Life in a rock ‘n’ roll band ain’t too easy these days, just ask Edgey Pires and Delila Paz from NYC band The Last Internationale. They released their major label debut album ‘We Will Reign’ to critical acclaim back in 2014. With Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk hitting the skins and

guitarist Tom Morello as their friend and mentor, they toured the world with the likes of Robert Plant, appeared on US prime time TV and did the festival circuit in Europe and America, winning fans for their incendiary live shows.

Call it fate or call it bad luck, but for whatever reason, the hard work never paid off. Shafted by their label and having the record industry slam doors in their faces, momentum was lost. The duo decided to take matters into their own hands, regaining full artistic freedom to record and release their music on their own terms.

 

After lengthy delays, their sophomore album ‘Soul On Fire’ finally sees the light of day and via PledgeMusic, a vinyl copy landed on my doorstep just in time for Christmas.

As I drop the needle on the rather pretty, light blue marbled wax for the umpteenth time, the jammed intro plays out with rising feedback as Delila proceeds to croon over Edgey’s dirty blues fuelled riffs and drummer Joey Castillo’s powerhouse beats. The three musicians play off each other, seemingly live in the studio, before leading into first song proper ‘Hard Times’, a solid rocker in the vein of ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Indian Blood’ from their debut album.

“I’ve been lost, I’ve been pushed, pulled and turned around” sings Delila. Written during a turbulent time in their career, ‘Soul On Fire’ is the sound of a band with a fire in their bellies, a band with something to say and a band who will not give up the fight.

‘ Mind Ain’t Free’ follows. A retro sounding groove with a modern rock ‘n’ roll twist, that mixes up Jefferson Airplane pop sensibilities with Royal Blood styled grooves…nice! ‘Try Me’ with its stabs of Hammond like keys, lo-fi guitars and a great melody gives a more commercial, yet still classic rock sounding vibe. The vocals draw you into the verse, ready to power out and sing along on the chorus.

Funked up blues workouts like the slide guitar-induced ‘Tempest Blues’ and dirty bass ridden ‘5th World’ are all well and good, but it’s when they mix it up a bit that things really get interesting.

‘Freak Revolution’ closes side one. It’s a dark and foreboding beast that skulks along like the bastard son of Sabbath and Soundgarden. A great chorus refrain that sees Delila preaching the revolution we all need, as Edgey pulls off killer solos behind her.

 

The title track gets side two up and running with understated acoustic guitars and keys that intertwine with beautiful vocal lines, as it builds to a glorious crescendo of a chorus. Name-checking Jimi, Janis, and Nina Simone, The Last Internationale proudly wear their influences on their sleeves.

‘Need Somebody’ proves to be one of the key tracks on the album. Dark, brooding and with an intensity that slowly builds, but in a different way to ‘Freak Revolution’.  With haunting vocals and with just one opening verse, it’s a song that relies on its rousing chorus refrain to see it through, and it’s powerful enough to do the job. It builds like classic Fleetwood Mac meeting Patti Smith on a dusty highway, then takes an unexpected dive into the depths on the soul for the chorus, Trent Reznor style. Cinematic and glorious.

The rocket fuelled ‘Hit Em With Your Blues’ is a signature rocker that aims for the jugular. This is the sound and feel of The Last Internationale in the live arena or the hot sweaty club, vying for your attention.

Side two closes with Delilah acapella, just handclaps accompany her. Live and in one take, like an ancient chain gang work song, a snippet of a stadium-sized tune in its rawest form. It has more power than a wall of Marshalls in Wembley Stadium and that is something special.

 

It has been said that an artist is at their best when they have to fight for it, when they are down on their luck with something to prove and nothing left to lose. The Last Internationale have delivered the album they wanted to make and more importantly, the album they needed to make.

It doesn’t have the instant, radio-friendly hooks of its predecessor. No, ‘Soul On Fire’ is a darker album that takes time to digest. But with repeated plays, the melodies dig under the skin, dig into the soul and stay there. In time it will be accepted as a modern classic rock record that stands tall against all the competition this year. Do yourself a favour, buy the album, catch them live if you can and join the revolution, you will not be disappointed.

 

(This album was reviewed from a vinyl copy that was played on an actual record player. No downloads, MP3s or streaming services were used in the creation of this piece.)

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Author: Ben Hughes

 

 

 

Along with the recent announcement that Trigger McPoopschute will  be making their festival debut, The Damned have also been added to this summers bill along with a whole list of other great bands really strengthening these years line up after the early announcement of Cock Sparrer then The Stranglers

For all the latest updates and additions to the bill like the facebook page Here or their website Here

 

Also announced today was the inclusion of The legends that are The Dwarves and also from the USA Descendents.  We’re sure you’ll agree that this years festival is really beginning to take shape now.  for tickets Here

2018 saw Christmas release their third album ‘Scum As You Are’ to a huge nod of approval from RPM HQ so with a bunch of UK tour dates announced we thought it was only fair to get hold of frontman Max and ask him a few choice questions about the past present and future for Christmas.  Take it away Max…
firstly for those who don’t know to introduce yourself? Let the readers know a little about the band?
We started Christmas in 2010. We planned to found a glam-rock band. It didn’t end up as one (maybe luckily?!). Glam rockers are good musicians, we just have been looking good with our instruments. Also, my hair stopped to grow on my head and started growing on my belly. After a few years of searching for our sound, we released ‘APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION’. It’s the perfect record for me!
Looking back to the first and second albums, those titles, did they cause the band any problems (we all know how touchy some Rock stars can be over what they perceive they own) or did people have a laugh at the titles? Tell us how you look at the recordings you’ve made to this point?
Well, like I said, ‘APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION’ is the perfect record for me. Written in about three months we caught a wild mix of Turbonegro’s ‘ASS COBRA’ and Poison Idea’s ‘FEEL THE DARKNESS’. The artwork was made by a good friend of mine from Mexico who also worked for other huge bands and the producer is from the Mod scene in the UK and moved to Germany about fifteen years ago. He totally got into it and was a brilliant addition when we produced the record. 
As for ‘LOSE YOUR ILLUSION’ we worked way longer on the songs. The production process was not that perfect like the first time we went to JPs studio and I think he had different things on his mind. He did a good job in mixing and mastering, but he didn’t get the connection that much on that one. I can hear it from my side I think. The artwork was made by another good friend who also did our logo and the first EP’s artwork. You see, I know many people that are a genius in doing artworks! 
‘SCUM AS YOU ARE’ is the perfect example for a DIY record! Even if the beginning of the songwriting took ages because we had band members come and go, in the end, we wrote the songs very quickly.  Alex, our drummer at that time, has built himself a small studio in his basement and recorded everything himself. He also mixed and mastered it and did a really good job. My girlfriend, Annika, took care of the artwork this time. With her together we screen printed all the covers ourselves. Now we do all our merch ourself as well. Pretty much a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it!
You’ve announced a bunch of tour dates already for 2019 what other plans have you got lined up?  Any more recording or is the plan to tour ‘Scum As You Are’ for 2019?
We are a multi-tasking band! We will record our next album in the first half of 2019. In fall we will have a huge tour in southern Europe on the schedule, that one is not announced yet, so we tour as well.
Did you do anything differently for this third album? The total package was great and a lot of attention to detail was put into the whole thing how important is it to bring your music out on vinyl as well as CD? Does it enable you to tour or is it the other way around does the touring enable you to make records?
Music is made to be heard! For each and everyone, no matter if vinyl addict, CD listener or music streamer. Our vinyl album contains everything, vinyl, CD and download code. Packed in a screen printed sleeve and with a huge booklet! We wanted to deliver quality! 

Touring and releasing record goes hand in hand. You go on tour to pay the studio, then you release music and want people to hear it, so you tour again. Then you got money again and hey, why not go and record some new songs?
What about the future? singles? A new record.  any plans? or videos maybe?
Absolutely! We did three 7″ singles next to the album last year. One of them was a split with my childhood idols THE TURBO A.C.’s. Now we are working on a split single with SKINNY MILLIONAIRE, the other band of the guitar player from the TURBO A.C.’s. Probably there will be another one before the album as well.
Your playing with Trigger Mcpoopshute again when you come to Wales and you also have the excellent Pizza-tramp with you for a few shows on the continent is it important who you take out with you on tours?  
Punk rock means friendship. Our first show in the UK was with those grumpy old men from TRIGGER MCPOOPSHUTE. We straight felt in love, they are kinda punk rock daddys for us! Last year they came to Germany for some shows with us. I want them back next year! With PIZZA-TRAMP.  it is just by chance that we play together. In the past we played some shows here and there together, it never was planned. Pretty cool dudes though and they are wild!
That European tour last year looked great fun when you do it with bands who value what they do like those guys its lifelong memories and it has to be a good time doing it as well.
It’s always important to be on eye level with people. Never look down on someone else, you don’t want them to look down at you, right? Respectful and fair handling makes a tour a really cool time for everyone. Unfortunately, in the past, we also toured with bands that looked down on us. Each night they made a drama of everything. Horrible! 
Any future plans or news you want to announce? The floor is yours.  Just leaves me to say Good luck with the tour and hopefully, we can catch you when you arrive in the UK…
There is nothing with a deadline yet. But thank you for being there for us!!

Always nice to get a Monday morning off to a good start well it won’t get any better than this slab of punk rock from Norway. Wet Dreams indeed get these bad boys on your radar asap.

Wow is it really 30 years?  Seems like a great time to watch this great song and video again and hope the reissue delivers some great bonus material. ‘Love Junk’

Finally with a new song up on Bandcamp but no video we thought it only fair to show this bad boy which guarantees to kiss any Monday morning right between the eyes take it home boys and turn up the speakers because its Watts with enough Kiss references to satisfy Gene and his payola machine. take it away gents

People always remember Johnny Thunders but his band The Heartbreakers helped shape the sound of one of the greatest album released in the seventies and rightly so.  The Heartbreakers consisted of one Jerry Nolan on drums thunders pal from his time with the Dolls. Out of the four members of the band, only Walter Lure is still with us and with it being the 14th of #january the day Jerry passed away we wanted to celebrate his time with us by championing his work and remembering Jerry Nolan. A powerhouse of a drummer who was old school and didn’t go for being flash and played the song.  If there needed to be silence or no drums then that’s what you got.  He had style and managed to look fantastic behind his kit he was a real showman without being flash for the sake of being flash.RPM is gonna champion those forgotten men (and women) who got taken way to soon and what better place to start than in the engine room with the one and only Jerry Nolan, May 7, 1946 – January 14, 1992.

First up is former New York Doll and Heartbreakers drummer  Gerard “Jerry” Nolan.

Jerry passed away on this day in 1992.  Jerry was born in Brooklyn on 7th May 1946 which makes him just 45 when he passed away in Manhatten at St Vincent’s after suffering a stroke. 2018 saw Jerry get some much-deserved limelight with the release of his excellent biography ‘Stranded In The Jungle’ penned by Curt Weiss available here.

Outside of his work with Thunders be it in the Dolls or The Heartbreakers Jerry only managed one 7″ single ‘Take A Chance With Me’ and the posthumously released EP with the Profilers both bearing his name, there were a few other bits here and there as he recorded in Sweden with Pilsner and there was his stint with The Idols that managed one single – not a lot for someone so talented but what we do have is well worth tracking down for one of a few really influential drummers of his generation.  Jerry RPM salutes you and raises a glass in your honor as we remember.

Other notable things happened on this day – This was the day in 1978 when the Pistols played Winterland in San Francisco and the last time Sid would play with the band. They did, however, reform in 96 for a stack of cash.  another pistols fact for this day is they sued Malcolm and were awarded a cool One million pounds (seems like chicken feed these days).

It’s also the very day in ’77 that Bowie released ‘Low‘ and the birthday of David Eric Grohl

Born this day in 1969 Happy Birthday Mr Grohl.

 

 

 

 

Another year begins and so we embark on other singles roundup.  With January barely alive and the songs begin to trickle into RPM HQ not so much an avalanche but a gentle stroll through the door. But that’s not to say the quality drops because we can assure you that’s not the case at all and we start as we mean to go on with the first banger out of the traps in 2019 we give you…

Watts – Breaking Glass (RumBar Records) Never let us down before so no reason to doubt their impeccable taste in Rock n Roll and from previous reviews, Watts is a band not to be ignored or passed over and ‘Breaking Glass’ is a wonderful way to begin the year.  IT got big loud guitars and is the sound of a band with its head held high and chest puffed out because it knows how fuckin’ good it is.  From the intro of breaking glass and the throbbing bass guitar you know this is happening as we riff towards the chorus this is a breath of fresh air not because it’s original or groundbreaking but because its bloody good.  They know it – Rum Bar knows it – Boston knows it and RPM knows it and now you know it. Amps turned up Riff – n – Roll and Rock solid. Watts are winning every day of the week with songs as cool as this watts not to like and for $1 how can you refuse? Bandcamp

Tad Overbaugh & The Late Arrivals – Demons In The Dust (Rum Bar Records) Well Rum Bar are setting the bar high in 2019 as the label gets off to a blazing start with some quality releases and the second this month is Tad Overbaugh’s whose songs fall somewhere between the twang of Steve Earle and Ryan Hamilton with a little dash of the countrified Supersuckers and the songwriting of Tom Petty. No question this collectives five songs veer from the big open roads of the southern states and barroom saloons and smokey bars and late nights. the excellent ‘Lethal Charm’ is a soft song for tough guys taken from ‘Beauty And Barbed Wire’ but its opener ‘Hey Lonely’ that sets off this EP.  Sounding like Mellencamp when he rocked it up its a beautiful thing and superbly played and arranged.  For a change of pace check this out via Bandcamp

The Lurkers – Electrical Guitar (Damaged Goods Records) with Pete Stride and guest vocalist Danie Centric sharing lead vocal duties, the first fruits of which being this brand new 7”, limited to 750 copies on split black/clear vinyl Damaged Goods Records release this two-track slab of noise.  In typical Stride fashion its a blunt to the point slab of punk rock.  Like the lyrics say its simply a direct statement of belief in the essence of rock ‘n’ roll – 4 beats to a bar, electrical guitar, sometimes that’s all you need! its as simple as that folks and the B side is a darker riff but a bludgeoning riff all the same with lead vocals going to Danie. This will wake you up of a morning no doubt about that – banging! return to form. Buy Here

The Mistakes – Walk Tall (NBQ Records) Taken from the new LP “Upstarts and Heretics”, Walk Tall is no-nonsense street punk rock – Ave it!

Bad Sons – Kick Rocks (Self Release) Chicago punks Bad Sons are back with their second release and it’s more of the same sleazy punk rock n roll played with a tonne of swashbuckling gusto and just the thing that RPM HQ loves. The second track ‘Hammers’ pounds away and lives up to the band’s mantra of only having two rules – Loud and Fast and we say a big fat Amen to that brothers and sisters and you know what? They don’t let you down either as they kick the shit out of my speakers.  The only downside I can see is there are only two tracks on this single whereas ‘Cry Tough’ had four tracks. My only hope is there’s an album on the way because I’ll have some of that if there is What an excellent debut on RPM this is go check em out – you won’t be disappointed we guarantee it! Facebook 

 

Glitter Piss – Demo (Self Release) Garage punk rock n rollers Glitter Piss hail from Brighton and peddle a noisy trashy garage punk that Iggy and the Stooges used to do many many moons ago ‘Life Is Deadly’ is fast and fucked up just like Those Hip Priests but more fucked up and..well…Glittery and trashy but the DNA is in there. Not afraid t work with the feedback or the odd out of tune string it matters not a fuckin’ jot. what does matter is the fact they can kick up a shit storm with their instruments and we like that and will always have time for a band who have passion and as they succinctly put it a stench of piss. There is no big budget studio finery on display here just guts and great ideas and tunes aplenty and we’ll take that any day of the week. Oh, and Iggy would love ‘Party Town’ I’m sure of it. Bandcamp

Weird Omen – A Place I Want To Know ( Dirty Water Records) Primitive garage trash brass, reverb, and fuzzzzz”, Mixing ‘60s pop and psychedelic garage This French three-piece are carving a genre of their own and whilst there are aspects of bands like The Cramps and early Stones  along with some of the more trippy psychedelic bands there is a shade of riotous punk beating away in there along with a big bold saxophone. VU has an influence on the lead track for sure and the second song is a trip as well ‘Girls Are Dancing On The Highway’ wins this month’s oddest title and I’m sure these cats will take that. It’ll draw you in and put your brain in a blender but one thing you’ll know is you like it and you will be back for more. Warning highly addictive!

Happy to squeeze in a quick video.  This offering is from Ditchbanger and it sounds like they’re in league with the big red feller down there as they release a video from ‘Pure Hell’. click the link in satan red and let em know RPM sent you they might have mercy on our souls then.

 

So there you have it.  Welcome to 2019 and a bunch of singles that require your attention in our humble opinion. Half a dozen good reasons to be in love with music and discovering something old and new.  Until next month enjoy and if you hear anythign you think we would like or should like then give us a shout at rpmonlinetcb@yahoo.com you know it makes sense.

 

Jay Reatard was a singer-songwriter who passed away on this day in 2010.  Jay was born May 1, 1980, as James Lee Lindsey Jr. later changing his name to Jay Reatard.

Jay was a renowned solo artist and probably best known for the band The Reatards.  Toured Europe at 18 and supported Rocket From The Crypt also managed to play in about a dozen noted bands playing various instruments from synth to guitar and bass even managing drums in one band.

Jay also played in the Lost Sounds a synth-heavy band which was a departure from the guitar-driven punk he was known for.  Jay was certainly prolific in his twenty-nine years releasing several albums most notably ‘Blood Vision’ that got repressed after his passing for Record Store Day that was very limited and came with a bonus 7″ and is his most well-known album.

RPM raises a glass in his memory on this day and will be playing ‘Blood vision’ in his memory.  A feature-length documentary film entitled ‘Better Than Something: Jay Reatard’ was released in March 2012. The film, made by New York City filmmakers Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz, is an elaboration of their short film Waiting For Something. The film predominantly features footage shot with Retard in 2009, along with never before seen concert and home video footage. so if you have some time spare go check it out below.

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Originally out a quarter of a century ago makes me feel old as fuck. However, slipping into my Kensington Market PVC jeans and sharpening my boots guyliner then spraying my Aqua Net before leaving the house it feels like yesterday, a time when just about anything was possible.

Pre-mobile phones (just), pre-internet, pre-grunge, and Soho was still a wonderful seedy adventure as was Camden. Those places still had character – certainly not the sterile hipster coffee shop or Vape emporiums of today.  Back then Rock ‘n’ Roll was still a little different if you wanted it to be and without the interweb bands like Paradise Alley were like pirates sailing the seven seas looking for like-minded allies of which there were plenty, every town and backwater village had one or two but they didn’t have the internet to join forces.  Until now.

Lumped in with the whole glam rock scene that wrongly pigeonholed the likes of Hanoi Rocks as glam in the same breath they would put Poison or God forbid Danger Danger or even a Tigertailz. Although pretty much poles apart (tigertailz and Paradise Alley) influence wise (with a few exceptions) they had to stick together and I guess there are comparisons with the two Stevies they both have similar gruff deliveries in their melodies and vocal style but musically Paradise Alley was dining out on Hanoi and their siblings such as Shooting Gallery or Kill City Dragons, not any surprise to see Damian Cullen set up camp with members of these other bands later on. Anyway,  Not so much the punky side of Hanoi but a more American influenced guitar sound Paradise Alley certainly had a punk rock attitude like on ‘Shot Down’.

They were dedicated you have to give them that. It might not always have been about the music but those were the times we were in and the image played a massive part in this kind of music and all these years later I applaud those who stuck to their guns and lived it like they loved it and stayed true to who they were and that can certainly be said of several members of this band.

I like the street balladeering of ‘Empty Spaces’, A little cheesy at times and cliched – for sure,  but isn’t any city boy knocking out a duet of this kind? All these years later it sounds alright maybe even better with a tinge of nostalgia. To be fair I like ‘Leave Me Alone’ its more the whole punk rock ‘n’ roll thing that I loved at the time had they hit Soho a few years earlier they might have stood a good chance of joining bigger bands from the era. The kings of punk ‘n’ sleaze in the late 80’s had to be the Soho Roses for me but even they bowed out supporting Tigertailz and the real gems were Gunfire Dance who themselves toured with the Welsh Glamsters. Wrong time wrong place maybe who knows.  They reached for the stars and had their fifteen minutes of fame and lived to tell the tales.

This reissue is bolstered by adding the acoustic ‘Baby Don’t Go’ which is cool as is their take on ‘Shakes’ which to be fair is spot on and bang on the money as far as covers go. To be fair these demos put onto the end of this sound great and if I might be cheeky enough to suggest are the best songs on here (Hanoi cover aside) ‘Family Ties’ is good as is the closing track ‘Leave Me Alone’ which has a great guitar sound that the band should have used on the earlier tracks in my humble opinion.  That Joe Dog clank is far better suited to the band’s style.

 

Good work Stevie and the boys for reissuing this lot you should be proud and staying true to themselves. Anyone who ever wandered from the Ship to the Intrepid Fox and round the block to the Marquee wearing Chelsea boots suckin’ on a cigarette thinking they were the coolest kid in town this is for you.  I look back fondly on those times and these tracks make me smile in a good way.  Thanks for such great memories guys and some top tunes whilst I reminisce on what was a ‘Psychotic Playground’.

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Yeah, he of Dinosaur Jr just sneaked out another solo album.  with no fanfare no bells or whistles it just came out at the tail end of 2018 but some artists just do that and when you eventually catch up with them you know it’s going to be good because they don’t really do bad records and J. Mascis is one of those artists.  Unassuming, quiet and notorious for being a man of very few words and that’s from his peers but his talking is most certainly done through the medium of music and ‘Elastic Days’ is another melancholy masterclass bu perhaps not as bleak as you might expect in fact I found it to be a really happy record its not the banana splits or Julie Andrews skipping through fields but quite warm and heartening and full of great melodies and song appropriate guitar breaks and not big dollops of distorted strat thrown in to melt your face as you listen.

sure he has his other outlet for the college rock power tunes so he can release his gentler side through the records carrying just his name and this the third in that list might just be the best carrying just his name.  This record begins with the warm and engaging ‘See You At The Movies’ which isn’t quite the insular cold one man and his acoustic you might have expected.  Its more like Jnr without Murph and Lou but its happy go lucky and to be fair a great understated opener. ‘Web So Dense’ is more of the bruised heart loner type song you might expect with a great arrangement  and the moment two thirds in where he raises from a whisper to the top of his range is wonderful and then to follow it up with one of his trademark solos will hit the spot for a legion of old-school fans playing catch up.

‘I Went Dust’ sees a duet with Zoe Randell that stripped back and warming there is an awkwardness to Mascis songs like a stranger is opening up to their innermost personal feelings and you don’t quite know how to react but ultimately it sounds fucking awesome so you keep listening anyway. and those outrageously loud guitar breaks always break through any awkward moment and make you smile sort of like the sun rising on a freezing cold morning – everything is gonna be alright. It’s not as bleak or limited as previous solo recordings there is a campfire warmth happening here and its possibly the perfect bridge between what he’s done before and what he does in Dinosaur Jr which for me is a great place to be and whilst he’s not hit the dizzy heights of ‘Bug’, ‘Start Choppin’ or ‘Green Mind’ this is right on track to being mentioned alongside such classic pieces of work at Mascis’ hands.

Spread out over twelve tracks there is a swing in variety and feel to these songs and whilst they are all undeniably the work of one man they flow really well and I’m happy that I’ve got my fix on ‘Elastic Days’ that is a most excellent record. I look forward to the next Dinosaur Jr album now when these kinda songs get turned up and fed through louder amps and wear a different pair of comfy shoes. His most accessible work to date if you’re a fan already you’ll love it and if your dipping your toes in then this won’t disappoint.

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Author: Dom Daley

Eureka Machines announce a handful of dates for 2019 which will possibly be their only English and Scottish date this year.  Ticket details & Support for the dates will be as follows –

Saturday 13 April – Audio, Glasgow – Tickets
Sunday 14 April – Bannerman’s, Edinburgh – Tickets
Thursday 18 April – Gulliver’s, Manchester – Tickets
Friday 19 April – Hummingbird, Wolverhampton – Tickets
Saturday 20 April – Borderline, London – Tickets

The Scottish dates will be with the wonderful Powderkeg and Paul Morricone And Con Medicine (the exciting new solo project from Scaramanga Six bloke Paul), and the English dates are with our old pals The Scaramanga Six.

Also on the bill for Wolverhampton will be the ace Empty Page

you can buy ‘Victories’ Here