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Chuck Prophet/Jesse Malin – Bristol Hen & Chicken – 17 September 2018

Chuck Prophet/Jesse Malin – Bristol Hen & Chicken – 17 September 2018

 Nev Brooks.

When this gig flashed up on my watching list, the juices really started to flow, I mean an essential part of the great Green on Red (Chuck Prophet) that I have vague recollections of catching way back in the day at the reading festival in 1989 when it returned, taken over by The Mean Fiddler group.

 

Add into the mix probably my favourite live artist at the moment Jesse Malin part of the superb D-Generation and more to the point an incredible live act on his own, electric or acoustic. Tickets were booked instantly,

 

But enough of the waffle, arriving at the venue I have to say, parking was a bit of a nightmare, be warned, (it’s a venue I’m going to watch out for in the future) Hey Ho! The joys of driving everywhere!! Moving upstairs I did a bit of a double take, a seated gig? Hmm, and then we’re into it with Jesse Malin and I have to say what a set, even though shortened to 50 mins, we had a sample from the new LP, scheduled for release mid 2019 (my little life, meet me at the end of the world) an awesome cover of the Pogues classic,” If I should fall from grace with god”, a great collection from the St Marks social LP-love it to Life, including all the way from Moscow and an absolutely blinding “Burning the Bowery” were I to say none of the audience remained sitting would be more than fair.

 

The songs from New York before the war just keep getting stronger and tonight we had “The year that I was born” and a track that stopped me cold “Turn up the mains”. Without going track for track, we had his whole career represented, from The fine art of self destruction, through to the Outsiders with Glitter in the gutter getting a more than welcome representation.

 

With such an outstanding catalogue the music itself was always going to be top drawer, but what came across tonight was Jesse Malin the storyteller, if you get chance to catch this tour anywhere don’t miss, but also what should also hit you is why isn’t this guy huge!! I suppose a damning inditement on the malaise that the mainstream music world is currently investing it’s time in.

 

Now you’ve probably guessed I’m a bit of a Jesse Malin fan and his set was my main reason for travelling over tonight, but I was 100% in the minority the audience were here to catch Chuck Prophet so strapping in, not really knowing what to expect from a solo Chuck I entered the set with an open mind.

 

Struggling with a virus I have to say what a set followed from Chuck, and what a vocalist Stephanie Finch is, a perfect foil from that swamp blues drawl, splitting vocal duties her voice very much came across with hints of early Marianne Faithful, that innocence embedded in pop sensibilities, while also giving a nod to that world weary Americana style. This was part of a series of Americana gigs being promoted by the Hen and Chicken after all.

 

As a singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet is faultless, but the track that caught me was a track by the McCoys from 1965, re-interpreted by David Bowie on the Hunky Dory LP-Sorrow, stripped down, slowed up and re-interpreted as an Americana classic. Other tracks that stuck with me, were “Bad year for Rock and Roll, The left hand and the right hand, doubter out of Jesus” and the Bob Dylan cover “Abandoned Love”.  Again what hits you are the stories between songs, holding the audience enthralled, these two have toured together for years, hit the same audiences and made the same connections and what came across to me was the link both had to a fledgling Ryan Adams and again the though flits across my mind, they should be standing alongside him on the much larger venues.

 

As an aside, I picked up a vinyl copy of Glitter in the Gutter, one I was missing and ended in a conversation with Jesse, and what a humble guy, wrapped up in music, grounded and focused.

 

Pick up the Jesse Malin back catalogue here

Pick up the Chuck Prophet here

 

Glenn Hughes – Cardiff Tramshed – 6th October 2018

Glenn Hughes – Cardiff Tramshed – 6th October 2018

Leigh Fuge.

Glenn Hughes announces he is going on the road to play a set of classic Deep Purple, my ears pricked up. Mk3 Deep Purple is quite possibly my favourite incarnation and Glenn Hughes is one of my top rock vocalists, so this was surely going to be a treat!

Is there a better way to kick off a Deep Purple classic set than Stormbringer? We’re straight in at the deep end here. While I’ve never been a fan of David Coverdale as a vocalist, I always loved him with Deep Purple, but for me, these songs really come alive when Hughes steps up to the mic. The band is tight, though the guitar was a little lost in the mix from where I was standing. Hughes delivers every word like his life depends on it.

Straight away we’re kicking into Might Just Take Your Life and Sail Way. This era of Purple is often overlooked. Many people forget that they had some stellar material after Gillan. The Mk3 and Mk4 Purple band really tapped into an earthy, raw blues-rock sound compared to the bands much heavier preceding albums. Sail Away is just an instant head mover. You cannot hear that infectious riff without the head bobbing along.

Time to get funky as the band kick into Gettin’ Tighter. The original clocks in at 3 and a half minutes but live, the band turns this into a mammoth 13-minute jamathon with Hughes taking the lead in the middle of the track and showing his bass playing skills as he lets rip with some lead breaks.

Glenn pays tribute to fallen friend Tommy Bolin before the band fire into You Keep On Moving to raucous applause from the Cardiff crowd. Glenn told the room that Tommy is still with him every day and perhaps he’s right, the band delivers the song with the same energy you’d expect them to have as young men in 1975.

The great thing about playing with a guy like Glenn is that you know you’ll get your spot to show the world what you can do, keyboard player Jesper Bo Hansen makes his Hammond scream and shouts in ways you could never imagine before the band jumps into the cowbell-heavy gallop of You Fool No One.

Next up, fleet-fingered guitarist Soren Anderson get’s his moment. I’ve been a fan of Soren for a long time but had yet to catch him perform live as last time I saw Glenn perform, he had a stand-in due to Soren having other commitments. For the next few minutes, the room watches in awe as Soren sets the fretboard on fire and then launches into the bluesy stomp of High Ball Shooter.

Next up, for me, the highlight of the show, Mistreated. This song is my all-time favourite Deep Purple song and if I had to pick a single track from Glenn Hughes lineage that for me would be the stand out track, this would be it. I honestly think, no one in the world sings it as well as Glenn. He delivers every single word with the passion and conviction of a man who truly has been mistreated. It never fails to blow me away.

Having not checked out the setlist ahead of the show, I assumed that it would be purely focused on tracks from the Mk3 and 4 eras, but much to my surprise the band rounded off the set with a storming rendition of Gillan era mega-hit Smoke on the Water coupled with a stripped down version of the Ray Charles song Georgia on my Mind. Hughes shows off his huge vocal range many times over the night but really lets it fly during Georgia as he tickles the upper echelons of what the human ear can perceive.

Encore time and Hughes professes to the crowd that they know what’s coming next, and we sure do. The band launch into Burn and the room goes nuts. This is what it’s all about. High energy, high octane rock and roll.

As all great nights, unfortunately, this one also comes to a close as Glenn passes his bass to his tech and assumes the vocalist role as the band play yet another Gillan era track, Highway Star. Having witnessed Gillan sing this track with Deep Purple just a year ago, I can honestly say I think Hughes delivers it better. His range is untouched, and he still has the conviction and energy of a 20-year-old rock star with the world at his feet.

Proving night after night that age does not diminish your ability to rock. Glenn Hughes is the real deal. He’s a fantastic singer, incredible bass player and all-around artist. My mind is blown yet again.

Buy Glenn Hughes Here

 

“Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk”

“Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk”
“Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk” documentary With Iggy Pop is the narrator and talking head throughout the documentary being a whos who from the big hitters of the scene this has to be a must-see movie watch the trailer and hit the links.

The Blu Ray+DVD features the full-length theatrical cut of the film (2 hours and 37 minutes), 5 Deleted Scenes and more! Narrated by Iggy Pop, Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk features a diverse spectrum of musicians and artists who have all been impacted by or participated in the California San Francisco Bay Area punk music scene of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. During the production of the film, over 150 interviews were conducted around the United States amounting in over 500 hours of interview footage. Numerous underground punk legends appear in the film together with the top-selling artists of the punk genre. Non-punk artists in reggae, garage and experimental music are featured, and actors, film directors, authors, activists and graphic artists are also interviewed throughout the film.

On the soundtrack from we’ve got a very special Gold Vinyl mail order only edition of the 35 song soundtrack featuring rare, unreleased and hard to find tracks from bands like Green Day, Rancid, Operation Ivy, Neurosis, MTX, Jawbreaker, Crimpshrine, Sweet Children, Pinhead Gunpowder and many more. It’s over 90 minutes of music on 2 LP’s housed in a gatefold sleeve. The full track list is available HERE.

Even more limited is the double cassette edition that not only contains the same material as the 2xLP but we’ve added a very special repress of the “Lest We Forget” compilation as a companion piece. Lest We Forget was assembled by Aaron Cometbus from extremely rare demos, rehearsal & live tapes and originally released on his BBT Tapes label in 1991. This compilation provides a crucial document of the East Bay’s pre-Gilman punk scene. Including the original bands of members who would go on to spawn; Rancid, Operation Ivy, Pinhead Gunpowder, Samiam, Neurosis amongst many others. We’ve teamed up with BBT Tapes to repress this essential document of early East Bay punk with new liner notes by Cometbus and freshly cleaned up audio on a professionally dubbed tape for the first time ever!

Proceeds from these soundtrack releases go to the Women’s Daytime Drop In Center, a non-profit program in Berkeley, CA empowering women and children to move from the streets to a home by providing ongoing and intensive counseling, case management services, daily support groups, a comprehensive children’s program, a variety of referral services, and a transitional housing program for four single parent families.

Buy Soundtrack Here

Direct from the states soundtrack and movie

Manics get truthful, deluxe collectors packages and tour dates

Manics get truthful, deluxe collectors packages and tour dates

‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’ 20 Year Collector’s Edition is out December 7th on Limited Edition Deluxe 3CD bookset and 2LP, with the band back on tour for a run of intimate shows in Spring 2019.

Pre-order signed copies of the album before 3pm BST Tuesday October 23rd to get pre-sale access to the tour before general sale on Friday October 26th.

The 3CD bookset include the original album remastered, a disc of demos and live rehearsal recordings, and a disc of all remixes and b-sides from the album. The double LP includes the remastered album and a digital download code, as well as a limited edition poster.

The band hopes to announce a special one-off show in Wales in the next few months.

12th May / Olympia Theatre / Dublin

14th May / Corn Exchange / Cambridge

15th May /  Forum / Bath

17th May / Shepherd’s Bush Empire / London

18th May / Shepherd’s Bush Empire / London

20th May / Ritz / Manchester

21st May / Ritz / Manchester

23rd May / Academy 1 / Birmingham

24th May / Guildhall / Southampton

26th May / Usher Hall / Edinburgh

27th May / Barbican / York

30th May / Olympia / Liverpool

31st May / De Montfort Hall / Leicester

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Ancient Shapes/The Violent Hearts/Human Heat – Newport, Le Pub – 17th October 2018

Ancient Shapes/The Violent Hearts/Human Heat – Newport, Le Pub – 17th October 2018

Johnny Hayward.

It’s no strange coincidence that at least five of the best gigs I’ve seen so far this year have all taken place in Le Pub, a venue situated just a few miles away from my front door. The owners and local promoters have certainly been working tirelessly against the tide of arena/tribute bilge that is strangling the UK live music scene at the moment to quite rightly deliver real quality live propositions for punters. and its three bands bills like tonight that really do stick a middle finger up at what everyone else appears to be doing.

Granted coupling Canadian garage punks who most people in the UK will probably not have heard of along with two local(ish) bands might not exactly sound like the second coming, but if you hadn’t already heard Ancient Shapes before tonight there really is no excuse for musical ignorance in this age of the interweb. Admittedly it took me a few listens to realise that contemporary country singer Daniel Romano was also the Daniel Romano fronting Ancient Shapes, such is the shift for him musically with this project, but once it had all clicked into place and I had managed to procure a copy of the band’s 2016 self-titled debut record this was always going to be a must see gig for me.

It’s such a shame then that more people hadn’t done the same levels of research I had because Cardiff trio Human Heat gets to open proceedings tonight to only a handful of people. Ploughing into their set of intricately constructed alt-rock and only receiving a smattering of applause in return. Its moments like these that make me so angry about the UK music scene right now,  but you know what, if people can’t be arsed to venture out the door to their local club to support new bands then they deserve to be paying £50 to £100 to be watching a few dots on the horizon in some fucking aircraft hangar, or worst still the £10 to £20 they are willing to part with to watch blokes pretending to be bands they never saw or liked the first time of asking. That’s right fuckers leave all the hard work to us if you want, then rejoice in the fame by association if a local band does finally make it big… Look don’t get me started, this is supposed to be a live review, not a rant.

Thankfully my faith in humanity is almost restored by the time The Violent Hearts take to the stage with the venue having noticeably filled up and all that inner rage I was feeling immediately subsides as I can now rejoice in the inner rage of someone else instead. Melding the post-punk angst of Joy Division with the spiky punk pop sensibilities of Newport’s very own 60ft Dolls The Violent Hearts are certainly a very intriguing proposition. With singer/guitarist James Mattock and bassist Carl Murrihy having previously worked together in Sharks and with Mattock currently in White Trash with drummer Aidan Sin (their post Computers band) I kind of have a sixth sense about what witnessing The Violent Hearts live might be like. From the off their energy levels are enough to put a Duracell bunny to shame, however sonically this is very much a different thing from the guys. Okay at times there is still the odd hint of Strummer in Mattock’s voice and the rockabilly shuffles that Sin also delivers when sat behind the boogie-woogie master Henri Herbert do creep into proceedings every now and then, but that’s really where this all stops and the musical alchemy these boys practice begins. With little to no between-song banter and just the dissonant sound of a Jazzmaster left to chime in each new song the 30 odd minutes the trio are on stage is dark and compelling stuff, Tonight’s set closer ‘Hex On Me’ is perhaps the trio’s defining moment and for the sake of your  own sanity I’d suggest you either go check it out on Bandcamp right now or perhaps better still go see The Violent Hearts and hear it live. Tell them RPM sent you.

The Bob Dylan-esque image I had in my head of Daniel Romano from the cover of his excellent 2015 album ‘If I’ve Only One Time Askin’’ is a far cry from the guy strutting around Le Pub tonight. Gone is the neckerchief wearing, cigarette smoking bequiffed folk rock muse and in his place stands a preening ice cool rock god clad in denim and sporting mandatory sunglasses indoors. He appears by his very nature equal parts Kory Clarke and David Johansen. Quite why he’s also decided to top this image off with a ludicrous blonde mullet wig is beyond me though, but then again when you’re a sucker for detail like Romano then I guess you’ll do whatever it takes to get the mood right, and here he plays the part of rock star frontman to perfection and here along with the four other musicians that make up the touring line up of Ancient Shapes they create a seismic force of pure rock ‘n’ roll energy designed to produce sweaty mosh pits wherever they play.

Influence-wise they display these very openly when just two songs in they deliver a stunning cover of The Who’s ‘I Can’t Explain’, but for me it’s the spirit of New York that burns brightest during the powerpop punk rock blasts of ‘I Wanna Put My Tears Back In’, ‘Hurricane Lady’ and the band’s signature tune ’Ancient Shapes’ which coincidently is also the longest of their songs clocking in at around the two and a half minute mark just because it has a Tom Petty-like midsection breakdown before it once again speeds off faster than ‘United Blood’ era Agnostic Front.

From the band’s just released second album ‘Silent Rave’ ‘Mental Slavery (We Can’t Quit) is amongst the most immediate of the tracks I’d not heard before, and I can honestly think of no better way of ending proceedings than by blasting through the infectious and ridiculous ‘Giant Comma’ a truly fantastic song that somehow makes me wonder what those short educational films on Sesame Street might sound like if it were soundtracked by The Hives.

At the start of this review, I stated that Le Pub had been home for five of the best gigs I’ve witnessed in 2018, well you better make that six because tonight was everything that is great about rock music right now. The only thing missing was the Sold Out sign at the door.

 

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King Brothers – ‘Wasteland’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

King Brothers – ‘Wasteland’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

Ben Hughes.

In another dimension in space and time Jon Spencer Blues Explosion comes from Japan, the only English word they know is “yeah!” and they are called King Brothers. We must all hail their trashy brand of Japandemonium!

Unless you can read Japanese you will be hard-pressed to find any information on the interweb about King Brothers. Formed in Nishinomiya City in 1997, the band is known for their hyperactive and destructive live shows, they have even been banned from performing at several venues in Osaka. From what I can make out they have a dude called Keizo on vocals and guitar, a guy called Marya who shouts and plays the guitar too, and a hard hitter called Taichi. They did have a bassist, but I believe he imploded due to rocking out too hard!

 

‘Wasteland’ is the sound of raw, live energy pumping on your stereo. The King Brothers live show distilled into 11 hard hitting blasts of noise that will have you shaking like a loon and fighting the desire to stage dive from any given object.

From the cool as you like opening title track with its swathes of Hammond and blues harmonica workout, to the closing bastardisation of a Stones classic lovingly re-titled ‘Sympathy For The XXXX’, they garagify ( I made a new word!) everything they touch. And there’s a sort of post-apocalyptic feel to the whole thing.

The “Oh Yeah” refrain of ‘No Want’ was enough to draw me in. Check out the video, now that’s a band you wanna see live right? Yeah, I’m sold hook, line and sinker baby!  With surf guitar licks aplenty and urgent beats, it’s over before you can order a round of Sake, a veritable smorgasbord of high energy musical chaos.

What you hear is what you get with King Brothers, two guitars, pounding beats and undistinguishable shouting make up their marvellous trashy noise. Sure, they also throw in a mean, bluesy harmonica now and then to break up the monotony (yeah right, monotony is not a word in the King Brother vocabulary!)

‘Odorushikabane’ with its full-on harmonica intro takes the garage rock blueprint right down to a steady groove, it has a New York Dolls thing going on which is always a bonus in my book. The overly cool ‘Kick-Ass Rock’ channels Blues Explosion with fuzzy bass and indie beats aplenty and ‘No No No’ is ‘My Generation’ on crack and a sugar buzz fix, a riotous cacophony of noise.

Mental instrumental ‘Bang Blues is cool and the repetitive strains of ‘No Thanks’ sorta sounds like The Strokes with a rocket shoved up their collective skinny arses!

 

The power of rock ‘n’ roll defies the language barrier and ‘Wasteland’ proves music truly is a universal language. I don’t have a clue what they are singing about and I couldn’t care less, because when the needle hits the groove of a King Brothers album you will think of nothing else but losing your shit! Bring on the live show.

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24 Hour Punks ‘Why We Fight’ raise superb amount for charity

24 Hour Punks ‘Why We Fight’ raise superb amount for charity

Following the fundraising at Boomtown in August, the wonderful team at AMMF updated on how much has been raised by this project so far:

£4,315.94 (inc Gift Aid) ????????????

They said via their facebook page, “This is absolutely incredible. Thank you to EVERYONE who bought the music, a t-shirt, came to either of the shows or helped spread the word.”

They’re still collecting donations through Bandcamp, so if you haven’t yet bought the EP (written, recorded and released in 24 hours last July) you can do so at the red link.

Millie Manders – Vox
T.J (Bar Stool Preachers) – Vox
Lucias (Call Me Malcolm) – Guitar
Aiden (Skaciety) – Guitar
Arvin (Popes of Chillitown) – Bass
Pierre (Battleska Galactica) – Drums

You can read Nev’s piece about  the new face of Ska Punks Who knows you might find your new favourite band.

Rainy Days And Mondays

Rainy Days And Mondays

It’s that time of the week again most of you will be sniffin’ the armpits of that shirt you threw on the bedroom floor Friday after work to see if its ok to wear this morning.  You check the bread for green dots before the first cup of instant coffee daydreaming about what can possibly make what you are about to do more bearable and you remember that for the last few weeks you’ve tuned into RPM Online for a quick fix and a shot of Rock and Roll to start the week.

 

Up this week Gerald has picked three tunes for your entertainment that should just about raise a smile and tell you its only four more sleeps til the weekend.  Fill yer boots…

American Heartbreak

Reverend Backflash

The Cruel Intentions 

Visit their social media and tell em RPM sent you-

 The Cruel Intentions on Twitter 

The Cruel Intentions Facebook 

Reverend Backflash on Twitter

Reverend Backflash On Facebook

 

Tyla’s Dogs D’amour – ‘In Vino Veritas’ (King Outlaw)

Tyla’s Dogs D’amour – ‘In Vino Veritas’ (King Outlaw)

Gerald Stansbury

Wow… I mean… just wow. This album is a wonderful and tremendous addition to a Dogs D’amour discography that began with ‘The State We’re In’ 35 years ago. There will be those that may refuse to give this a chance, and that is really unfortunate for them. I would consider this the first proper album under the Dogs D’amour name by Tyla, Gary, Matty, and Simon even though they have been recording together for several years now. This album is truly made to feel like a Dogs D’amour album as opposed to a Tyla solo album or the Tyla J Pallas Band. It is not a secret that the last two new studio albums ‘When Bastards Go to Hell’ and ‘Let Sleeping Dogs’ were not everyone’s cup of tea, a bottle of jack…. or maybe I should now say bottle of red. Those albums really reflect a different moment in time where this feels much more like the follow up to ‘Happy Ever After’ in terms of style, sound, and approach. For me, this love affair started back at ‘In the Dynamite Jet Saloon’ which remains my favorite album of all time. The band was refreshing among the wave of hair metal bands that often blended together thanks to the other influences they incorporated such as the Stones, Faces, Hanoi Rocks, etc. Tyla’s lyrics were much more relatable to people like me who would try our best only to find out that sometimes the bad guys win despite our best efforts. Albums such as ‘Errol Flynn’ and ‘More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace’ are part of my DNA at this point. Over the years, Tyla has released a tremendous number of solo albums and projects as well as a couple of albums with Spike from the Quireboys. There has always been a difference between that work and Dogs D’amour albums which is partially where the lines got blurred in my mind on ‘Let Sleeping Dogs’ and ‘When Bastards Go to Hell.’ What we have here though is an album that has its very own identity but captures a true band effort and sounds like a Dogs D’amour album…. A damn awesome one too.

Getting the album started is a stomping version of ‘111,’ which will be familiar from Tyla’s solo work. This version though packs more venom and punch. This is a great opener along the lines of ‘Drunk Like Me’ and ‘What’s Happening Here.’ The guitars burn sharply in the mix with the outside production evident at the outset. The album transitions to the gorgeous ‘Black Confetti.’ The use of the saxophones here is perfectly placed, and the way they arrive after a brief pause at the beginning of the song is sublime. This is not your typical single by any Dogs D’amour incarnation and all the better for it. This is an opportunity for these Dogs to flex some musical chops and create a magical moment. For those of us that pledged, we got to hear just a bit of the up-tempo ‘Bloodline’ that rocks in a similar manner to ‘What You Do’ and ‘Lie in This Land.’ The bass by Matty has some added pop in the mix which really stands out at the beginning of the song. Tyla sounds sensational here. He would never win on any of those reality singing shows, but his vocals have always been more about character, heart, soul, and distilled from the finest blend of rock n roll spirits. I will take that everytime. I really love the guitar solo here by Gary as well.

‘Bottle of Red’ stands out as a future standard in the live show where everyone is singing along at the top of their lungs. Lyrically, I would say that it is like the uplifting cousin of ‘Satellite Kid’ as the music creates much more of a ‘Singin’ vibe from ‘Happy Ever After.’ The band adds some awesome saxophone here which creates some additional depth in the music. A Tyla spoken word ad-lib at the end is another very nice touch. I should mention again here that the mix and production on this album is excellent and truly showcases how great these songs are. Since I am reviewing the vinyl version, the midtempo ‘Everything to Me’ represents the end of Side One. Matty’s bass lines get a chance to stand out here as well as the tasteful guitar lines by Gary and Tyla. With a strong vocal hook carried by Tyla already in the chorus, the band adds some background ‘ooh Sha la la’s’ for good measure. What really stands out is just how happy Tyla sounds as these two songs feel like celebrations. Something I have not mentioned is that this album steers clear of the traditional ballads and acoustic numbers. This is a rock album through and through.

Flipping the record over, the uniquely titled ‘Chicago Typewriter’ begins with gunshots and sirens. Musically, this is a hard blues number driven incredibly well by Simon (drums) and Matty (bass) so that Gary and Tyla can add some great bluesy riffs to the mix which are complemented by a simple and highly addictive vocal hook. In some ways, this song recalls the best of where Tyla had gone on ‘Let Sleeping Dogs’ or ‘When Bastards Go to Hell’ but with a much more listener-friendly production style and mix. It provides a great rocking start to the second half of the record. The single in waiting ‘I Don’t Love Anyone’ follows with its tasteful piano and saxophone sounding amazing in the mix. This song should come with a warning label or two as I can’t help but find myself smiling when it plays and singing along. The loving message shows that even though good guys don’t win all the time; they can win from time to time so let’s take a few minutes to celebrate finding the love of our lives while we can. Up next is the title track ‘In Vino Veritas’ where the band brings in some more tasteful saxophone as Tyla tells us a tale as only he can. This is one song where I do wonder if these gentlemen revisiting Tyla’s ‘Nocturnal Nomad’ album recently added some new ingredients that had never really been on a Dogs’ record in the past. Lyrically, this song feels more like the characters and stories from that album as opposed to the characters we met in ‘Hurricane’ or ‘Baby Glass.’

As we approach the end of the vinyl version, ‘Monster’ slithers and struts out on a biting sustained blues riff. Over the course of these songs, the band really explores multiple musical avenues and back alleys with ‘Monster’ creating an awesome groove with added harmonica and organ. I love the guitar riffs and licks throughout this one with it becoming more and more of a favorite with multiple listens with a wonderful howl added at the end for good measure. ‘Movie Star’ serves as an epic finale that brings everything together over the course of its nearly 5 minutes. There are multiple vocal hooks that can kill at a long distance, great guitar work, rocking piano, and a great beat. The extended musical outro is not to be missed as the song eventually slows down for one last vocal before we hear the arm raise and the vinyl come to a stop.

Some people may approach this album with reservations, but I would urge you to check them at the door. This album exceeds every expectation I had and makes me hope that we don’t have to wait too long before we get a follow up from these guys based on how awesome this is. Tyla’s Dogs D’amour acknowledge the long history of the Dogs in many ways but more importantly, add to the band’s magical history with an album that can stand proudly with every record from their past. With two additional songs ‘Empire’ and ‘Fuck Off Devil’ added to the CD and download versions of the album, there really is no reason to not check out this album. Quite simply, this is a magical record.

‘In Vino Veritas’ is unleashed November 16th

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Nicotine Pretty, ‘Real Life Glories’ E.P (Glunk Records)

Nicotine Pretty, ‘Real Life Glories’ E.P (Glunk Records)

Martin Chamarette.

“Ace Welsh, punk power-poppers” Nicotine Pretty are back, with a blast. If you’re already acquainted with their previous tracks, ‘Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?’ and ‘Nicotine Pretty’, this will come as no surprise. This E.P includes said tunes and four newies. 

The opener, ‘Bygone Boy’ fair roars out of the speakers; “whoah!” indeed. Like the Manics rubbing up against the New York Dolls, it’s 2 mins 50 that you’ll want to stick on repeat. Ginge Knievil sings of leaving his darker habits behind, but there’s no let up in energy here.

 ‘This Ship Ain’t Going Down’ is a fitting tribute to the band’s fight against personal difficulties. They’ve had a rough time, but the mood is hard-edged optimism; a fine singalong. ‘Bad Whiskey’ keeps up the addictive choruses, with a gorgeous, melodic solo.

‘Over The Edge’ written and sung by guitarist Lewis, keeps the early Manics feel, and reminds me of the Exploding Hearts, which is a very good thing.

 

With pre-sales from Sept 23rd and official release on Oct 12th, the rave reviews keep coming, and rightly so.

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