The Hellfreaks – ‘God On The Run’ (Sunny Bastards Records)

The Hellfreaks – ‘God On The Run’ (Sunny Bastards Records)

Hungarian Nu Punks The Hellfreaks return with their fourth album ‘God On The Run’. Formed in 2009 the Budapest based band released 2 albums of cool psychobilly punk rock (‘Hell Sweet Hell’ and ‘Circus Of Shame’) before disbanding. After a period of ‘creative reinvention’ singer Shakey Sue returned with a whole new band and released the critically acclaimed ‘Astoria’ in 2016. This third Hellfreaks album saw the band leave their psychobilly roots for dust and head in a more hardcore punk rock direction that saw them gain comparisons to The Distillers and Hole. ‘Astoria’ took the band spitting and snarling across Europe and the US to a whole new fanbase.

2020 sees the band evolve yet again as they challenge themselves to reach new horizons with ‘God On The Run’.

 

The three tracks released prior to the album promise a more modern metal approach, with precision song dynamics, frantic beats and anthemic choruses aplenty. And while the band has gone for a heavier approach this time around, the melodies retain the pop/punk sensibilities that Shakey Sue has been delivering for the last decade.

Lead single ‘Men In Grey’ is a furious introduction and a statement of intent. Sue puts those lungs to work as Jozzy’s angular guitar riffage weaves sonic metal over the tight rhythm section of bassist Gabi and Bela on the drums. It’s a full on, modern metal assault on the senses. One thing’s for sure, in 2020 The Hellfreaks are gonna bang the head that doesn’t bang!

‘Red Sky’ is the sort of single that can give the likes of Halestorm a run for their money. Crunching guitars and high octane vocals battle for competition to unite the kids and have them chanting the memorable chorus. ‘Witches Heal’ follows the same format, a modern metal single with a stadium sized chorus, this one designed to bring out the inner witch and have you dancing underneath the stars like you just don’t care.

Frantic beats and precision rifforama create urgency with no let up. The likes of ‘Hello Sea’ and ‘As  Above’ show a band in their prime as songwriters and players, who have delivered an album that stands tall alongside their contemporaries.

With its tribal beat introduction, Maiden-esque backing vocals and handclap accompaniment ‘Adrenalized’ is surprisingly, one of the standout tracks on offer. It must surely be the next single.

Elsewhere, album closer ‘Tabby’ is almost industrial in feel, as Sue wails over a cinematic soundscape. The sleazy vocals are delivered nonchalantly as you like, Sunset Strip style, as jarring guitars fade in and out between the swathes of electronica. The whole song comes on like classic Garbage, Sue certainly channels her inner Shirley Manson to great effect here. Possibly the coolest cut on the goddamn record, I tell ya!

 

The thing that grabs me about The Hellfreaks is their ability to change and explore new horizons with each album. This shift in style keeps things fresh and does not allow the band to become stagnant or generic. Sure, they risk alienating their old school fanbase, but there is a whole hoard of teenage metal heads crying out for a bit of what Shakey Sue and her boys are offering this time around.

‘God On The Run’ is a strong album, a heady mix of punk and metal that should catapult the band to headline status and gain them fans and friends in all the right places.

Buy ‘God On The Run’ Here

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Author: Ben Hughes

 

 

 

 

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit H – Murder Falcon

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit H – Murder Falcon

 

POP CULTURE SCHLOCK at RPM: Exhibit H – Murder Falcon

Greetings, RPM-people! Thanks for checking out my latest Pop Culture Schlock column for RPMonline; a cool collectibles catchment area if ever there was one… and now in its second year!

With the mention of years comes a slightly belated Happy New Year wish from yours truly. 2020, eh? Proper science fiction that number is, right? But we got here when many didn’t so for that we have to raise a horned salute and treat every day like it harbours the opportunity for awesomeness.

It’s been over two decades since the day I got my first (now archaic) DVD player – multi-region, of course; I’m no savage – and that is further away from the present than when I got my first VCR was from that day: a scary thought if you can even make sense of it! The future of our past threatened us with tales of Moonbase Alpha being knocked out of orbit by a nuclear waste explosion and of blade runners tracking down replicants: the reality today is of a space force decked out in woodland camouflage and repulsive cunts, so escapism remains the ultimate luxury.

 

You all know about escapism, though, right? Your sanctuary, whether it be at a sweaty club gig losing yourself to the righteous sounds of a band never heard of by a listener of Planet Rock, or melting into a corner of your world surrounded by physical media? That’s reason for living right there, bruthas and sistas.

 

As you have probably figured out if you have checked out any of my previous seven columns for RPM, I have a physical media obsession. Streaming is basically Skynet in my world so, if you saw that shitty Terminator sequel at the tail-end of last year, you know how badly that is gonna end. And reading comic books on an app? Go and stand in the corner and re-evaluate your wannabe-cool life, ya monster! I still buy comics every week; still crack open the pages, flare open my nostrils, and smell that fucking glorious art on every page. It’s an addiction, I know. A money pit (sadly not the 1986 Tom Hanks movie that featured White Lion). But it is still one of the easiest and most rewarding collecting experiences. You get new, über-cool entertainment every week of the year that is instantly collectible, and, as stated previously, it smells frigging great. Also, it is metal… as proven below.

 

If you’re reading RPM then you’re already cool, I know this. You know your music, but you also strive to find new music that echoes the cool shit that is already in and will never leave your collection. With that in mind, this month’s featured Pop Culture Schlock item (I had to get there eventually!) is relatively new, but with a foot, a talon maybe, in the past…

Daniel Warren Johnson is a Chicago-based comic book writer and artist who created the Eisner-nominated Extremity series, the web comic Space-Mullet, and, the subject of this month’s column, Murder Falcon.

 

Released by Image Comics/Skybound (with the first issue dated October 2018), Murder Falcon is an eight-part comic book series that fuses the worlds of heavy metal and monsters – it’s fantastical… and it shreds!

 

Jake is a metal guitarist in a downward spiral. With a heartbreaker of a back story, the long-haired axe-wielder is without band and seemingly without hope. That six string hasn’t been picked up in a long time. Meanwhile, his city is being ravaged by monsters!

 

Magnum Khaos is the king of all hatred and fear who has fashioned a portal into another dimension; negative energy from human cruelty and anxiety is sucked into his dark world via the monstrous attacks that he has been planning for centuries. All hope, it would seem, is lost. But…

Jake’s guitar, gathering dust, is suddenly transformed and Murder Falcon, a monster-killing machine (with feathers) has travelled from The Heavy to the city to take down the Khaos creatures. He can only do so, however, when Jake plays his forgotten axe! Man, when he shreds Murder Falcon shreds… monster bodies! By getting the old band back together – the other members’ instruments similarly invoking badass battle mofos – maybe the Earth as we know it can be saved.

 

With similarities in serious content to I Kill Giants (and if you know that comic or subsequent spin-off movie then you’ll have a clue as to where the heartbreak comes into play here), Murder Falcon adds melancholy to the metal to great effect and, with superb artwork from Johnson coupled with eye-popping colours from Mike Spicer, this book comes highly recommended by my good self.

There is more to this than meets the eye, however. Y’see, every one of Murder Falcon’s eight issues came with a “Heavy Metal” variant cover by guest artists paying homage to classic album artwork. I have every one, of course and, to be honest, these are the reasons that I wanted to feature the comic in my collectables column.

 

Issue 1 came with a variant cover paying homage (via artwork and Murder Falcon logo) to Judas Priest’s ‘Painkiller’. Issue 2 took on Iron Maiden’s ‘Somewhere In Time’, while issue 3 went a little more left field with a homage to Bolt Thrower’s ‘War Master’. Pantera’s ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ was the basis for issue 4’s variant, while it was all about the shred for issue 5 with Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s ‘Trilogy’ honoured. Issue 6 saw Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’ feature, followed by issue 7 and its Dio – ‘Holy Diver’ tribute. The final issue, number 8, was a real ‘Shout At The Devil’, based on the second album from Mötley Crüe (yes, when they were still good), complete with logo umlauts.

If those “Heavy Metal” variant covers aren’t reason enough to have your digits scurrying to your secondary market seller of choice than I don’t know what else I can do for you. This is cool new shit based on cool old shit, and I know you guys love cool shit. If you don’t fancy searching for eight individual comic books but still think that Murder Falcon is for you, have no fear because a trade paperback/graphic novel that collects all eight issues was released last year and Amazon will deliver it to you TOMORROW… but they’ll probably leave it outside in the rain.

 

So, keep doing what you do, keep liking what you like, and I’ll catch you all again next month, possibly with less mention of Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Possibly.

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The Bellrays / Los Pepes / The Charlemagnes -Newport Le Pub 17.01.20

The Bellrays / Los Pepes / The Charlemagnes -Newport Le Pub 17.01.20

We often have a good moan on here about bands advertising UK tours and then post 4 dates in middle England or 6 dates with the token in Scotland.  Well, the Bellrays do it old school.  they take one of the finest bands out as tour openers and also throw in the excellent The Charlemagnes for good measure and then charge us less than fifteen pounds! yup, all that Rock and Roll for the price of three pints – what a bargain. Oh and they pop over the bridge (like they always do) and play in Wales.

It’s the excellent Newport Le Pub where we find ourselves for this post-Christmas celebration and we’re reminded by Lisa Kekaula that this is the evening of the bands thirtieth year in existence and funnily enough the last time they were in this very venue it was the night of hers and Robert Vennum’s wedding anniversary. Anyway, before we get to the main course there are two very tasty appetizers ahead of us and the first course is  The Charlemagnes a four-piece from outta Sarf London but with an exotic past and existence. They’ve been here before but that was several years and maybe now is the time for some sleazy garage Rock and Roll.  they get down to business and then a string is broken but it doesn’t derail the band nor does them playing two songs at the same time hey nobody would have known but we appreciate the attention to detail and after a false start they regain composure and go again.  It’s not long before they are motoring through their material and boy does it sound good.  They have swagger and most importantly of all they have the tunes to back it up. the highlights from their brief but most enjoyable set were ‘(No) Pay Day (In the USA)’ and ‘Shellshock Shuffle’.  Sadly the set was over and off they went but they’d left a mark on those watching who couldn’t help but be impressed by The Charlemagnes.

Next up is the magnificent Los Pepes. A band bristling with energy and great songs. With four studio albums, a Greatest Hits compilation and a raft of 7″ singles under their collective belts it’s fair to say that Los Pepes don’t wait to be invited into the studio and Ben must sleep about half an hour a day such is his output because it seems that when they’re not playing somewhere in Europe they’re recording a new record. Now if you’ve not heard of Los Pepes until now there is a wealth of records for you to go and invest in before you settle down to kick yourself over and over for joining the party this late in the game. But, the fact you’re here now is good and better late than never.

It’s been a while since I last saw the band and there have been a few line-up changes but they move so fast it wouldn’t surprise me if they had a revolving door put in their tour van.  I’m sure it’s not easy keeping up the pace but tonight (their first show in Wales) they are on form as power through their set of motorhead using AC/DC’s amps playing power-pop  (that just about sums them up) oh and chucking songs out like prime time Dee Dee and da Brothers.  Hooks they’ve got em, Melodies got them too. Catchy body movers?  Of course, you can’t stand still because they can’t either.  If I had to pick a song then when they plowed through ‘Automatic’ and ‘The Trap’ but there were so many great songs in their repertoire it doesn’t matter what they play to be fair they could play the yellow pages and make it sound vital and exciting.

I was in power pop heaven as my ears were taking a pounding. The PA was shaking due to the volume they play at but if it’s too loud you’re too old. Los Pepes came, saw and conquered.  Now you’ve popped your cherry don’t leave it too long before heading back this way – Newport Loves you long time Los Pepes.

Onto the Bellrays.  To have such a strong pair of opening acts is quite refreshing that they want to offer as much VFM and are confident in themselves and their own catalogue of songs that they brave following Los Pepes. Anyway, the walls are beginning to sweat as Lisa gets on with the show and rock the house with ‘Bad Reaction’ from their last studio album and for the next hour and some the proceed to turn up the Rock and Roll quota with their soul meets garage meets Rock and punk attitude tunes all lead by the awesome vocals of Lisa Kekaula as she compares the finale of this rock and roll revue and not for one second throughout the bands faultless set do they drop the energy or delivery.  Sure you get the bluesy soulful funky workouts James Brown-style but we all need to catch out-breath. This band are relentlessly entertaining and have the songs in the bank.

The set was building and building and the three out front all took turns on vocals that lead to the finale of ‘Love And Hard Times’ and ‘Black Lightning’ after dipping into songs from all throughout their career their thirty-year career that is. All around were exhausted smiling faces after the perfect ending to a wonderful night of Rock and Roll and it has to be said how sharp and right on the money the sound was tonight.  Loud but never too loud and all three bands brought their best.

Always a good time watching The Bellrays and here’s to many more anniversaries held in the confines of Le Pub,  see you next time.

Author: Dom Daley

Christmas – Hot Nights In Saint Vandal (TNS Records)

Christmas – Hot Nights In Saint Vandal (TNS Records)

Everything was better in the old days. Everything but Christmas who became more unstoppable from year to year. While other bands pop up and quickly burn away, CHRISTMAS just gets better and better. More resilient, more brutal and more like the cockroach after a nuclear holocaust.  It was said that if Motorhead moved next door your lawn would wither and die unless the next-door neighbour happens to be Christmas.  They wouldn’t give a shit the lawn was dead because they were going on tour anyway

Christmas has spent the last ten-year making music with over thirteen releases in those ten years, playing a mammoth 500 gigs across countless countries and gone through a spinal tap amount of band members. Rock ‘n’ Roll is said to be on its last legs and hardcore punk is a dying genre, funnily enough, nobody sent Christmas the memo and if they did they’d use it to light the stick of dynamite they’re about to throw into your speakers.

This album is ignited when ‘Turn Me Lewd’ kicks off in your speakers with a really addictive brass line running alongside the vocals and those guitars are white-hot like a rabid ‘Nasty’. I might be mistaken here but this seems to have upped a gear or two from previous recordings from Christmas ‘Hey Mate’ is cheeky whilst the title track is an exercise in how to riff.

‘Waterloo’ has a brown noise rumbling low end on that bass guitar before sounding like its been fired out of a cannon. Great stuff – classic Christmas.  Hold the front page ‘Elvis Is Dead’ if only he had sounded like this or he sang a song like ‘Fuck It Up’. Brutal and uncompromising Christmas go full tilt on us on ‘Born To Booze’. As we raise a glass to yet another top record from Max and co and if you were in any doubt ‘Go Hard Or Go Home’ is a rocket ride of pure aggression and pounding hardcore that is done exceptionally well. Man, we’ve reached the end as there is only ‘Candy Me’ to play out. Max has got this down to a fine art now and he knows what it takes to pen a Christmas record and not a sleigh bell anywhere just hardcore punk rock done to perfection.  How long will it be before these guys are treated the same way as Bronx or Zugly for being as good as punk rock gets in the motherfuckin’ roaring ’20s.

Get on it people because they’re going to keep on regardless but Max needs to crowd surf and the more people who get into them the easier it will be to be carried around like royalty. It’ll be a ‘Hot Night’ anywhere if Christmas are playing any of these top tunes.

 

Buy ‘Hot Nights In Saint Vandal’ Here

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Luke Haines and Peter Buck – ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ – (Cherry Red Records)

Luke Haines and Peter Buck – ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ – (Cherry Red Records)

Here’s an unexpected collaboration. After buying one of Luke Haines’ paintings online of Lou Reed, Peter Buck made contact and some form of musical bond was formed. Life can be wonderfully strange. So, here we are, in the unique mind of Luke Haines. I’d be interested to know the level of Buck’s contribution, not that I doubt it, rather, this sounds like pure Haines subject matter and style.

 

While every album is different, you know it’s him. This is partly the voice and presence, but also the choice of subjects. So, a not exactly concept-album, which references; the rocket scientist and occultist, Jack Parsons, who came to a spectacular end; post-apocalypse radio which only plays Donovan; Bigfoot; the Enfield Haunting and Andy Warhol.

 

For better or worse, my review is in the form of my list of notes for each song. As a tribute, and because, frankly, if you don’t know Luke Haines yet, it’s probably too late. So…

 

‘Jack Parsons’; rocket science/occultist, Crowley/Thelemite, recorders, L. Ron Hubbard, dreamy melody, interview segments remind me of B.A.D.

 

‘Apocalypse Beach’; post-apocalypse Donovan only radio station, Leach/beach, acoustic strum.

 

‘Last Of The Legendary Bigfoot Hunters’; tabla intro, fuzz guitar, groovy, “cover me in feathers, like dead Liberace”.

 

‘Beat Poetry For The Survivalist’; homemade transistor wireless, lists, “heavy Zen and a record by KISS”.

 

‘Witch Tariff’; Enfield Hauntings, “all the bad cats know where it’s at”, ouija contact Johnny Ray, Billy Fury, “if you wanna be a legend you gotta break a few legs”.

 

‘Andy Warhol Was Not Kind’; glam beat, “we come in peace from Finsbury Park”.

 

‘French Man Glam Gang’; sleazy, electro-glam pulse, la discotheque, like Human League Glitter cover.

 

‘Ugly Dude Blues’; as it says, harmonica, RECORDER!,

 

‘Bobby’s Wild Years’; Cramps intro, angular/Ants verse, “everyone’s a genius in varying degrees”.

 

‘Rock N Roll Ambulance’; “hey, hey, hey”, get on board the rock n roll hearse, “our last hit-the closest to a hook that we’re ever gonna get”.

 

I can say this; if you don’t like recorders, don’t buy this album! But, if you’ve ever bought a Luke Haines album, you should buy this one. Righteous.

Buy ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ Here

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Author: Martin Chamarette

 

Wild Zeros – Well Cooked (Heavy Medication Records)

Wild Zeros – Well Cooked (Heavy Medication Records)

France’s Wild Zeros play fun, frantic trashy rock & roll with a late-70’s punk edge, steeped in the sounds of DMZ, Vibrators, Teenage Head, and The Devil Dogs. Although formed in 2007, this gruesome threesome has been prolific as hell over the last two years, unleashing a slew of 7″ers on labels such as Crocodile, Chickpea, Nerve Centre and Permanent Freak. “Well Cooked!” compiles those releases and throws in two exclusive live tracks for good measure. The studio tracks feature band originals as well as covers of The Pack, The Penetrators, and The Cigarettes.

If you like your rock and roll frayed around the edges and straight outta the garage then what’s not to like about Wild Zeros? Of all the covers they’ve pulled in here one thing you notice is they’ve picked well and they’ve managed to take ownership of the tunes and make them fit right in with the Wild Zeros original.

I’m a big fan of the single always have been and when a compilation record gets put together it can showcase a band’s best bits for sure so what you might deduce here is Wild Zeros know their way around the scene and have plucked a few gems that you might well be unfamiliar with and done an exceedingly good job of compiling a really enjoyable long-player.  I’m sure should I have happened across this trio in a bar somewhere and they’d have knocked out a set comprising of these very songs in this manner I’d have been very impressed and would have wanted to tell everyone that would listen how good Wild Zeros are.  So on that evidence, I’ll say go check em out turn it up and get your freak on this tasty feast is ‘Well Cooked’ but certainly not overdone.

 

Buy ‘Well Cooked’ Here / Label

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Author: Dom Daley

Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ (Metal Blade Records)

Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ (Metal Blade Records)

If the likes of ‘Hell Awaits’, ‘Restless And Wild’, ‘Black Metal’ and ‘Screaming For Vengeance’ got you bouncing around the room with excitement the first time you heard them then ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ the Metal Blade debut album from Midnight is the “must hear” album of 2020 for you.

Long term Midnight fans will no doubt already be tutting at my reference to ‘Black Metal’ but across their impressive 17 year back catalogue there is no way of distancing the band’s sound from that primal guttural roar of Cronos and Co. They are the band I once dubbed as “being able to play Venom’s back catalogue better than Venom”, and I’m going to stick by that.

‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ then is Midnight possibly taking their first steps into “doing a Ghost” by moving away from the metal underground and into the more mainstream. Fear not though, as the title of opener ‘Fucking Speed And Darkness’ alludes Midnight main man Athenar isn’t about to be prancing about like the Pied Piper in its accompanying video any time soon. Nah, this is still very much “go for the throat” heavy metal music, it’s just this time around it really feels like Athenar has stepped up his game in the songwriting department and here all 10 tracks hit home with equal parts ferocity and finesse.

If I were to single out one thing that ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ has throughout its 33 minute running time it is that there is a clear focus to deliver brutal yet memorable songs, and therein lies the secret of why for me Midnight stands head and shoulders above the rest of the black metal pack. There’s still some tongue in cheek stuff going on (Devil’s Excrement’ for example – which could very easily be a Trigger McPoopshute song) but essentially this is heads down no-nonsense heavy metal celebrating everything that is great about the genre in 2020. The likes of ‘Cursed Possessions’, ‘Escape From The Grave’ and ‘The Sounds Of Hell’ would and should be instant dancefloor fillers at any metal all-nighter – if such things still exist?

Granted ‘Rising Scum’ might sail a little close to Venom’s ‘Nightmare’ in terms of being the obvious track to be pulled as a potential single, but this comparison is not being made because of plagiarism, it’s being made simply because it’s also a song driven by a drumbeat set to raise the dead. Likewise, the opening few bars of album closer ‘You Drag Me Through Fire’ are primetime Priest yet the song soon catapults the listener back into the very depths of hell with just enough time left to polish your studded gauntlets before pressing the “Repeat” button on your death deck.

At the top of this review I mentioned a quartet of heavy metal records that loom large over the metal community to this day, ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ has all the potential to be such an album for the generations to follow, you just need to decide if you want to buy the inverted cross CD or the limited coloured vinyl.

‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ is released Tomorrow get the date in your Necronomicon.

Buy ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ Here

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Author: Johnny Hayward

 

SLF UK Tour and Virtual video

SLF UK Tour and Virtual video

Legendary Northern Irish punk rock act Stiff Little Fingers are delighted to announce a full UK tour in March 2020 – The 2020 Tour.

The tour will see the band play their 29th consecutive Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom St. Patrick’s Day show as part of their traditional March tour. The band also headline London’s Roundhouse to end the 13-date run.

All the dates will feature support from The Professionals and TV Smith. The Roundhouse show only will also feature a very special guest slot from the Neville Staple Band. With an iconic career of over 40 years, Stiff Little Fingers remain as vital as ever.

The full tour dates are as follows:
Thursday 12thMarch 2020                               Bristol, O2 Academy
Friday 13thMarch 2020                                     Cardiff, Great Hall
Saturday 14thMarch 2020                               Birmingham, O2 Academy
Monday 16thMarch 2020                                Norwich, UEA
Tuesday 17thMarch 2020                                 Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
Thursday 19thMarch 2020                               Troon, Concert Hall
Friday 20thMarch 2020                                     Newcastle, O2 Academy
Saturday 21stMarch 2020                                Leeds, O2 Academy
Monday 23rdMarch 2020                                Northampton, Roadmenders
Tuesday 24thMarch 2020                                 Nottingham, Rock City
Thursday 26thMarch 2020                               Portsmouth, Pyramids   
Friday 27thMarch 2020                                     Manchester, Academy
Saturday 28thMarch 2020                               London, Roundhouse

Tickets are available from www.slf.rocks

www.slf.rocks  / www.facebook.com/StiffLittleFingers  / www.twitter.com/RigidDigits

Debbie Harry & Chris Stein – An Evening In conversation March/April

Debbie Harry & Chris Stein – An Evening In conversation March/April

AN EVENING IN CONVERSATION WITH

DEBBIE HARRY AND CHRIS STEIN

 

IS COMING TO GERMANY AND THE UK.

 

 Saturday, March 7 – Hamburg, Germany
Kampnagel
Jarrestraße 20
22303 Hamburg

Monday, March 9 – Berlin, Germany
Funkhaus
Nalepastraße 18
12459 Berlin

Wednesday, March 11 – Lit. Cologne
Theater am Tanzbrunnen
Rheinparkweg 1
50679 Köln

Friday, March 13 – München
Muffathalle
Zellstraße 4
81667 München

Wednesday, April 22 – Glasgow
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
2 Sauchiehall St
Glasgow G2 3NY

Friday, April 24 – Birmingham
Birmingham Symphony Hall
28 Centenary Square
Birmingham B1 2EA

Sunday, April 26 – Manchester
The Bridgewater Hall
Lower Mosley St
Manchester M2 3WS

Tuesday, April 28 – London
London Barbican Centre
Silk St.
London EC2Y 8DS

Alien Nosejob – Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud (Drunken Sailor Records)

Alien Nosejob – Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud (Drunken Sailor Records)

Punk Rock made by people with incredibly short attention spans make a record crazy how Jake Robertson finds the time because as well as being Alien Nosejob he is in about a bazillion other bands at the same time.

You’d think Jake Robertson would already have his hands full playing in the likes of Ausmuteants, Leather Towel, School Damage, Drug Sweat et al. But no, evidently there’s always time for one more.  Alien Nose Job’s (best not to ask what inspired that band name) music is inspired by the likes of Devo and a lot of early post-punk meets indie pop and other lo-fi offerings the range of influences is spectacular from the Ramones to Depeche Mode I kid you not.

There’s soul-pop, sci-fi slop-punk, straight-up college rock balladry and a whole lot in between. Surprisingly ‘Suddenly Everything is Twice as Loud’ is a record that flows really well. It’s rough as fuck and fits in with the Devo Lo-Fi thang. Sure, the use of cheap drum machines and guitars that sound like the strings are as old as the guy playing them but that’s all part of the charm these songs could unravel in an instant but of course, that’s the skill – they won’t.

‘Rainbow Road’ is pure pop with a soppy melody but its addictive with open chords strumming on an electric guitar and as soon as the solo comes in the song fades and it’s gone. The to follow on ‘Black Sheep’ is a Ramones blast of pure energy for the next two minutes.  Nothing soppy about that then. ‘Spin Cycle’ sounds like it was recorded in the next room on a Panasonic cassette recorder and was once an idea put together by Pete Shelly when he was recording a solo record.

Wonk Unit fans will find the western-like charm of ‘Daintree’ appealing. As if to highlight the eclectic nature of the songwriting on offer ‘Don’t Need Love’ is a shade of glam punk with a great melody and something that will burrow into your ear and take up residence then the synth pop post punk of ‘Freezing Cold’ throws another curveball. We’ve sadly reached the end of the record and there’s only time for the Depeche Mode meets Miscalculations of ‘Alian Island’ that will have a double take from any Numanoids checking in.

Give Alien Nosejob some time.  Let it sink in. Absorb its weirdness and off the wall nature and embrace it for what it is – a top album of top tunes.  I like it, I like it a lot now turn down the bass and tweek that high end a little and press loop I’m going back in.

 

Split release with Anti Fade (AUS). First 100 on Red Vinyl

 

Buy ‘Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud’ Here

Author: Dom Daley