Cokie The Clown – You’re Welcome (Fat Wreck Chords)

Cokie The Clown – You’re Welcome (Fat Wreck Chords)

Fat Mike NOFX.  Yeah, right now you sit up and pay attention well come a little closer because this is not NOFX it doesn’t sound like NOFX even if Fat Mike is Cokie The Clown. This is dark in a very late night and I shouldn’t drink whiskey and do blow kinda way’ oh, and listen to Tom Waits. More like E from Eels than NOFX and that’s a good thing.  Sure he could have clowned around and down a dumb punk record and made a mint off the back of it but he hasn’t he’s gone for the piano and miserable vocal angle.

 

‘Bathtub’ is almost three minutes of one sad voice and a sparse piano and to be fair ‘Fair Leather Friends’ is more of the same if not a little more uptempo (steady on punk rocker not that uptempo) and it has a cello and some hi-hat and snare and if you must know its endearing and really fuckin’ good.  Why wouldn’t it be?

If you think E and Tom Waits you won’t be far off the mood of the record it has been said it’s not a happy record (they got that right) but it is a very good record.  It shows Fat Mike has hidden depths and can indeed turn his hand to writing some great dark melancholy music there are some great arrangments like ‘Swing And A Miss’ and he looks inside the dark corners of his mind to dig up songs like ‘Down With The Ship’ and the grande Harpsichord led ‘Negative Reel’  the album has ten tracks, the album also features a who’s who of A-list talent that assisted him throughout the recording sessions. Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) produced ‘You’re Welcome’;  Travis Barker played drums and Dizzy Reed of Guns N’ Roses contributed keyboards! Baz (a French musician), who Fat Mike collaborated heavily with on the album has to take some credit for what is a really impressive record but for being so different from what I was expecting.  The pop melodies that make up ‘That Time I Killed My Mom’ well I did say it was dark!.  its all wrapped up in a really fine piece of Cover art painted by the talented Natalia Fabia.

‘Fuck You All’ is like Fat Mike doing his best Cranford Nix and it builds to the most upbeat song on the record (musically that is I can’t mislead you into thinking ‘Fuck You All’ is upbeat).

So Fat Mike exposes his soul and releases an absolute winner. Ten tracks, dark, simple (ish), excellent!  My final words have to be – buy it, just for the autobiographical ‘Punk Rock Saved My Life’ epic!  If you want to hear NOFX then go do so this most certainly isn’t and I’m good with that because this is the business.

 

Buy You’re Welcome Here

Author: Dom Daley

DEADLAND RITUAL add UK dates to European tour

DEADLAND RITUAL add UK dates to European tour

DEADLAND RITUAL, bassist Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), vocalist Franky Perez (Apocalyptica, Scars on Broadway), drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and guitarist Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) are delighted to announce two further UK dates to their European tour in June 2019.

Deadland Ritual promises the live shows will be something special, mixing the original material with deeper cuts from their collective past. “Not the typical songs you would expect,” according to Matt Sorum.

Tues 4thJune 2019                                     Amager Bio, Copenhagen DENMARK
Wed 5thJune 2019                                     Rockefeller, Oslo NORWAY
Thurs 6thJune 2019                                   Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg SWEDEN
Mon 10thJune 2019                                  Kesselhaus, Berlin GERMANY
Tue 11thJune 2019                                     Markthalle, Hamburg GERMANY
Thurs 13thJune 2019                                 O2 Academy Islington, London UK
Fri 14thJune 2019                                       Download Festival, Donnington UK
Sat 15thJune 2019                                      Garage, Glasgow UK
Mon 17thJune 2019                                  013, Tilburg THE NETHERLANDS
Tues 18thJune 2019                                   Trianon, Paris FRANCE
Wed 19thJune 2019                                   Z7, Pratteln SWITZERLAND
21stto 22ndJune 2019                               Azkena Festival, Vitoria SPAIN
21stto 23rdJune 2019                               Hellfest Festival, Clisson FRANCE

Tickets for UK headline shows: HERE

To purchase tickets and for further updates visit:   www.deadlandritual.com

The initial recordings are only the beginning of what fans can expect in the coming months. The band is focused on quality vs. quantity and letting the muse carry them in the appropriate direction. With festival appearances booked and headline dates now announced, they’ll use the time leading up to that trek to continue writing and recording…

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The Midnight Dogs/The Electric Shakes – Abertillery, The Doll’s House – 19th April 2019

The Midnight Dogs/The Electric Shakes – Abertillery, The Doll’s House – 19th April 2019

With the Easter bank holiday sun blazing in the early evening sky it feels like a very Good Friday indeed as I descend on The Dolls House for the first night of the Dementia Aware Fest Wales being hosted by our good friends at The Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus.

Unfortunately, tonight is the only night I can make this year, and even then, I can only make it for the last four bands of the evening, so my apologies to Kinstrife and Smithgrind for missing your sets, I’m sure I’ll catch up with you soon.

Scarlet Rebels are up first for me and they turn out to be a very competent Welsh five piece very much in the modern melodic rock mould, going down an absolute storm with the fans they have brought along with them. This Elegant Chaos on the other hand are an angsty gothic metal quartet from Birmingham who thunder through their set like they’re headlining an arena, with bassist Greg being like the band’s very own Phil Collen, but without the multi-platinum back catalogue to play…well not yet anyway.

The bastard sons of the Dorset Delta otherwise known as The Electric Shakes are the band I’ve really come here to see tonight, my 30 minute car journey paling into insignificance compared to how long it must have taken them to drive here from Bournemouth, so it’s a real shame there aren’t more of the local rock community present to witness the band’s fantastic blend of R&B (as in the 60s kind) infused garage rock.  More fool them I say…suckers!!!!

Kicking off with the spritely new track ‘Lightspeed’, there’s no time for banter as the trio of Steve (guitar and vocals), Eric (bass) and Basha (drums) tear straight into the Glitter boogie of ‘The Doctor’ from their 2017 ‘Electrohypnosis’ CD and suddenly there’s a rock ‘n’ roll cure for all of our ill, yeah and it’s called dancing. Of the new tracks aired tonight ‘Rye N Dry’ sounds like the perfect aperitif for the band’s soon to be released EP whilst older tracks like ‘Shot Me Down’, ‘Magpie’ and frisky (geddit?) set closer ‘Blue Meanie’ make me wonder why someone hasn’t had this lot out on the road playing the length and breadth of the country with Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, reclaiming venues from the grips of the tribute terror that is feeding off the apathy of casual gig goers like the fucking Blob of Beige.

Sadly, there’s no time for any tracks from the band’s excellent debut ‘Stereotypical Girls’ EP tonight but then with a tight schedule to follow you can’t have it all can you.

Having somehow managed to miss tonight’s headliners at Hard Rock Hell Sleaze last September all I seemed to hear following the festival was just how great The Midnight Dogs were that weekend, so its once again such a shame that a band commanding such a high reputation amongst those “in the known” end up playing to just the real Dolls House diehards by the time they hit the stage with a swaggering hunk of rock going by the name of ‘Fooling’.

The Leicester based band certainly remind me of the greats like Zeppelin and Aerosmith albeit they do it without the plagiarism of many of the current contemporaries (I could have perhaps have done without the cover of ‘Come Together’ though) and its their non-stop dancing and part time cross dressing frontman Rob Cass who is the band’s most critical element in their ability to continue to do so.  New video single ‘Let’s Go’ sounds like a real doozy of a tune live but for me it’s its predecessor ‘I’m With You’ where The Midnight Dogs truly shine, this is 2 minutes of intense guitar driven hook laden rock, and if the Dogs can write a bunch of tunes as great as this they very well could be a true musical force to be reckoned with come October when they finally release album number two.

As it is The Midnight Dogs will return to The Dolls House a couple of weeks before said album is released when they headline Dollfest 6 on Saturday 28th September which is once again being organised by the metal gods at The Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus.

So, kudos once again to Ceri and Paul at The Circus , along with Jammy and Southy at The Dolls House, as well as all the bands who played not only tonight but across the whole weekend, simply for keeping original rock music alive and well in south Wales, whilst raising money for a very worthwhile cause indeed.

Kudos indeed my friends…take a bow one and all!

Midnight Dogs Facebook

Electric Shakes Facebook

Author: Johnny Hayward

Rainy Days & Mondays

Rainy Days & Mondays

As today is Monday RPM likes to send you on your way back to work with three awesome songs and videos. We’ve got three bangers starting with this beaut from Razorbats,  ‘This High’ was released a few years ago and with footage taken at Slugfest its as glam as it gets and there are plenty of handsome RPM chaps in the audience.

Second up is the recent Beach Slang track ‘I Hate Alternative Rock’ A new song by a band who’ve never made a bad record.

Finally, a brand new video from Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey with ‘2 Ugly 4 NY’ their forthcoming new album ‘Showboat Honey’ will be available worldwide July 12th, 2019 from Sub Pop.  Great video and tune.

 

 

Brett Smiley – ‘Sunset Towers’ (Whats Your Rupture?)

Brett Smiley – ‘Sunset Towers’ (Whats Your Rupture?)

Brett Smiley was a singer-songwriter from America who was as glam rock as David Johanson and Marc Bolan and in the 70’s he had one single (‘Va Va Va Voom’) and one album that quickly vanished and is now the price of a small island if you want a copy on CD (‘Breathlessly Brett’) It was recorded in the mid ’70s but released in the early 2000’s he was once taken under the wing of Andrew Loog Oldham and the rest is history (albeit feint obscure History) well RSD tends to throw up a few curveballs from the box of records kept under the stairs and 2019 threw up ‘Sunset Towers’ – A collection of Eight songs recorded by Smiley before Oldman got hold of him this was recordings captured at Cherokee Studios in the Valley (also used by Bowie) what we have here is eight classic slabs of original first wave Glam rock plain and simple.  Great tunes camp as Christmas proper glam rock – brickies in platform silver boots and feather boas it’s a moment caught in time.

 

Only a few of the tracks made it onto the ‘Breathlessly Brett’ album and to be fair they aren’t the standout tracks here which makes it all the more puzzling how and why Brett wasn’t more well known. To be honest it was 2004,  Nina Antonia’s book about Smiley, ‘The Prettiest Star: Whatever Happened to Brett Smiley’ that made me dig into who he was and his sad story. Smiley performed until 2015 in New York City and was recording songs for a new CD. He sadly died on January 8, 2016, after a lengthy battle with HIV and hepatitis but thanks to things like RSD we get to revel in his legacy and wonderful silky smooth voice.  Whilst I said the music is classic glam his voice is wonderful take the Stonesy rip off of ‘Highty Tighty’ You’ll hear the melody and Stones influence which is always cool. There’s the Bowie/Bolan swagger of ‘Abstracted Billy’. 

You also have the pomp and Mott like ‘Space Ace’ with its drug-addled lyrics which I’m sure at the time would have seemed wild and out there.  There are lyrics and delivery phrases here that remind me of Marc Almond something that crops up several times throughout the record to be fair.  I love ‘Queen Of Hearts’ it’s so dramatic it’s like a light to Lou Reeds Shade.

‘Lying In The Sun’ sounds like a demo compared to the previous tracks and the unproduced nature is warming and engaging and to be fair the exact same could be said for the final offering of ‘Diamonds Couldn’t Bring You Back’ which has a certain Johnny Thunders quality to it and seems like the perfect way to end the record.  I do hope that the quality of songs he was working on as late as 2015 surface and follow on from these recordings and we one day get to hear them.  Rest In Peace Brett Smiley your star burned brightly if only for a new york minute and I’m glad it got captured on record. It might not be the greatest Glam Rock record ever made but its quality and if you like Mott The Hoople, Bowie, Reed, Bolan, the Dolls then fill yer boots this is a keeper. If you can pick one of these up before they cost a fortune.

 

Author: Dom Daley

Sylvain Sylvain needs your help

Sylvain Sylvain needs your help

 

Hi Everybody:
I know there has been some curiosity, speculation and, yes, rumor about why I haven’t been Rampaging songs on FB or, more importantly, out on tour promoting my book “There’s No Bones in Ice Cream” and playing in a town near YOU.
First the BAD news: For about a year now, I have been battling cancer.
Then the GOOD news: I have an upcoming surgery with a great doctor that may do the TRICK.   There will, however, be a somewhat lengthy recovery period (at least a year).  I have not been able to work since last year and have more surgery scheduled.  I love life! As hard as life has been to me these past 2 years I want to live and I know with your love & support I’ll have the best chance that I could ever have,  
Love
Sylvain Sylvain

Please, if you can click the link below at Sylvains Go Fund Me Page –

Donate Here 

 

I guess another way to help a rock and roll brother would be to buy his Book Which is a fantastic read ‘There’s No Bones In Ice Cream’ Here

Iggy’s Zombie Birdhouse set for reissue in June

Iggy’s Zombie Birdhouse set for reissue in June

In the week Iggy turned 72 he announced he’d be reissuing the long deleted ‘Zombie Birdhouse’ which will come out on 28th June pre-orders Here

 

It wasn’t a great shock seeing as ‘The Villagers’ was picked as a RSD single this year. Maybe it’ll also see Iggy finally release some of the albums he made that never got onto vinyl finally get a vinyl release off the back of the interest in this.

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The Dahmers release new video ahead of European Tour

The Dahmers release new video ahead of European Tour

The Dahmers are heading out on the European roads to support The Dwarves.
As a warm-up, they bring us a brand new video!

“DEMON NIGHT…IT’S ALRIGHT!
Oh boy, check out our brand new thriller.
A stop motion nightmare of the song “Demon Night” from our latest album “Down in the Basement”.
– The Dahmers

 

Tour Dates:

2/5 – Grand – Malmö, SWE
13/6 – Kraken – Stockholm, SWE *
14/6 – Røverstaden – Oslo, NO *
15/6 – Musikens Hus – Gothenburg, SWE *
16/6 – Underwerket – Copenhagen, DK *
18/6 – Patronaat – Haarlem, NL *
19/6 – Club Vaudeville – Lindau, GER *
12/7 – Midnight Light Festival – Vilhelmina, SWE

* supporting The Dwarves

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the Alarm release new video featuring Billy Duffy on guitar

the Alarm release new video featuring Billy Duffy on guitar

The Alarm release new video featuring the fretwork of Billy Duffy of the Cult.  The track is taken from the band’s new album ‘Sigma’ released On 28th June, The Alarm will release the new album ∑ Sigma, exactly one year and one day after the release of its prequel = Equals.  ∑ Sigma can be pre-ordered at the bands website

 

 

Keeping busy Peters and his band head out across America with Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel and post punkers Modern English.

 

SIGMA LXXXV TOUR

July 17 — Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge – TICKETS *The Alarm only
July 19 — Austin, TX @ 3Ten Live – TICKETS
July 20 — Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey – TICKETS
July 21 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theater – TICKETS
July 24 — Las Vegas, CA @ House of Blues – TICKETS
July 25 — San Diego, CA @ House of Blues – TICKETS
July 26 — Temecula, CA @ Wiens Family Cellars – TICKETS
July 27 — Los Angeles, CA @ Microsoft Theater – TICKETS *FESTIVAL – The Alarm Set Time T.B.D.
July 31 — Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre – TICKETS
Aug. 2 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom – TICKETS
Aug. 3 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades – TICKETS
Aug. 5 — Portland, OR @ Aladdin – TICKETS
Aug. 6 — Seattle, WA @ Triple Door – SOLD OUT
Aug. 7 — Spokane, WA @ Bing Crosby Theater – TICKETS
Aug. 8 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex TICKETS (The Alarm/Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel Only)
Aug. 9 — Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater – TICKETS
Aug. 10 — Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall – TICKETS
Aug. 12 — St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall – TICKETS
Aug. 14 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line – TICKETS
Aug. 15 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Ballroom – TICKETS
Aug. 16 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues – TICKETS
Aug. 17 — Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall – TICKETS
Aug. 18 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues – TICKETS
Aug. 20 — Portland. ME @ Aura – TICKETS
Aug. 21 — Boston, MA @ Paradise – TICKETS
Aug, 23 — Huntington, NY @ The Paramount – TICKETS
Aug. 24 — Jim Thorpe, PA @ Penn’s Peak – TICKETS
Aug. 25 — Falls Church, VA @ State Theatre TICKETS
Aug. 29 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes – TICKETS
Aug. 30 — Staten Island, NY @ St George Theatre – TICKETS
Aug. 31 — Philadelphia, PA @ Keswick Theater – TICKETS
Sep. 1 — Norfolk, VA @ NorVa – TICKETS
Sep. 3 — Charlotte, NC @ Neighbourhood Theater – TICKETS
Sep. 4 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade – TICKETS
Sep. 5 — Orlando, FL @ The Social – TICKETS (coming soon) (The Alarm/Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel Only)
Sep. 6 — Bonita Springs, FL @ Southwest Florida Event Centre TICKETS
Sep. 7 — Miami, FL @ The Ground at Club Space – TICKETS
Sep. 8 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Ferg’s Concert Courtyard – TICKETS (coming soon)

 

Venom – ‘Storm The Gates’ (Spinefarm Records)

Venom – ‘Storm The Gates’ (Spinefarm Records)

With 2019 being the 40th anniversary of Venom, it’s well worth noting that it’s also the 10th anniversary of the band’s current line-up of Cronos (vocals and bass), Rage (guitar) and Dante (drums). Their recently released ‘Storm The Gates’ album is the band’s fifteenth to be bursting out with metal of the non-more black variety and thanks to a huge (very limited edition) Venom LP box set and 2 disc career retrospective being on the fire stoked horizon Spinefarm Records are giving this 13 tracker another push right now, which is great for me as this release somehow totally passed me by when it originally hit the shelves back in January of this year.

Which is something I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed with myself about really, simply because Venom are a band that not only reinvented heavy metal but also birthed a bazillion other subgenres, so why aren’t they lauded as all-conquering heroes and afforded multiple page tributes by the metal press like Motorhead always were every time they release a new record…and I then don’t end up missing them?”

Now there’s some food for thought eh?

In fact that Motorhead parallel is even more prevalent once you get to hear ‘Storm The Gates’ because just like what Lemmy did with the Mikkey and Phil line up, Cronos and Venom are doing pretty much the same here, by making some of the best full throttle black metal rackets they have made since their early to mid ‘80s heyday.

Opener ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ is an absolute barnstormer of a track with Cronos rattling his r’s over a pounding rhythm designed to get the heads banging and which seamlessly sets up the full on metal grind of ‘Notorious’ a track that sees Rage out Mantasing the band’s former guitar ninja with his use of the divebombing whammy bar, and the goodies don’t stop there either. ‘Dark Night (Of The Soul)’ is a fierce metal fist to the face as is the album’s title track ‘Storm The Gates’ a track that I can just see a pumped up Cronos stood arms folded 50 hole Dr Martins akimbo commanding his Legions to do his bidding in the live setting.

As a long-time fan of the band I have to admit I do find the flat out and nowt else approach the band take to their songwriting these days more than just a little relentless at times. So, for those of us who might still long an all new ‘At War With Satan’ or perhaps even a 21st century ‘Buried Alive’ you will not find anything remotely like that on ‘Storm The Gates’. In fact, tracks like ‘Over My Dead Body’ and ‘The Mighty Have Fallen’ are perhaps the most brutal the band have ever sounded, largely thanks to the superb almost out of control freight train drumming of Dante and the razor-sharp riffing of Rage.

‘Storm The Gates’ then is the sound of Venom heavier and angrier than ever before, I just hope that with this being such a special year for the band they finally get the credit and recognition they so rightly deserve as a truly ground-breaking metal band especially here in the UK where late-afternoon slots at Bloodstock aside we’re lucky to get to see them live at all.

C’MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!

Buy Storm The Gates Here

Author: John Hayward