

 

European dates:

 

NOVEMBER

16   Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, UK

17   Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, UK

18   The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland

20   3Arena, Dublin, Ireland

22   The SSE Arena Wembley, London, UK

23   First Direct Arena, Leeds, UK

26   Forum Black Box, Copenhagen, Denmark

28   Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland

30   Spodek, Katowice, Poland

 

DECEMBER

1   Universum, Prague, Czech Republic

3   Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest, Hungary

5   PalaBam, Mantova, Italy

6   Halle 622, Zurich, Switzerland

8   Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain

10   Sala Tejo at Altice Arena, Lisbon, Portugal

11   Wizink Center, Madrid, Spain

13   Zenith de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

17   Rockhal, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

18   Zenith Nantes Metropole, Nantes, France

19   Zenith Toulouse Metropole, Toulouse, France

 

 

* Twin Temple will support on this date

Booji Boys – Tube Reducer (Drunken Sailor Records)

Booji Boys – Tube Reducer (Drunken Sailor Records)

Booji Boys. I am instantly interested in checking out this Nova Scotia-based band purely on the name alone but don’t let the link to the infamous Devo character connection fool you. Remember Devo’s “Hardcore” compilation of early demos that they released in the 90s? Well, it’s safe to say that this ”Tube Reducer“album is of much more HARDCORE origin than it is of the original Geek Rock pioneer’s own output.

First track ‘Contrition’ kicks off with that awesome Lo-fi Garage Rock vibe, reminding me of a heavy version of US garage punk rockers such as Wavves and Jay Reatard. I’m a sucker for short sonic blasts of music, especially in this raw and more realistic format.  The second track ‘Calling’ has that catchy Meat Puppets-esque Cow Punk guitar lick which crashes right into the full throttle of ”Lucky Citizen“ with its overall thrash and angular instrumentation.

‘Nothing Good’ is fast and abrasive, have you started to notice a pattern on this album so far? I think it would be unfair to compare them to any other further artists at this point as I can hear bits and pieces of EVERYTHING as each second rolls by. I’m starting to get a Pop-Punk version of Siouxsie & The Banshees from this one (last one, I swear!). I bet the band is a force to be reckoned with in the live arena. Especially for their Dead Boys pastiche ‘Tube Reducer'(argh, there I go again!). Imagine all of those cool Post-Punk and underground bands you loved in the 80s/90s, wrapped in tin foil and being chewed up inside your speaker system.

‘Life As A Fed’, ‘Cody Oi’ and ‘Berlinetta’ all rumble into the forefront inside their own audible attack position, making this Lo-fi release so far a short and sweet affair. Perfect for sound-tracking skateboard videos, surf montages and even for blasting out of your bedroom door, after you’ve argued with your parents about not taking the rubbish out. ‘Distorto’ is my favourite so far, it captures that manic abstract spikiness I love from these compact Proto-Punk monstrosities. I wonder how they manage to get their songs to sound like they’ve been pummelled in in a bar-room brawl?  ‘Herky Jerky’ is equally as chaotic and fun as it is 27 seconds long.

‘Stevie Cool’ and ‘Honeyboy’ seem to have a bit more heart and emotion to them than the previous barrage of songs, but they’ve also kept ”Nervous Idea“ and ‘Moto-Hard’ for the attention-grabbing ending track. Especially with all of the messed up brass noises coming and going in the latter track.

This is Canadian Punk Rock 101 with a kick-ass name and a kick your arse attitude. Please come to a venue near me soon, so I can witness the insanity first-hand!

Bandcamp Here 

Drunken Sailor Records Here

Mitchells Blog Here

Author: Mitchell Tennant

Rebellion Festival – Blackpool Winter Gardens – Sunday 4th August 2019

Rebellion Festival – Blackpool Winter Gardens – Sunday 4th August 2019

“Easy Like a Sunday Morning” (like Fuck it is)

Three down and one to go and Sunday is a pretty big deal around RPM HQ as our mates are playing on the Introducing stage later but everywhere we look its clash city.  At one point we wanted to see four bands all playing at the same time across the complex so it literally came down to the toss of a coin where we would go and who we would see. With the venue opening at midday we needed to be in the Empress to catch a band we’ve covered a lot lately and who’ve impressed everyone whos seen and heard them.  Hands Off Gretel take the stage to a really healthy crowd considering the day and time and proceed to entertain with a really tight performance as the band really locked in like their lives depended on it and the audience was right there with them. After catching the first 30 minutes of the set we then had to cross the divide via Almost Acoustic where Ratboy was performing his magic to a full room we managed to catch him driving swords through someone’s arm and a more gentle coin trick but we couldn’t stay as all roads lead towards the Introducing stage where Trigger Mcpoopshute took the stage looking rather splendid in their religious outfits.  I even heard some punter comment that Shovel had a decent set of pins in his sheer stockings! I did turn to see what depraved human had such thoughts on the lords day. To be fair Trigger knocked out a rather impressive set of Welsh hardcore fuelled by late-night kebabs and strong cider whilst entertaining and putting a smile on peoples faces with their tales of everyday folk and cheeky charm.

Having seen the band turn in some loose sets this was a different Trigger with a much tighter sound with Bam at the drum stool.  Songs like ‘Skidmarks and Spenser’, ‘Sheep’ and ‘Drinking With The Big Boys’ were going down a storm in front of a very impressive audience and it was only 1.15pm but the only question people were now pondering was ‘Fish Or Bird’? Fuckin’ loons.  Who writes songs about penguins? Bloody entertaining though.

Right that’s three rooms already and it’s not even 2 pm so it must be time to head to Casbah to see if Dan Banger has turned up this year and low and behold he’s bloody made it and finally, Pizzatramp are in the house and what a fuckin’ beautiful noise they make live.  Regardless of if its some tiny venue in the bowels of South Wales or the cavernous Club Casbah at Rebellion Pizzatramp are on fire right now as Sammy plucks that thunderous bass and locks in with Dan they are a formidable force and their Hardcore is a beautiful thing they open with ‘CCTV’ and its brutal ‘Claire Voyant’, ‘He’s Gone Full Mitchell’ and the quite brilliant ‘Millions Of Dead Goffs’ pretty much make up the opening salvo of their set and I’m happy and it seems like half of Blackpool have gotten the memo and decided to turn up to see Pizzatramp with ‘Grand Relapse’ getting a decent airing their (Brown puckered) Star(fish) is burning brightly. We cut the set short and dash over to the Opera House for Johny Skullknuckles Kopek Millionaires who have just gone on by the time we catch our breath.

‘sometimes (Love Just Isn’t Enough)’ sounds fantastic and the change of pace from hardcore Sunday to power pop punk rock was just what I needed. I love Johnys style of writing and a lot of his material reminds me of early Hanoi Rocks and ‘Tell Me Baby’ sounded great as did ‘1981’ from ‘Dirty Beef Hands’ but the ray of sunshine in what has been a difficult time recent for Johny was his touching tribute to Kathy which touched everyone in the Opera House and got a standing ovation and the track of the set ‘Punk Girl From Another World’ an exceptional set from The Millionaires.

After recently seeing Suede Razors in Bristol Johnny and Darrel urged me to pop into the empress and catch the set so if it’s good enough for those two, of course, I was going to be there. so grabbing my spot on the barrier more for something to lean on than anything else the band duly took the stage and Darrel Wojick fresh from checking out Trigger McPoopshute takes the stage and proceeds to ram down some sweet boot boy rock and roll mixing the best of Slade with Rose Tattoo with a bovver boy take on the Four Horsemen.  ‘My city’ kicked off proceedings and for the next half an hour and some they rammed it down the Empress ‘TV175’ going down a storm and the punters flooded in. ‘Passion On The Pitch’ was dedicated to Blackpool fans and their fight for their club and it was nice to hear some Americans and a Canadian knowing their shit and fuck the Oystens would have gone down well.  ‘Bovver Boy’ was a particular high point of the set.  a band who have the chops and know-how to rock and roll and will always be welcome over here if the USA still won’t let them ply their craft.

One of the must-see bands on the introducing stage had to be Rotten Foxes who turned up looking rather splendid in their double denim, cut off nut huggers and wrestling belts. They really put on a show for those gathered in the sweatbox. As for what they played fuck knows, it was absolute pandemonium and punk as fuck with Charlie Harper whistling on the sidelines whilst members of Zero Zero, Pizzatramp and Trigger knew where the only place to be at half three on a Sunday afternoon was and that was in this very room sweating like Ian Krankie in a wardrobe. The songs came thick and fast, fuck, make that very fast as bodies flew around, Hardcore as fuck. An absolute pleasure to witness such beautiful chaos done so well. True to their single ‘Arrive Raise Hell Leave’ Rotten Foxes absolutely killed it.  I wish it had gone on longer and it would have been awesome to see these boys tear somewhere like Casbah a new one with this racket. Don’t quit it’s only just begun. Rotten Fuckin’ Foxes!

We needed to grab some food so Svetlanas were forfeited as was our planned peek at Teenage Bottlerockets (next time for sure). Dirt box Disco are up next and with a quick pint, we head for Club Casbah. Having Weab quit the band to go his own way it left Spunk Volcano to take over lead vocals and this being the first opportunity for us to see the band we first caught way back when they had no more than a couple of shows under their belt this was going to be interesting but seeing so many people turn up and stay til the end must have put wind in their sails as they knocked out classic Dirtbox after classic dirt box with ‘My Life Is Shit’ seeing a frenzied pit chanting the chorus back to Mr. volcano must have felt good that they decided to carry on post Weab. Something of a Rebellion fixture it wouldn’t be the same without them.

Empress is beginning to heat up again as CJ Ramone takes the stage and for the next hour we’re treated to a whole bunch of classic Ramones tunes and some choice cuts from CJ’s solo records all that was missing was a track or two from Bad Chopper. ‘One High One Low’ from the new album slipped in comfortably alongside classics like ‘Bonzo Goes To Bitburg ‘, ‘Rock n Roll High School’ and ‘Rockaway Beach’. ‘This Town’ also off the new album sounded huge but was the aperitif for Blag The Ripper who entered the fray to creepy crawl around the Empress knocking out ‘KKK Took My Baby Away’. CJ then gave a wonderful tribute to his former bandmate Steve Soto who had been performing with him and who died only little over a year ago as last year Adolescents gave a tearful tribute to Soto ‘Rock On’ was apt. the next special guest happened to be Blags bandmate Nick Oliveri.

as if the Empress wasn’t hot enough ‘Warthog’, ‘Commando’, ’53rd’, ‘Sedated’, ‘Blitzkreig Bop’ and to wrap it all up why not go over the top with a sparkling version of ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S’. Thank you and goodnight.  Fuck me that’s how to do a festival – No bullshit – no fucking around just bish bash bosh!  It reminded me of Buzzcocks who were mentioned several times over the weekend and amusing stories were regaled they were a band who got festivals and usually just blitzed it – well, CJ Ramone just did that – 29 songs in an hour, Smart!

We’re in the home straight now and it’s still pretty full-on We toyed with the idea of going into Empress for The PRofessionals but it was too hot so we went for a wander around the bizarre and dipped in to catch the start of The Skids who weren’t mucking about and once they’d put up the correct graphic giving away the fact that The Damned were indeed playing the Machine gun Etiquette set later gave the game away, oh well the rumours were true. Doh!. ‘Of One Skin’ followed by ‘Charade’ it looked like they were playing the same set they were dishing out around Europe which is fine I’ve not seen the band since they reformed and by the sounds of it they were bang on form. Knowing I had one last lap to complete the heat upstairs on the balcony was almost unbearable and it literally felt like the ‘Saints Were Coming’ if I’d have stayed up there so back to Club Casbah for a glance at Conflict and DOA then settled for a few tunes from King Kurt a band I’d not seen for over twenty years hoping to catch some ‘Destination Zulu LAnd’ but alas it wasn’t to be as I had to venture via the backstage bar for some refreshments before making my way down the front for one final hurrah.

The Damned doing ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ although I’d seen them several times on the last MGE Anniversary tour this time it was with added Paul Gray who always did justice to the Algy bass lines.

As the band took to the stage and Captain offered up the introduction of “Ladies And Gentlemen, how do?” the place seemed to be absolutely rammed and didn’t need an invitation to go nuts as the album was unfurled in sequence well,  up until ‘These Hands’ that seemed to have been left off.  Again not quite its entirety but it would have been fun to hear it for us anoraks. Man The Damned are on fire at the moment and seem to be really enjoying their time on stage. Vanian being quite animated tonight taking the lead with amusing anecdotes whilst Sensible being, dare I suggest it, quite restrained.  Maybe the Wintergardens heat was taking effect whereas we all know Vanian has spent the day relaxing in his air-conditioned crypt so would be fresh as a daisy.  Once they wound up MGE also missing ‘Liar’ as well I might add. They then proceeded to indulge a few extras like ‘Street Of Dreams’ and a rather splendid ‘Ignite’.

I guess they had to play ‘Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow’ before hitting the home straight with ‘Wait For The Blackout’ followed by the anthemic ‘New Rose’,’Neat Neat Neat’ and ending the set with ‘Jet Boy Jet Girl’ and the curtain was brought down on another exception headline set from the original punk rockers and still the best there is. Don’t let Hayward and Sutton tell you otherwise 😉 (DD)

With Dom over in the Empress watching The Damned for the bazillionth time it was left to yours truly to witness rock legends The Dwarves, big dicks swinging, give Blackpool’s punk rock community the bloodiest nose of the weekend. With HeWhoCannotBeNamed back in the fold, there is that added sense of danger and anarchy about the band as they launch straight into ‘Way Out’ and the Club Casbah mosh pit goes suitably apeshit. ‘Sluts Of The USA’, ‘Devils Level’ and ‘We Only Came To Get High’ follow like repeated punches to the face and just when I thought it couldn’t get any crazier a minor drunken skirmish breaks out in front of me during ‘Speed Demon’ and the sight of a topless female pit member sends Blag and the boys off into a world where there ‘Better Be Women’ and ‘Free Cocaine’. ‘We Must Have Blood’ sees He Who and Blag demolish the drum kit, and in a shower of beer, they are gone. Wow! Band of the weekend for me and many others. Don’t agree? Go fuck yourselves. HA! (JH)

Rebellion Sundays are real hardcore as the body is usually wondering why it is being subjected to continued alcohol, dehydration and stairs, stairs and stairs. So having an unbelievable line-up makes it all worthwhile and following playing another set I shot across to the acoustic stage to catch Catlow (of the Poly Esters) set the afternoon on a great footing. A Pizzatramp, Suede Razors 1-2 gets me right in the mood to swing by the Arena to catch Birmingham’s utterly brilliant The Liarbilitys.  Their Antagonisms record sounds fantastic live and Birmingham’s Bleeding is surely one of the best punk rock songs of recent times.  I made a point of popping into the Introducing Stage at numerous points throughout the weekend, sampling some really excellent bands (that Rotten Foxes set was something else!!) but one that really stuck with me was Tequila Mockingbyrd. The female quartet were devastating and really should be checked out, as their Hanoi Rocks meets L7 swagger is infectious.  This led me nicely into catching something very familiar but no less good in the shape of Welsh stalwarts Foreign Legion. Marcus Howells might have led the band in its many forms for decades but they show no signs relenting in any way and are on top form with a set of old standards are spot-on new songs.  With the finish line in sight, I head back to join the hordes watching the Professionals before watching The Dwarves deliver the ultimate coup de grace.  What a weekend?  When can we do it again? (DS)

 

 

Rebellion 2019 was an absolute pleasure from the superb company to the many bands I met shook hands with, had conversations with to the work colleagues also covering the festival to the incredibly hard-working and always smiling staff keeping the bars stocked to make sure everything was hunky-dory.  The bouncers who did their jobs well especially the guys n gals in the Empress who did amazing jobs and always with a smile to the catering staff and stallholders to the people like Darren Russell Smith and Jeannie Russel Smith, Stu Taylor and Daryl for putting this incredible Festival together keeping the prices real. Dod and the photographers who do such an excellent job in capturing it all, the stagehands and sound and light guys for doing such an amazing job under so trying circumstances and the good people of Blackpool for being so welcoming time after time and all the band we saw turn in such awesome sets and the bands we didn’t get round to seeing maybe next year. The PR people for running such a smooth operation you all make this festival lark look like a piece of piss.  The artists upstairs along with the people who were interviewed and interviewers and finally all the punters who love alternative music and keep the scene ticking over buying the music and the merch.  I have a list of bands who should play next year who would go down a treat if anyone wants to know.

Rebellion is always a pleasure and never ever a chore. Now can I go to bed and get some sleep please?  Same time and same place next year? Fan-Fuckin-Dabi-Dozy!

Authors: Dom Daley, Johnny Hayward & Darrel Sutton