Sal Canzonieri Electric Frankenstein Interview

Sal Canzonieri Electric Frankenstein Interview

True story.  I happened to be in New York just before Christmas having decided to take the trip because I’d had heart surgery and died a couple of times so to celebrate being fixed we took in the big apple and on the day we flew home I read that EF was playing an instore in Bloomingdales so grabbed a cab and set off only to arrive at the wrong store so missed the show and had to head back home having not seen the band on their home turf and failed to pick up some shirts and a book as well so epic fail on my part.  Anyway fast forward a few years and when RPM kicked off there were a bunch of bands I was looking forward to covering and Electric Frankenstein was one of them so when I read that Sal was looking for submissions for a brand new ‘Fistful Of Rock And Roll’ it seemed like the perfect time to reach out and grab a quick chat. Heres what went down…

Firstly you’ve got a whole bunch of great bands ready for the next compilation album.  Why now for a new release?  Was there a particular song or band you heard that made you want to put this together?

Well, why now is because suddenly it is 10 years already after volume 13 of “A Fistful of Rock & Roll” came out and I was seeing that there is a whole new generation of bands that are playing and recording now that were influenced by the bands on the first Fistful of Rock series. There were so many new bands and really great sounding bands, not only from the US and the UK , but from all over the world.

Actually, there was a group of 8 new bands that made me say, “Oh wow, I really need to document all the new bands since the first series!”. And those bands are Black Gremlin ( Italy ), Flash House (UK), Liberty Slaves (UK). Scum Bag Millionaire ( Sweden ), Bitch Queens ( Switzerland ), Detroit Sound ( Norway ), and Night Birds ( USA ). I didn’t want all these new bands to disappear without some cheerleading support that can go out worldwide. The first series sparked a global movement for High Energy / Punk Rock & Roll, which is also called Action Rock. For a few years things seemed quiet for Rock & Roll music, but then in the last year all the best of the original generation that moved the bar up for real Rock & Roll started doing reunion shows and at the same time all new bands started appearing. The new bands are really great bands that have moved the bar even further.

 

You’ve obviously been inundated with some fantastic responses too, any particular favourites?

Ha, so, so many bands, over 300 so far! Besides the 8 bands above, I have been listening to great bands like: King Mastino, Idol Lips, The Innocent, Temporal Sluts and others from Italy; Iron Lizards from France; Black Actress, Red Hot Rebellion, Hell’s Engine, Killer Hearts, Thee Perfect Gentlemen, Focke Wolves, Lovesores, Poison Boys, The Cops from USA; Dumbell, Black Sheriff, Christmas, Stacy Crowne from Germany; Stingray from Norway; Chuck Norris Experiment, from Sweden; Hard Action from Finland; Columbian Neckties from Denmark; Savage Beat, Dirty Denims from Netherlands;The Hip Priests, Motherfuckin Motherfuckers, Deathtraps from UK, Turbocoopers, Los Burros from Argentina, Deadvikings, Jet Boys from Japan, Tracy Lords from Hong Kong, The Sick Things from Montreal, Dead Furies from Estonia; Poison Heart from Poland; Aberration, East Coast Low from Australia, and so many more!

 

enough for a few compilations then?

More is always welcome, I want to document ALL the best of the new Rock & Roll bands. So far I am completing the first 6 volumes. I will put out the first 3, then 3 volumes at a time after that. Like the first series, which was 13 volumes, I aim to do another 13 volumes or more, as many as are necessary.

 

What About Electric Frankenstein?  When can we hear some new music from your band?

I added an unreleased EF song on the comp, never fear, ha. We have written enough new songs for at least 3 albums work of music. Soon as we complete a batch so we can demo them for labels, we wish to get things rolling again.

There was an announcement that the band is going to tour in 2019 to celebrate twenty years of ‘How To Make A Monster’ wow where does the time go? it seems like only yesterday.  It has been great to see Gluecifer back playing that would be a cool line up I’m sure you could make that happen.  Anyway, where do these tour plans extend to?  Can the UK expect any dates? you mentioned our good friends The Hip Priests who also have an album early next year that would be a superb match up.

Everything is in the early planning stages. EF is ready to tour, we were in Japan in October 2017 and toured with The Adolescents on the east coast this past June. We should be touring in Europe this coming July, hopefully. We are looking into the UK for August or so. Hip Priests are always our number one choice for the UK and now all our new band friends as well.  Fingers crossed that it all happens.

 

The artwork is iconic and instantly recognizable with the band and seeing the pin badges and patches as well as the show posters it must be hugely satisfying to see people pick up on this all the time and the amount of bands who want to be a part of the Fistful comps is quite incredible there’s always been a lot of love and respect for you guys.  We like to keep an ear to the ground but the response you get is amazing so much to keep up with you must be blown away?

Well, it’s the bands that impress me. About myself, I must have good taste, ha hah, because I always pick the best song by each band. I have always been a person that is personable and friendly and sincere, so in other words, I am not an asshole towards other people and other bands, so it is very satisfying that I can work with so many bands worldwide. I feel that I have done the right thing and stepped up to the plate to make this great accomplishment, not just with A Fistful of Rock & Roll but with Electric Frankenstein as well.

The bands back catalogue is impressive are there any plans for an anniversary Make a monster with bonus cuts or live shows etc?  what about any more spare parts releases to bring us up to date? apart from the split with thee eviltones, the world needs EF.

There is a “More Spare Parts” album available digitally only on iTunes and elsewhere that is fairly recent. I am more concerned with recording all the new songs that we have archived to make as big a musical statement as we did with all our early albums.

So there you have it folks keep an eye out for some EF music and tour dates in 2019 both would be most welcome I’m sure you’ll agree and when the new compilation is released my advice would be to get right on it there are some fantastic bands that we know of and would highly recommend for your listening pleasure besides it would be our pleasure to keep you informed of any news from the Electric Frankenstein camp.  Thanks to Sal for giving RPM the time of day and we look forward to the next time.

 

Buy Electric Frankenstein Here

EF Website

Author : Dom Daley

UK Subs – Bristol Exchange – 15.11.18

UK Subs – Bristol Exchange – 15.11.18

Over the years I have witnessed dozen and dozens of performances with almost as many lineups but I think its safe to say that the current line up is right up there with the best ever if not the hands-down top of the pile although I appreciate that is open to debate.  Stephen Straughan has been in the band for several years now and to put it one way – is part of the furniture and adds the required bite to proceedings which the current Subs line up deserves. Alvin and Jamie are without a doubt the driving force and an incredible powerhouse rhythm section that is up there with the best anywhere.  As for Charlie.  what can you say about the guy?  An incredibly likable frontman with an insatiable lust for life and one whose talent shows no sign of abating.

Of all the times I’ve seen the band I think this was my first foray into Bristol but I wouldn’t swear by that and with a healthy crowd inside the exchange on a school night the Subs casually saunter onto the stage and proceed to knock out a fantastic set with the required amount of mainstays and some very welcome additions to the ever-evolving set list.  Let’s be fair they have a bazillion songs to choose from yet always seem to throw up a new gem or two every tour. This one is no exception. 

 

They could easily get away with playing for seventy-five minutes and do the best of but they keep writing new material that is as strong if not stronger than their impressive back catalogue.  Tonight begins with the likes of ‘Fragile’ followed by ‘Quintessentials’ ‘Mouth on A Stick’ then to follow that up with ‘Ladt Esquire’ from the first album was some excellent choices. It then became apparent that this decent-sized audience that some down the front wanted to hold up their blessed camera phones which rightfully got Charlie’s goat a little, to say the least.  Sure take a few pics I do but that takes a few seconds then it’s gone but I’m also baffled as to why somebody would go to see a show and spent the entire evening watching it through a phone screen!  When did that even become a thing? Charlie became more and more perturbed by the actions of a few but he wasn’t the only one.

Anyway, the songs came hard and fast and the heat was raised by the time we hit a purple patch of classic Subs tunes and one to add to the list has to be ‘City Of The Dead’.  Not that the crowd needed warming up but to follow that with ‘I’ve Got A Gun’, ‘Emotional Blackmail’ and ‘Another Cuba’ was exceptional. I’m sure there are many who would say that their favourite album is ‘Endangered Species’ I flip-flop from one week to the next putting this at the top of the pile so it was great to hear ‘Fear Of Girls’ but when they chime up with ‘Bitter & Twisted’ I’m loving ‘Quintessential’ but enough of that their cover version of ‘Here Comes Alex’ sounds as bright as the first time I heard it.

We head into the home straight and from here on in its a sing-along classic fest.  ‘Teenage’, ‘Party In Paris’ they all lead to that classic bass line and ‘Warhead’ signals the crowd participation as some people lose their collective shit.  It is great that these songs we’ve possibly heard too many times still hit the spot and tonight ‘Warhead’ sounds as fresh as it ever has and as relevant as it ever has.  I guess our leaders have learned nothing over the decades.

For an encore tonight we’re treated to the trio of UK Subs classics in the shape of ‘C.I.D’, ‘I Live In A Car’ and to send us into the cold Bristol night its the ‘New York State Police’ and then we’re gone.  Another night in another town with the same familiar songs sounding as fresh as the day they were written watching a band killing it time after time and night after night already I’m checking my diary to see when I can catch them next and Cardiff Tramshed in 2019 it is. Phenomenal band phenomenal back catalogue and still giving, new EP and then there is Alvin’s solo album to look forward to – bring it on – the more the merrier.

Time & Matter

Buy UK Subs Here

Author :Dom Daley

The Godfathers play two benefit concerts in Scotland

The Godfathers play two benefit concerts in Scotland

The Godfathers will play TWO benefit concerts in Edinburgh & Glasgow in December for the family of Heavy Drapes’ lead singer Garry Borland who sadly died in June. They will play Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on Saturday 8th December & Audio in Glasgow on Sunday 9th December. On both nights special guests are Reaction & very special guests will be Heavy Drapes members Richie Simpson, Billy Duncanson & Jerry Crowe joined by The Godfathers’ singer Peter Coyne on vocals to perform some Heavy Drapes numbers & punk classics! The proceeds from both concerts will go directly to Garry’s widow Julie Borland & their daughter Mischa & tickets for Edinburgh & Glasgow are on sale NOW from the links below…

Tickets For Edinburgh

Tickets For Glasgow

Copies of the Heavy Drapes album Crashing Like Stars will be available on both nights or you can purchase on line from Here

Poison Heart – Heart Of Black City (Heavy Medication Records)

Poison Heart – Heart Of Black City (Heavy Medication Records)

AI guess If you were to hear this record without any details as to where and what for you’d probably be forgiven for thinking they’ve just graduated from the backstreets of some Oslo dive bar or studied at the rock and roll high school frequented by The Hellacopters and that would be a fair assumption but if I were to tell you they are from a hotbed of punk rock n fuckin roll straight  outta Warsaw you might raise an eyebrow but there are no borders in Rock n Roll and where a band is influenced from doesn’t matter but its generally accepted that certain Genres of music filter out into the world from certain often unique places like Grunge hailing from Seattle or Hair Metal coming outta LA or punk out of London (maybe).  I wouldn’t mind betting this is the first Polish scuzzy rock n roll band you’ve had the pleasure of hearing?  anyway on with the show.  ‘Heart Of Black City’ certainly nods in the general direction of Scandinavia and their sleazy garage rock n roll and I bet there are a few Gluecifer and Turbonegro records splattered throughout their collections which is a great thing proving that it’s getting out there and kids all over the place are picking up a guitar and writing music that certainly hits the spot around these parts.

 

I’d say that this third long player kicks off with more of a Gluecifer nod than Hellacopters vibe which is fine but its riff-a-rama rather than leaning towards the American garage rock of the Stooges but I’m sure that diluted in their DNA somewhere. Jacek Barton handles the vocals confidently and he’s certainly shooting from the same lip as Biff Malibu and we like that.  As the album opens up you reach ‘Prince Of Scum’ which has a cool intro that raises the tempo before rockin’ out.

 

‘For Life’ kicks off side two and a rather tasty bass line signals a fairly lengthy intro  that heads right down the Gluecifer route which is fine by me and we’re treated to more of the same the riffs are big and bruising but to close this offering out the band dedicate ‘Bagermossen’ to Hellacopters recently passed away guitar slinger  Strings its a nice touch and obviously that’s why the riffs are less heavy and lean more toward the style of the ‘Copters with plenty of noodling and string bending.  I’ve enjoyed my first forray into the sleazy underbelly of Warsaw’s Rock n Roll scene hopefully there will be more to come and Poison Heart will spearhead a new dawn of Polish rock n roll.  Why not its got to come from somewhere might as well be this fine Black city.

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Author : Dom Daley

This Machine kills fascists

This Machine kills fascists

 

For the first of hopefully many features, we’ve asked our regular guitar teaching scribe Leigh to pick through some players setups and gear rigs to hopefully get to the bottom of how a guitar sound is made. First up under the microscope is Los Angeles guitar player and now solo artist Mike Christie whose record we recently reviewed here at RPM. He talks guitars, amps and pedals with Leigh…

Mike Christie is one of the busiest players on the LA scene, between his many hours spent throwing shapes and breaking hearts he finds time to be a total gear nerd. He took the time to sit down with RPM’s Leigh Fuge to chat gear.

Leigh: Tell us a little bit about what you’re busy working on right now? What studio and live projects are you currently working on?

Mike: Currently I’m pushing the solo album. Some reviews/interviews are starting to come in, and I’ll be scheduling an appearance on the “Black Lung Show” soon. Just trying to keep it all up to date. As far as live projects, I recently joined up with Something Ferocious. Guys from the Amplifiers, and the Misguided. This is pretty new (a few weeks) for me. The band has been together for some time now, but I believe they have gone through a few line-up changes. I’m coming in working on some of their older stuff and writing some new tunes for them. We have a few shows coming up in Southern California over the next few weeks. I’m also working on a 60’s influenced Neo Soul band called Briana & the Fates. Briana has a hell of a voice and was kind enough to sing on my solo record. We have a debut E.P. we are currently working on and played our first show in Texas last month with the Bastards of Soul. Between all of that, and continuously writing for all 3 projects, it keeps me pretty busy.

Leigh: Let’s talk guitars, is there a number one that you tend to gravitate towards or are there are few in circulation with you?

Mike: Can’t say that I have a current #1. Over the years I think a lot of people saw me with the early 2000’s white Gibson Les Paul Custom. I toured heavily with that guitar and I used it for a lot of the ADHD, White Demons and Hellride shows. Skipping ahead a little bit, I tend to build a new rig around a specific project. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to use the guitar with a few different projects. Right now, I have been relying heavily on a 1989 Gibson 335 I bought of Kevin Bombay (Black Marquee). He’s an even bigger gearhead than I am. There’s a group of friends that basically circle like vultures when Kevin gets a new guitar because we know it’s just a matter of time until one of us gets a shot at buying it off him. The 335 is all over the Solo Record and the Briana & the Fates record. It’s getting quite a bit of play time with Something Ferocious as well.

Leigh: What about the 335 is so special to you? I have a couple of 335s myself and love them.

Mike: The 89 Gibson 335 is just a solid guitar. It’s a little old, heavily worn and get the job done for damn near everything I’m currently working on. I have always loved hollow-body guitars and over the past few years, I have been leaning more towards lower output pickups. This allows me to make the amp work a little harder and not have to depend on pedals as much. This guitar has a Bigsby which is new for me but came in handy for the soul band and I get a lot of use out it for the rock stuff as well. It’s loaded with a set of Alnico II humbuckers (about 8.2k in the bridge, and probably about 7.8k in the neck), a 50’s style wiring harness and a treble bleed mod. This guitar is a beast, I haven’t weighed it, but it feels much heavier than most of the Les Pauls I have owned in the past. I can get so many tones out of this guitar between the pickups, rolling off my volume or tone knob and some combination of the 3. It’s very easy to control the feedback at high volume, higher gain settings, and just screams when I step on boost. It has that really great musical feedback that I can weave in and out of between notes.

Leigh: What other guitars might someone see in your rig?

Mike: I’ve had a 92 Gibson Les Paul special that I have played on and off since the early 2000’s.  It was originally a two P-90 guitar that was routed out for a humbucker in the bridge. It was also heavily damaged in a flood when I was living in Arizona. A few years later, I put some work into it and its back up and running. There’s a Halo 335 hollow body (first guitar endorsement I ever got from a company in Southern California, not sure if they are still around) that I still play. I have completely re-done the entire guitar. Paint has been stripped, new tuners, pickups, and wiring harness. It’s currently loaded with a set of the Dimarzio 36th anniversary PAF humbuckers,  Emerson wiring harness, and  Grover tuners. I also picked up a Nash T63 recently (also from Kevin Bombay), loaded with a set of Joe Barden single coils. I was never a Tele guy, but this guitar has a huge baseball bat neck, good size frets and just plays fantastic.

Leigh: Do you find that you gravitate towards one brand or are you someone who owns quite a diverse guitar collection?

Mike: For most of my life I have always been a Gibson guy. I guess it’s just how I grew up. There’s something about those vintage Gibson’s that I have always gravitated towards. Some sort of Gibson has always been the basis of my sound regardless of the type of band I’m playing in. I have only wanted/needed other types of guitar for studio work mainly. Fortunately, most studios or friends of mine have let me use or borrow anything I needed.

Leigh: What amps are you using to make yourself heard?

Mike: Right now, I’m down to just a 1996 Korg Era Vox AC30. I picked it up specifically for the solo record and threw in a set of T.A.D. tubes. Those Alnico Blues just sit great in a mix, especially against a Marshall or other EL34 based amp. I have gone through a number of amps over the years, most recently I was playing a TopHat King Royal, Divided by 13 RDT 200 or a Friedman. The Vox sounds amazing and I can get some great tones out of it for rock music and/or the soul band. It is ungodly loud when you really open it up. It just sits in its own space and is damn near impossible to drown it out even in a loud band. It is also extremely unforgiving which has made me a much better player.

Leigh: Do you have a one-stop shop rig that you use for each project or are you someone that builds a rig for a job. Personally, I drive myself nuts with this because I totally re-build my rig each time I have something different to do.

Mike: Much like you, I typically build a rig around each project. If I get multiple uses, it’s just a bonus.  There are always the tried and true amps that will work for anything rock related. You can’t go wrong with a JCM 800 or a solid JMP. I have stuck with the Vox for now 1.) because its sounds awesome and 2.) I can typically find another guitar player with a great Marshall sound but it’s really hard to find the Vox guy. I decided recently to be that guy and it’s been really enjoyable. The EL84 break-up and sparkly chime make me rethink what I add to each song and how it will sit against another guitar tone.

Leigh: Are you a pedal user or do you prefer the direct approach? If so, what’s usually on the board?

Mike: It really depends on the situation. If I’m in the studio I try to go as direct as possible to clean up my signal path unless it’s a very specific overdub however I always bring a ton of pedals with me.  Live performances are a whole other deal. Nowadays live I’m almost always depending on a boost of some sort and some sort of slapback delay to thicken up my sound at least. With the band Something Ferocious, I’m running a TC Electronics Polytune, RYRA Treble Boost, Xotic EP Booster, a wah, a buffer and an MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe. If I’m playing guitar for Briana & the Fates (I’ll bounce between bass/guitar depending on the players we have at the time), I’m running a tuner, Magnetic Effects Double Feature, Modified Tube Screamer, Malekko Spring Chicken and an MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe. Certain projects I have played in have been heavily pedal based. With the Black Marquee, I was playing bass live and had a pedal board that put most guitar player’s boards to shame. We ran a lot of fuzz pedals live and I needed to cover different frequency spectrums for different songs. In order to not muddy up the live mix, I would use different fuzz boxes, dirt boxes, micro synth, EQ pedals etc. Now the Black Marquee was a pretty extreme example, and on the other end of the spectrum when playing bass in Briana & the Fates, I’m simply running a tuner, a D.I., and that’s it.

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Author: Leigh Fuge

Video of the week

Video of the week

Not sure how many website will be pulling this banger out of the bag as their video of the week but we love Roy and we love The Good The Bad And The zugly so it was a no-brainer that it was going to be a video we needed to share with you good folk out there in cyder space.  Raise a glass and rock on mother truckers BuyTGTBATZ Here or the single from any of these

 

UK Subs – Sub Mission The Best Of The UK Subs 1982-1998 (Fall Out / JungleRecords)

UK Subs – Sub Mission The Best Of The UK Subs 1982-1998 (Fall Out / JungleRecords)

The lesser known of the Record Store Day family would be the winter version that leans more towards North America and this Black Friday offerings might well be a bit thin on the ground that might all be changing with Jungle being involved in knocking out a few must-have purchases and this latest offering will be of great interest to UK Subs fans (obviously).  Sure this summer just passed the Subs released their entire back catalogue over two box sets that were nicely housed inside a book like cover and split over two periods they housed every single A-Z in the bands releases which was very nice as it had stuff that was fairly hard to find even for avid collectors of Subs stuff but it was all available for under seventy sheets in most places with Charlie’s signature and limited to 1000 pieces.  Well maybe someone somewhere will take on the same collection but on vinyl, however, I’d imagine it might be a little more expensive so one will have to make do.  there is one album included in that set that was released as part of the A-Z but it never got a vinyl release ever.  Until now that is and the good people at Jungle and Fall Out records have taken on the job of producing a double album pressed on yellow and blue vinyl and limited to 500 pieces so you’ll have to be fairly diligent and quick to find a copy before they are all hoovered up.

 

housed in a gatefold sleeve with pictures of all the Subs who passed through the band in the time period and a brief description of each track and where the versions come from.  the one thing that shines through is how diverse the Subs have always been and they certainly aren’t a one trick pony.  I particularly like the Gibbs vocals on ‘Drag Me Down’ from the Killing time Album and the take of Die Toten Hosen ‘Here Comes Alex’ which was done in return for the version of ‘Stranglehold’ that Hosen did prior to this. Subs lyrics have always been on point and relevant except maybe fo r’Hey Santa’ depending on how you view things but ‘Ozone Death’, ‘Warhead’ ‘Riot’ could all have been written yesterday to be fair as sad as it is to say.

Having seen the band recently they are indeed alive and well and still on tour and kicking up a shit storm and as relevant as ever with a new EP on the way as well as Alvin Gibbs having his debut solo album ready to drop.

‘SUB MISSION’, was compiled by Charlie Harper, how he chose the best 20 tracks from their albums F – R I’ll never know although this is indeed a pretty good starting point.  And the bonus of a previously unreleased live recording of the Subs in top form in Bristol 1991adds exceptional VFM. Now we can carry on arguing as to which is the best line up.  any of these? The first? Current?  Does it matter as long as there is a UK Subs playing a venue near you someday soon.

Buy Vinyl RSD Sub Mission Here

Time&Matter Website

 

MC5 – Thunder Express (Jungle Records)

MC5 – Thunder Express (Jungle Records)

So it would seem Black Friday 2018 has got some very decent reissues or first time on vinyl releases set for this week. One such gem is MC5 ‘Thunder Express’.  A compilation of the bands material this is pressed on Green and Red splatter (very nice too) its been released to coincide with MC50’s tour dates and shows what an absolute thunder Express the MC5 were.  From the incendiary fueled ‘Kick Out The Jams’  to the inclusion of bonus material that is the early singles ‘Looking At You’ and ‘Borderline’. An essential purchase? Why not if youre an avid collector of the band then of course this is its also housed with an inner bag that has the White Panthers ’10 point programme’ as well as brief interview and sleeve notes the live material is culled from a French TV performance from ’72 so right towards the end of the bands reign but don’t for a moment think they had lost any of their boundless energy or verve because they hadn’t. It’s not only about the incredible guitar riffs or that voice but the rhythm section was absolutely thunderous and incendiary and still an inspiration today.

‘Thunder Express’ bookends nicely the bands recording output first four tracks from those debut two singles and then the live performance in France there can be no denying the MC5 contribution to music, alternative music, punk and garage rock was and is immense. As well as their most famous song ‘Kick Out The Jams’ you have an extended workout of ‘Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa’, Ramblin Rose’ and the sleazy blues jaunt that is ‘Motor City Is Burning’.

 

These might not be the best versions of the songs that can be up for debate but even in the twilight of their existence, they had the chops to devastate and between Tyner, ‘Sonic’ Smith, Kramer, Davis, Moorhouse and Thompson they did indeed kick out the jams motherfuckers! As for the clicks n pops on ‘Looking At You’ that makes me smile – like the original tapes were ever going to be located and as the levels peak and dip that’s another reason to make this a bit special and another reason to not ignore RSD in 2018.

Buy The RSD Vinyl Here

Youth Avoiders – Relentless (Destructure Records)

Youth Avoiders – Relentless (Destructure Records)

France brings the noise to RPM who’d have thought it? Not really known for producing really popular bands it would be crass of me to suggest a whole country as big as France doesn’t have hardcore scenes especially a city the size of Paris but before today I couldn’t name a single one – well that has all changed with my introduction to Youth Avoiders.  When the bosses at RPM sent me an assignment to uncover something they’d not heard before this was a no-brainer for me. From the moment the needle drops right through to the end of ‘Ohaguro’ they plow a hardcore furrow that is both fruitful and enjoyable.  Their harvest is nothing short of tuneful breakneck hardcore ‘On The Run’ starts off proceedings and whilst it doesn’t have the history of say NYHC it certainly has quality running through it like a stick of seaside rock and Youth Avoiders are uncompromising and as brutal as anyone on the scene but they also have the songs which will set them aside from other noise bringers.

As the artwork alludes there is a dense black and white feel to the music as they capture the cold brutal yet melodic and welcoming punk rock.  A band that has been around for some time have just gotten better as they have refined their sound and songs to a point where there is a steady progression every record and this ‘Relentless’ album being the pinnacle of their body of work thus far.  I love the charm and melody of ‘Watch Me’ and ‘Street Violence’ is like a street fight caught and melted into plastic grooves it’s breathless and a musical punch after punch after kick.

The band has tirelessly toured this record and visited the UK as well as a lot further afield to show just how good Parisian Hardcore is and hopefully if there are others in their scene ready to make music as good as this then we welcome them.  Every song on ‘Relentless’ is exactly that – relentless. A short sharp shock to the system that Hardcore is alive and kicking and with bands like Youth Avoiders playing and making music it will never die.

 

Buy Youth Avoiders Here

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Author:Seb Boyd