Strange Planes – south Of Ok (Bad Horror Recordings)

Strange Planes – south Of Ok (Bad Horror Recordings)

North London punks mash up some 90’s indie with noisy punk rock to forge ahead into 2019 with a ringing in the listener’s ears as they go from melodic melodies ‘Headless Statues’ and then on the breaks make as much noise as possible with a distorted bass leading the charge. Think Buffalo Tom meets Fugazi and your heading in the right direction.

I can’t say I know anything about the band until this was thrust upon me to listen to and I’m glad it was as this threesome make a mean noise that I like.  At times it sounds quite bleak yet there is a warmth in the melodies. It might be a cliche to say that Berlin is a cold concrete dank place but they capture that in the song ‘East Berlin Comfort Zone’.  I think some of the melodies remind me of the kind Wonk Unit wrote especially early on.  PLenty of melody in the vocals but its backed up by a very dirty bass mix that adds depth and volume to proceedings.  It won’t be to everyone’s taste but it caught me on the right day where that big hook met noise and married at the right time to create a real force to be reckoned with.

‘Fade’ opens with a near nursery rhyme guitar but as the song builds its hypnotic quality is engulphing and a real triumph. The bass rumble becomes a feature and the all-out stomp of ‘Curse Of A Pistol’ reminds me of Gallows and St Pierre Snake Project.

To spread out the Strange Planes sound over twelve tracks is an intense listen but stay with it its a most enjoyable experience and the benefit of recording this at Steve Albini’s place is not lost on the band who embrace the American alt scene that took over in the 90’s is prevalent throughout this record but mixed well within the noisy punk rock that holds the songs up to the light and its a triumph of substance over style, the title track is worth waiting for and is the real highlight of a well above average record. As far as debuts go this is a real winner.

Buy South Of Ok Here

 

Author : Seb Boyd

Nashville Pussy – Cardiff, The Globe – 21st November 2018

Nashville Pussy – Cardiff, The Globe – 21st November 2018

So, I’m sat on the plane at Schiphol waiting to jet back to Blighty after my weekend in Helldorado, my tits are well and truly on the deck that’s for sure, then for some reason, I look inside my wallet and find one last 20 Euro note. What do I do with it? Why not get a ticket to see Nashville Pussy in Cardiff on the first night of their 5 date UK I thought? Yeah, why fucking not…

I’d last seen Nashville Pussy at Sjock Festival in Belgium back in July 2017, a day when the sun beat relentlessly down on many thousands of righteous heads and the band, whilst very good, were just a little bit too Southern for yours truly. So, what better way to redress the balance than to catch them on a freezing cold evening here in the UK playing to about a 100 or so diehards who have traveled from all over the country to witness Blaine, Ruyter, Bonnie and Ben on their seemingly never-ending road trip to promote studio album number (lucky) 7, the rather splendid ‘Pleased to Eat You’.

The Pussy must think its rather splendid too because tonight we get a total of five cuts from said opus and every one of them easily stands shoulder to shoulder with their already impressive canon of work. Highlights for me are the glamtastic ‘Go Home and Die’ where Blaine plays the role of storyteller to Coop-like proportions whilst on the menacing ‘CCKMP’ the band somehow manage to outclass Steve Earle right in his own backyard. Oh, and let’s not forget the boogie bastard that is ‘She Keeps Me Coming And I Keep Going Back’ a song that can make even the straightest gig goer want to duck walk across the dancefloor, as one or two do right here tonight.

It’s on the boogie train where the Pussy really are at home (and at their best) though as ‘Wrong Side Of A Gun’, ‘Pillbilly Blues’ and ‘I’m So High’ all prove to be some of the best AC/DC songs written in the past 20 years, whilst in ‘First I Look at The Purse’, ‘Piece Of Ass’ and the superb ‘5 Minutes to Live’ the band recently earned the honour of being dubbed the American Motorhead by Classic Rock magazine, something Blaine is very quick, and proud, to point out tonight.

Thinking back to that hot summer afternoon in Belgium this doesn’t really feel like the same band I’m watching here tonight and even the extended version of ‘Go To Hell’ is enthralling stuff plus it has to be said that guitarist Ruyter Suys really is one of the best out there playing this kind of cow-punk-abilly blues stuff she’s an engaging devil on those six strings even when she decides to rip most of them off her trusted SG during the final encore of ‘Wang Dang Sweet Poontang’, a song that perfectly sums up an evening spent in the presence of Nashville Pussy and takes the Ted Nugent influenced artwork of ‘Pleased to Eat You’ to its natural conclusion.

Granted I could have done without two drum solos and starting and ending the set with covers (they opened with AC/DC’s ‘Kicked In The Teeth’) seemed a bit unusual, as did the lack of support band tonight, but otherwise this was the perfect pick me up feelgood night of rock ‘n’ roll music played by one of the last true purveyors of the born to lose, live to win legacy something that had Tim Butcher (Lemmy’s long-term bass roadie) beaming from ear to ear along with the rest of us.

Epic stuff from an epic band and 20 Euros very well spent indeed.

Buy Nashville Pussy Here

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Author: Johnny Hayward

California Dreamin’ – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Trip – October 2017 (Part Six)

California Dreamin’ – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Trip – October 2017 (Part Six)

Day 10 – Downtown, near death experiences and magic shows

 

With yet another belly full of bacon and eggs, we take a cab to Downtown Vegas for some exploration. Away from the strip, Freemont Street is where it all started and its home to most of the Casinos. Since I’m not into gambling that stuff doesn’t really appeal but it’s good to explore the casinos, the shops and watch the street life.

Street entertainers are still setting up their spots for the day, all sorts of bizarre acts, from an old man in a thong and an obese man, sat on a throne in a bikini, onto a kid doing Michael Jackson moves and magic tricks, there is something for all persuasions.

A visit to the Mob Museum is a bit of a letdown compared to the Alcatraz experience a few days ago.  Housed inside a former federal courtroom, the Mob Museum has some very cool artefacts on display. Various guns and items belonging to the likes of Al Capone and even the actual brick wall from the Valentine’s Day Massacre.

While it offers an invaluable history of the Las Vegas mob movement, there is a lot of information that is just there on boards to read and to be honest I can’t be arsed with all that, I want to look at stuff!

We decide to walk back to The Strip via the business district, heading for Dino’s, a bar that has been recommended to us. I wonder if it’s the Dino’s Bar & Grill that Phill Lynott sang about. To say the areas we walk through look dodgy is an understatement, in hindsight we maybe should have taken a cab, but at the end of the day we didn’t get shot, so it’s a win! We walk past really sleazy strip joints and drive-thru wedding chapels where people are actually getting married by Elvis.

Dino’s is actually a very cool bar. Its quiet here, as it’s not even noon, come night-time I imagine it would be a different story. Refreshed, we get an uber back to The Strip for more exploration.

We find the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant for lunch, yet more amazing seafood. And explore the hotels on The Strip. Tonight we have booked to go and see the Penn & Teller magic show at the Rio Hotel & Casino, so we still have some time to kill. To be honest, it’s been a hectic trip and Vegas is mental, I feel like a rabbit trapped in the headlights here and feel Vegas is maybe a holiday that should be done separately from everything we have already experienced. I think maybe we are a bit burnt out, but a foot long, frozen margarita with extra tequila shots certainly does the trick.

The Hotel New York New York has a roller coaster on top of it. I hate roller coasters, they scare me to death. Sedd has been on it before, he loves it and says it is a rickety one and feels dangerous. Fuck it, we go on it. This is what this trip is about, doing the unexpected, the things you would not normally do. It’s scary as fuck, a white-knuckle ride. I hold on for dear life and think I’m going to die, it’s exhilarating and scary and I loved it, I will not do it again.

 

Penn & Teller have their own residency in Rio. They even have their own cocktail on sale at the bar. It’s expensive, but well, when in Rome and all that, it’s also very tasty.

There’s a guy playing Jazz on piano as we enter the theatre, which seems quite fitting. The magic show itself was disappointing to be honest.  The tricks were nothing special and seemed pretty run of the mill stuff, even down to pulling a rabbit out of a hat. For $100 a ticket I expected more, I expected to be thrilled but there was nothing that left me feeling “wow!”. It just seemed like they were going through the motions. Worth seeing if you are a fan but not essential.

 

Day 11 – Kiss crazy golf and farewell Vegas

We have a few hours to kill before the flight home. Just enough time to drive over to Rio Hotel (where we were last night) for a round of Kiss crazy golf! Kiss crazy golf you ask? Yes, at Rio there is a Kiss-themed attraction where you can play crazy golf on a neon course, a must for any rock ‘n’ roll fan to visit methinks.

The Kiss crazy golf is an indoor, 18 hole mini-golf course and it’s fully glow-in-the-dark. We have a round, the place is deserted and we have it to ourselves. There’s a gift shop and never before seen Kiss artifacts on display, guitars, basses and drum kits, even the car they gave to Eric Carr as a gift when he joined the band.

I wonder what it would be like to play golf here on mushrooms?  To be honest it’s trippy enough already without them. The gift shop is, of course, overpriced, so I just settle for a Kiss golf ball!

 

Job done, we head for the airport. Las Vegas was a wild end to our trip and I’m glad we didn’t go the other way and do it first. I think we did it the right way. We planned it fully and packed our days with as much as possible to get the most out of our experience. There was stuff we didn’t do, that was always going to be the case, there is only so much you can do in 10 days.

There were things we planned that didn’t happen. I wanted to get a tattoo, I wanted to visit a secret speakeasy and drink exotic drinks. We didn’t gamble in Vegas or ride a tram in San Francisco. I wanted to see big bands that never venture to the UK. I wanted to interview the likes of Sammy Hagar or Nikki Sixx. But the stars didn’t align for everything and that’s ok, as hopefully, we can do some of these things next time because there will be a next time.

When we return, we will skip Vegas and spend more time on the road between San Francisco and LA, but that is a future road trip that is still yet to be planned.

 

Author: Ben Hughes