IGGY POP HAS RELEASED ANOTHER TRACK FROM THE UPCOMING ALBUM FREE. “JAMES BOND” TELLS A STORY:

“I don’t know what she’s up to exactly, but the tables seem to be turning, and she’s taking over. Well, why not? I’ll try anything once.”

“I’ve never had more fun singing a lyric. Faith’s reading is so loaded, and Leron’s production and trumpet along with the band swings like crazy.”

Listen here

PSOTY (formerly known as Pet Slimmers of the Year) formed through a mutual love of all things big and beautiful. Often cited as “post-metal”, this prodigious four-piece transcend any one genre, instead focussing on melody and dynamics, combining multi-layered guitars, hypnotic bass-lines, crushing riffs and groove-oriented drum patterns to create a live sound much greater than the sum of its components.

The band started at the end of 2008 in Cambridgeshire after the dissolution of previous musical projects and quickly established their distinctive sound. Releasing their first self-titled EP in 2009 through Lost Children gained the band rave reviews around the online circuit and a healthy underground following. This would lead on to the demand for the second EP, “And The Sky Fell”, released in January 2011 also through Lost Children. This recording was extremely well received and along with the inclusion of selected tracks on a handful of compilation albums and years of shows to an ever appreciating audience the band was beginning to gather momentum. 2014 saw the band sign with Candlelight Records for the release of their first full-length album ‘Fragments of Uniforms’ to critical praise from the heavy music community with Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Terrorizer all complimenting the album’s depth and complexity.

PSOTY release their new album ’Sunless’ on 13th September once again through Candlelight Records. 

With ‘Sunless’, recorded at Bandit Studios, the band continues to evolve from its post-metal roots with their second full-length studio album. This is a darker and more introspective selection of heavier compositions with crushing riffs and stratospheric melodies. The band describes the album as, ‘a much more driven record. It’s more direct and aggressive than our previous work. We’re excited for people to hear it. It’s exactly where we want to be musically.’

New single ‘Oil Blood’ is the first track to be shared from ’Sunless’ with the band commenting, “Incidentally, this was the first track we wrote for this record. We originally demoed this in 2016 and, once we’d got the vocals in place, we felt that this had to be the opening track for the record. Little did we know at the time that it would set the tone for entire album and push us forward in the direction we wanted to go with our sound”.
 

Upcoming PSOTY shows:
 
7th December, Nambucca  – London

Born on this very day in 1957 Daniel Ash of the parish of Bauhaus.  Ash played guitar in the Goth legends before forming Love & Rockets and going on to enjoy artistic credibility as a solo artist and most recently he reunited with bandmate Kevin Haskins to form Poptone a friend he has known since infant school. 

Ash had become friends with Peter Murphy during his teenage years. Ash went to art school and Murphy went to work in a printing factory. They met up again five years later and Ash suggested forming a band. Rigging up a makeshift rehearsal space, Ash played an Echo 12 – bar blues, while Murphy sang a series of newspaper articles. Four weeks later, they formed Bauhaus and recorded “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”.

After nearly five years Bauhaus fell apart and Ash put together Tones on Tail again with drummer Kevin Haskins. As Ash described them: “We were a motley crew of individuals who essentially wanted to sound like a band from Venus or Mars!” it was to be a band that lasted until the mid ’80s.

Ash founded Love and Rockets in 1985 with Haskins and David J, also of Bauhaus. The band lasted until 2009 when Ash called it a day and stated that was it and a band he would never return to.  During the last ten years, he has been experimenting more with electronic music, both with Love and Rockets and as a solo artist. Since the last reformation of Bauhaus, however, he has been returning to a more guitar-based rock sound. In 2008, Bauhaus released ‘Go Away White’, (their first studio album in 25 years) which was followed by a world tour.  Funnily enough the very same year Love & Rockets played Coachella Music and Arts Festival, funny that.

It was March 2017, Daniel Ash, Haskins (obviously) and Haskin’s daughter Diva Dompé formed POPTONE and a US tour, featuring songs by all the three bands the pair had performed in together.

Ash has so far managed five solo albums, Five with Bauhaus, One with Tone & Tails and one with poptone as well as a plethora of EPs live albums compilations and anthologies. Ash has and continues to be a pioneer and influence plenty of guitar players and songwriters.

 

Let me start this by painting a little image in your head.

The year is 2004. I’ve just finished school for the summer and I can’t wait to waste the rainy days indoors blasting Kerrang TV. I’ll always remember seeing the music videos for Fat Lip and In Too Deep way way back in the day, they made quite an impression on this edgy little 10-year-old.

 

It was about a year later when I managed to get the albums All Killer No Filler, Half Hour of Power and Does This Look Infected? (I say get because I had to rely on my old man buying me CD’s, No sales clerk is gonna sell an 11-year-old an album with the opening track “Grab the Devil by the Horns and **** Him up the *** … Oh the curse of parental advisory, I do not miss it.) I can’t remember how many times I had played tracks like Still Waiting, Makes no Difference and Summer but I’m sure the repeat button on my walkman hated me.

 

Sum 41 are still kicking after all these years however with Order in Decline, their most recent work. We’re greeted with the opening track Turning Away. It’s not how I expected the album to start, put it that way. Catchy riffs and sequences are present, the chorus and the guitar solo (which is killer by the way) add a bit more energy to it but it still feels a bit lackluster as an opening track.

 

Two of the more stand-out tracks for me have to be Out for Blood and A Death In The Family. Both of these songs are borrowing from the style of the 2004 album Chuck. Not to mention these songs are pretty heavy for a punk band, with double bass beats and riffs that go hard. Around the midsection of the album is where we start to get some of the more groove-oriented tracks such as Heads will Roll and 45 (A Matter of Time). Already in five or so tracks Sum 41 are really showing that they’re not afraid to branch out into a number or different styles and subgenres, showcasing how they’ve developed as musicians over the years. Albeit with the departure of Stevo 32 some years back.

 

After a brief slow down in tempo and mood with the song Never there, we’re thrust straight back into the groove-fueled Eat You Alive, and then another personal favourite from this record The People Vs… This track is an absolute beast of punk riffs and drumming, Deryck’s vocals really shine on this track due to the grimey punk aesthetic. The final track on the album Catching fire also feels a bit lackluster. I’m not gonna lie it sounds like pop music, but I’m sure there’s something there for every sort of fan, albeit new or old.

 

All in all this record showcases much of the band’s diversity and how they’ve developed their musical style over the years. There’s something here in this record for everyone, whether you’re a fast-tempo high energy punk fanatic, a groove-heavy rock and roller, or even someone who enjoys the slower types of songs. You’ll be able to find something to enjoy in this album. I do think the track listing feels a little confused, however, Personally I’d have moved some of the songs around just so the album flows a bit better, instead of the more random nature of styles bouncing back and forth as you get deeper into the record. Some might argue that the order of songs are there as “Palate Cleansers” but It’s a bit too much for me personally. As an older fan of Sum 41, I did enjoy the record in whole. It’s great to see a band I grew up with still kicking and still producing great tracks.

Buy Order In Decline Here

Author: Adam Hatherway

The good folk at Runnin’ Blue are putting on a Rock and Roll show in London Town at The Lounge in Archway. The last two shows by Warner E Hodges were sell-outs so to avoid disappointment you can book a ticket at the links provided.

 

The Warner E Hodges Band are set to play at The Lounge in Archway and this time they have Mudlow in tow and the fantastic talent that is Sarah Vista who has been reviewed in RPM (Here) Some tickets remain and can be purchased Here

 

Tickets available Here

Warner E Hodges Band Facebook 

Sarah Vista Facebook 

Mudlow Facebook 

Runnin’ Blue Promotion Facebook 

Today sees the release of the new Michael Monroe single “One Man Gang” from the brand new album out Oct 18th.

The track also features the punk rock legend, Captain Sensible ( The Damned ) as a special guest playing the lead guitar on this one. If you’re into authentic, high-energy Rock’n’Roll you’re gonna dig this one!

Written by Rich Jones. The track features  Michael Monroe – lead vocal, Rich Jones & Steve Conte – guitars &  vocals, Sami Yaffa -bass, Karl Rockfist – drums, The Captain – guitar solo. ‘One Man Gang’ was also produced by the band. 

 

The 40th-anniversary of the Ramones’ first live album, ‘It’s Alive’, will be marked on Sept. 20 with the release of a six-disc version containing three unreleased concert recordings from the same tour.  The benchmark for all live albums ‘Its Alive’ was always going to follow previous Ramones albums with the book style Rhino treatment and welcome it is too.

A previously unreleased version of “Blitzkrieg Bop,” included in the four-CD/two-LP package, which is presented in a hardcover book. You can listen to the track here.

‘It’s Alive: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition’ includes all four concerts that were professionally recorded during the Ramones’ U.K. tour in December 1977. Three of them make their debut on this set: Top Rank at Birmingham on Dec. 28, Victoria Hall in Stoke-On-Trent from Dec. 29, Friars at Aylesbury, from Dec. 30 and the Rainbow Theatre in London on Dec. 31.

The new edition will be limited to a run of 8,000 copies and will also be made available via digital and streaming services. This also marks the first time ‘It’s Alive’ has been available on vinyl in the U.S.

New Zealand’s Miss June is excited to announce the forthcoming release of their debut album. Entitled Bad Luck Party, the LP will be released on September 6th via Frenchkiss Records. Today, they share the newest single “Enemies” by way of a video directed by Dylan Pharazyn.

He notes, “the track gets at that feeling of instability in a relationship when there’s full-on confusion around who your friends are or who you are… reality runs amok. I started to imagine this full-throttle dream sequence in which a young couple bash through a bizarre night. As they find new places, they encounter strangers who at first seem normal become weird and dangerous creep characters… or ENEMIES. I felt like this erratic narrative had a powerful connection with the song – fast and heavy in a super off-kilter way.”

Pre-order “Bad Luck Party” HERE

Raised in the embers of punk rock and described as “some unholy union between Sonic Youth and Le Tigre,” the Auckland four piece harness jagged, noisy guitars filtered through the unrivalled stage presence of front-person Annabel Liddel, guitarist Jun Park, bass player Chris Marshall and drummer Tom Leggett.

The band has built a reputation for fierce, formidable and head-spinning live shows which have caught the attention of acts like The Foo Fighters, Shellac, Wolf Alice, Idles and Die! Die! Die!, who have all eagerly harnessed their support on stage. The band recently made their first trip to the U.K. and played to packed rooms in London’s Old Blue Last and Brixton’s Windmill as well as being a highlight for many at Bushstock Festival. The band will be back in Britain this autumn with dates to be announced soon.

Combining elements of post-punk, no-wave and rock, Miss June hold close their DIY roots while creating a blistering, reckless sound full of melodic hooks and overdriven riffs that are at once immediately recognizable and yet entirely their own.

 

Miss June online:
Facebook  Bandcamp  YouTube  Soundcloud  Frenchkiss Records

A UK based sleaze Rock band from the 90s have picked up the baton and began treading the boards again.  After a recent return to the stage at Camdens Dublin Castle Paradise Alley are back in the ring taking another swing so we thought it was about time we got comfortable with frontman Stevie Vincent and found out who the hell is Paradise Alley and where do they fit in in 2019.
Can you remember the point when you realised you wanted to be in a band?
I remember when I was a little kid being obsessed with Elvis and Glam Rock. My Uncle gave me his old Elvis signature guitar which was as big as me and I would thrash away on it singing Elvis and Sweet songs so the spark probably started there, lol. Consciously though it was probably when I was around twelve and my friends and I started to talk about having a band, it just seemed to make you really cool and I was never one of the cool kids, hahaha.


How did you find your music as a kid?
To begin with, it was just through watching Top Of The Pops every week which when you were a kid in the 70s was the law, you had to watch it. Even your parents watched it just so they could moan about these new-fangled bands making a racket. Then I became friends with this other kid who was a year older and was totally obsessed with music, regardless of the type of music, he was into it so through that friendship I just started trawling record shops for hours every weekend and being exposed to lots of different types of music and bands.

Was it tough putting a band together when you first started out compared to now in 2019?
I would say easier back then than now. You could just meet people when you were out at the pub or in record or music stores which was really organic. Plus you had lots of ways to advertise for musicians, local music stores were everywhere and had notice boards and you had Sounds, Melody Maker and Kerrang classifieds so it seemed easier to network then. Strange when you think about social media now but so many “musicians” now seem purely driven by how much money are they going to get paid or when you ask for influences they just blurt out what they like and then say I want a band like that – there isn’t a band that sounds like Guns N Roses mixed with Slayer and Perry Como as far as I know, hahahaha. I mean, I like a lot of diverse stuff, but when it comes to the music I play, all of us in the band know where we are coming from musically.


When or what was the spark that made you want to resurrect the band?
Never say never eh? I was actually in Helsinki at the time and was with my friends from Plastic Tears, Miqu and Edu and we started talking a bit about our shared history and stuff and it cam up about how we had never actually managed to tour together which was something we had mentioned in the past. Anyway, by the end of the night I had contacted Taj and asked him if he fancied us putting the band back together and carrying on the legacy.


Did you reach out to the other past members or don’t they do Rock and Roll anymore?
Other than Taj, no. We had tried that before back in 2013 and that did not work out at all. People’s heads were in different places, old habits that had caused problems in the past were still there and it just became hard work to be around. In the end we were doing it for fun and certain individuals were making it anything but so we played our last show with a rag tag line-up in June 2015 and just walked away.


You recently returned to the stage. How was it?
It felt really good, we had some fire back in the belly and the audience reaction was just like the old days. It was a bit rough round the edges but that’s rock’n’roll and as we play more shows, etc things will smooth out more.


You have finally got all the pieces of the band together tell us about the band in 2019? who what and where did you find them?
Well, we are still drummerless actually and relying on session drummers to do the shows at the moment so that’s not ideal. We have a couple of really good guys helping us out on drums but it would be good to have the role filled permanently. Sadly everyone who contacts us either assumes we are signed to Universal Music and expects a massive salary, or just does not get what we are doing musically, so the search continues. 
Taj has been in the band since 1998 and been a friend even longer (since about ’89 or ’90), I always say he is my Nasty Suicide. We work together well and we both have a shared love of Hanoi Rocks.
Ben Webster, the other guitarist we actually found through Facebook. We had been looking for ages and his name kept cropping up and in the end, his mate put him forward for it. We met up and just sat around, had a few drinks, jammed and it gelled right away. He had the right attitude and was under no illusions that we were about to get signed for 10 million dollars or any of that crap. He has definitely helped put the fire back in the belly. Ben Alexander on bass was actually a fan of the band and again we were linked through social media. We knew he played bass so when we started putting the band back together we asked him if he was up for this  That was pretty much it.


The music climate has changed massively since the 90s what are the biggest changes you’ve noticed?
How people consume music. I mean, there does seem to be a bit of a shift back to CD and vinyl and actually listening to albums rather than just random tracks which is a good thing, but also, we don’t have the whole tribe culture that was there when we were growing up. There are punks, rockers, mods new romantics, goths in the way that there used to be. I think that is really sad. No one nails their colours to the post anymore and you don’t see people having the same passion for music or bands. Mind you, how could anyone be passionate about Ed Sheeran or bloody Jess Glynne? hahahahahaha


what about new music? Have you picked up a guitar and written any material?
We are right in the middle of doing that now. When we tried back in 2013, that had been one of my hopes but no one showed any real interest. When I first spoke to Taj in 2017 about doing this, I said I wanted to move forward and not just play the same ten songs forever or I would knock it on the head. So, we are looking to release something very, very soon as a bit of a taster and then work towards a full new album sometime next year. So, we ARE writing new songs, we are demoing too and something will be coming VERY soon.


You spent time in NYC and LA have you been recently? They were always great Rock and roll towns but it seems the world is heading to hell in a handcart and not holding a bottle of jack but wearing loafers and no socks with a lovely smelling beard? Do you think sleazy Rock and Roll will ever come full circle? 
I think it will always be there as long as there are people out there showing interest. It is very niche but then, I guess it always was. Even when GnR went massive, there were a lot of confused Mums and Das and “normal” people at the live shows because it wasn’t all sweetness and light, hahaha. Look at events like HRH sleaze, there is an audience and a younger audience too. I love seeing another generation coming through wearing cool clothes again and embracing the rock’n’roll world, without that music just becomes gentrified like all our cities and towns. I mean, look at the crap we are force-fed by the mass media, it’s Starbucks /identikit bland rubbish designed not to offend or make you think. I want music that makes you go “holy fuck!”, I want the musicians to look like they landed from another planet, not like they are here to fix a leaky tap.
Haven’t been back to LA or NYC recently although I know they are both shadows of their former selves. There are plans to visit both from a band point of view, but I’m not saying more than that just yet, don’t want anyone else stealing my plans.


What new music have you been listening to? (If any)
Does the Michael Monroe band count? hahahaha. I try and listen to new stuff but most of it just leaves me cold and even when I say I have listened to something new, it usually turns out to be from the late 90s or early 2000s. I do like The Struts. Got into them when the first album came out and no one here had a clue who they were. Sadly, I can see the rough edges getting chipped away and they are becoming slicker and slicker. I hope they resist it and keep that little British edginess, but I reckon the mighty dollar will win in the end. Can’t blame em, they are there to make money, but I like my artists to have a little bit of integrity.


Will there be any other live shows? who would you like to tour with?
Of course, there will, we are back and live is where we shine. We’re back in London at The Big Red on August 10 then off to Y Lew Coch in Mach as part of the Rock’n’Roll Circus weekend on August 25. There are other dates confirmed but we’ll be announcing those soon enough. We will tour with anyone we can. I don’t want to get stuck in the nostalgia circuit though which is very easy to do. It’s lazy on the part of some sections of the industry to just lump you in with certain bands but we seem to attract all types of music fans and we aren’t out to just live in the past.


If you were to explain what your band is all about how would you best describe your sound (we all love a pigeon hole) 
oooooh, that’s sneaky, hahaha. We’re just a rock’n’roll band that takes influences from all over the place and it comes out sounding like Paradise Alley. If you wanted to narrow it down I guess I would say Aerosmith meets the Ramones….that sound like a good pigeonhole to you Dom?


If you have anything else you’d like to say nows your chance –
Just that we are glad to be back and to be moving forward, if you love rock’n’roll in all it’s forms, check us out, listen on Spotify or Amazon or one of the other streaming platforms. We are here to entertain and make rock’n’roll glamorous and fun again. The world needs a little bit of escapism right now

Love em or loathe em you can’t ignore them.  We happen to love em so here you go you mongrels it’s Amyl & The Sniffers with ‘Some Mutts’

 

Next up we have the brand new video from Henrys Funeral Shoes ‘High Shoulders Everywhere’.  ‘Smart Phone Rabbit Hole’ is the album that it’s taken from which is Released everywhere on 20th September 2019

Finally, this haunting offering from The Prophets Of Addiction closes off this rainy days collection of new video releases