Singles Club – Cold November Rain

Singles Club – Cold November Rain

Lusitanian Ghosts – ‘For the Wicked’ (European Phonographic) Lusitanian Ghosts return with their latest single ‘For The Wicked’, The band is led by singer-songwriter and producer Neil Leyton and Swedish guitarist, singer and multi-instrumentalist Micke Ghost, with a cast of musical associates. We were blown away by the album last year and this single is more of the same with the use of their Portuguese chordophone instruments. ‘For The Wicked’ speaks to a lost and apathetic society.

It has a sense of melancholia as the track builds gradually to an anthemic finale.  Providing calm in a world which is certainly not calm. It’s a confident record that oozes charm and class.

PRE-SAVE ‘For The Wicked’ Stream   / Twitter  Facebook   Instagram   Spotify  YouTube   Website

 

Prima Donna – ‘Gimme Christmas’ (Wicked Cool Records) Now one of the coolest and best bands over there on the West coast have just rocked up and made us feel all festive with their sleazy Rock and Roller Crimbo tune.  I don’t want to hear that sleigh bells aren’t cool because we all know they are really and as these bad boys wind the clocks back to a time when these sort of things really mattered and people wanted to hear what bands had for the festive fun.  ‘Gimme Christmas’ is a stomper whilst ‘Misletow Blues’ is a horn honkin twelve-bar booze-up where Alvin Stardust and Shakey are invited to compare the office disco and these bangers are gonna be on loop and you’ll all bloody well enjoy yourselves.  Of course you will it’s fantastic.  Prima Donna win again!

Buy Gimme Christmas Here

Rich Ragany & The Digressions – ‘December In My Heart’ (self Release)  Pour yourself another eggnog and strap on some mistletoe and tinsel because Rags and the gang have gone and nicked bits from the Christmas goodies past and knocked up a warm n fuzzy tune for the festive season. If you have an office party slip this on and watch the girls from Accounts throw themselves around Health &Safeties handbags with festive abandon.  Socially distanced dancing of course the best festive number thus far and unless Mayhem does ‘Little Donkey’ this will be the festive pick at HQ’s party.

Buy ‘December In M Heart’ Here

 

 

Guerrilla Teens – ‘Faux King’s Guillotine (Self Release)  they just can’t stop monkeying around. some sleazy garage punk n roll sees the Teens knock out ‘Faux King’s Guillotine’ for our listening pleasure and the best place to pick it up would be on the first Friday of every month from our mutual friends at Bandcamp and whilst you’re there get the album as well. If you don’t you must be bananas.

Fist pumping and with a fantastic rolling riff around a great lyric “remove the head and the body will die”. indeed. Release the hounds or else

Bandcamp

 

 

Dirty Fences – ‘Garbageman’ (Greenway Records)  What a headrush.  Dirty Fences do that to you, Chasing into the distance with a hot melody played through the medium of some dirty power pop with a decent dollop of Garage and attitude thrown in for good measure.  the B Side is even better, ‘Sometimes Sunshine’ is like Elvis Costello and the Attractions sped up hammering out a melody you feel like you’ve heard before but regardless it’s damn good and you know it and so do they.  New York has never sounded so cool  if only the Strokes could have sounded this good

Buy Garbageman Here

 

 

Shadows Of Night – ‘Wild Man’ (Wicked Cool Records)  oh hell yeah, shake it, baby, as Shadows Of Night are garage rock to the bone with the swirling keys and backbeat and a whole cave of reverb on the guitar as they shout to the devil on ‘wild Man’.  This is retro enough to come with a scratch and sniff Afghan Coat whiff.  The workout of ‘I Ain’t Got You’ is splendid from the freak-out solo to the keys it’s a blinder and of the highest order and knocks spots of a certain Boston band’s take on this.  If only Tyler and Perry could be this authentic.

Pick it up Here

 

 

Dead Dirty Dinosaurs – ‘Bad Timing’ (Riot Records / Golden Robot Records) ‘Bad Timing’ is the latest single from the Dead Dirty Dinosaurs and the third release with the force that is Riot Records and their parent company Golden Robot Records. Bad Timing is a very decent dirty understated riff with great production that helps the song as you focus on the melody and that dirty low-down riff.  Pre-order/pre-save Bad Timing HERE

Facebook

 

 

 

Hells Ditch – ‘The Likes Of Us’ Laying down some modern American sounding indie post-punk rock the likes of Menzingers and not a million miles from the Americana of Gaslight Anthem but the punkier end.  The one thing I was surprised at was these guys are from Lincoln and not Boston. They have the potential to be a big noise on the scene over on this sound of the pond.

Facebook

Buy or listen Here

 

 

Radio Days – ‘I Gotta Love’ (snap Records) Power Pop with a bit of edge sees Radio Days knock out a classic slice of Rock and Roll with a cool riff and lick and harmonies that hit you right in the heart. A backbeat the love to use and the perfect partner for the Subways or More Kicks. You even get a free pin badge with this slice of Milanese magic.

Bandcamp

 

 

 

 

Rod Hamdallah – ‘Crawling Back’ (Hound Gawd! Records) Atlantas Swampy Garage Rock played like they’ve just crawled out of the ’50s and have landed on the ’60s shoreline. With a great melody that does what the geeta does, it’s retro rock n roll at its finest with a good hook on the chorus.  Sure you could dance to it and wig out on the solo. as for the instrumental on the B side?  Perfect for a 7″ b side I guess all weird and mystical for a band from Georgia. Always worth checking out.

Facebook

Buy ‘Crawling Back’ Here

 

Automatics – ‘Octonary’ (Blank Generation Records) Limited pressing on white vinyl this record sees the Pistols Steve Jones and the Legend that is Johnny Thunders guest appearance email steve@blankgeneration.show for details of how to order your copy.  The songs of real interest are obviously ‘Wild One’ featuring Thunders iconic guitar tone wailing in on the solo and the track ‘Peace On Earth’ for the equally iconic tones of Steve Jones.

The Octonary EP features 4 previously unreleased tracks by the Automatics and is a limited edition release of 300 only on 7″ white vinyl, and comes housed in a luxury sleeve with 4-page lyrics and info booklet. The purpose of the EP is to promote the EIGHT albums of unreleased Automatics material that is now ready to download and stream on most platforms. For a cheeky peek at the Jonesy influenced ‘Peace On Earth’ open the video. Well worth having in your collection that’s a no brainer.

Facebook

Sensible Gray Cells – ‘Get Back Into The World’ (Damaged Goods Records)

Sensible Gray Cells – ‘Get Back Into The World’ (Damaged Goods Records)

Lately I seem to hear the term Garage Rock attached to just about everything I’m listening too, as it was to this baby, without going into a rant about how many different styles and eras there are of Garage Rock (again). I’m just going to look at this as a release grounded in influences, but ultimately standing up on its own as of today, it’s going to just be classed as seriously cool music.

 

For the uninitiated (I would expect very few who read RPM to be uninitiated) the Sensible Gray cells consist of Captain Sensible and Paul Gray from you know where alongside Marty Love (Johnny Moped amongst others) on drums with a guest appearance from Monty Oxymoron.

 

As the LP kicks off I’m not so much drawn into a garage rock vibe but instead led back to thoughts of Phantasmagoria era Damned  ‘Sell her Spark” is a great opener, but I can’t help but wonder what it would have sounded like with Dave Vanian on vocals? And that’s a thought that I just can’t shift, and it comes back to me intermittently throughout.

 

The fact is this could be an absolutely cracking Damned LP, and to court controversy, I rate it a better Damned LP than Evil Spirits, but lets not go there! As I’m blasting through the first few tracks, “Black Spider Memo man” for some strange reason hits at “Eloise” but at the other end of the scale “So long” smashes through the speakers more in tune with classic Who material, were the Who ever a garage rock band? Where as ‘Just a little Prick” runs everywhere from Pink Floyd to the kinks via the Beatles its ridiculously catchy and holding on to some classic influencers.

 

“DJ with half a Brain”, hits that Fuzztones vibe raw American garage rock, but presented from a typically British standpoint. I wonder as I’m listening through for the umpteenth time how great this would have been as a Damned track with Vanian to the fore, lets hope it can somehow be assimilated into a Damned live show. “Jam tomorrow” is a great track, different to everything that has come before, with some seriously cool guitar work from the Captain and a great keyboard run, hinting at Dub and Pschedelia with maybe a hint of the Orb within the samples.

 

Taking stock this is a seriously good LP, grounded in that guitar based underground rock that we’ve grown up with not afraid of experimentation, not afraid to push some boundaries, but at times I just wish certain tracks could have been recorded by the Damned! You’ll be able to pick them out.

 

There’s an early Syd Barrett quintessentially English vibe to “What’s the point of Andrew” a very definitive anti Royalist sentiment that any sane individual would wholeheartedly agree with, yes it takes the Piss.

 

“Fine Weather friend” could have been written for Dave Vanian, that name just keeps coming up, but when you listen the theatrics are just there, the vocal presentation is tailor made, again with some serious guitar work and a terrific locked down bass run. Next up “I married a monster” is a real burner, grounded in the underground, and “You and me” follows suite before we’re into LP closer ”Another world” weaving it’s way forward as a real slab of Psychedelia, an almost Eastern feel to the guitar led intro.

 

Great LP, now how do we persuade the Captain to hand over some of the vocal duties to his day job vocalist and introduce them to a Damned live performance?

 

Buy ‘Get Back Into The World’ Here

Author: Nev Brooks

Tyla J Pallas – ‘Live In Japan’ (King Outlaw Records)

Tyla J Pallas – ‘Live In Japan’ (King Outlaw Records)

Filmed and Recorded in Tokyo over 3 nights in March 2020 just before the covid lockdown this here double CD/DVD package is Tyla hitting all the right notes (ok most of em) on some Dogs classics.

 

It’s fair to say these iconic tunes still manage to send a chill down the spine of fans even when it’s one man and his guitar.  Its an armoury of tunes most performers would be proud to have in the locker and be it in a large hall or small intimate back room of a club its often a spine-tingling walk through some mighty fine songs we grew up loving especially when they’re stripped back to one man and his guitar and when Tyla is on form you can be taken right back to a time when we were obviously much younger and these songs were fresh and packed a powerful punch that has managed to stand the test of time and for many of these more than 30 years have passed.

‘Errol Flynn’ kicks off proceedings and already you can see that this is a live in the raw affair there are no overdubs no bells and whistles added in the studio is straight from the board and into your ears.  Whilst the CD deals with classic period Dogs tunes from ‘Last Bandit’ through ‘Heroine’ the majestic ‘Johnny Silvers’, ‘Drunk Like Me’, ‘I Don’t Want You To Go’ and ‘How Come It Never Rains’ with added harmonica. I drifted off thinking of the many times I saw Tyla stumble into town wherever it is deepest darkest West Wales of Capital Cities it was always a night out enjoying some of my favourite songs and this sounds intimate and emotional albeit thousands of miles away ‘How Come It Never Rains’ slowed down is an emotional tune and the memories come flooding back and Tyla sounds in fine voice.

Oh, hang on ‘I Don’t Love Anyone’ is thrust forward and centre and what a beautiful tune it is too.  It’s classic Tyla and could easily fit into the late 80s period of productivity and slots in nicely here.  Ending the CD with ‘Satellite Kid’ is just about spot-on as a waft of Thunderbird wine and hazy tropical cigarette smoke passes my mind’s eye and I think back to hazy days consigned to time.  Dancing in HMV Oxford Street as the band played and we helped ourselves to T-shirts handed out by the band and half-remembered shows in the Astoria, Hammersmith Odeon and Town and Country as well as cardiff square Club and the Railway Inn all blur into one.  Music is the best thing in my life and Tyla J Pallas has curated the soundtrack on many occasions and this is a nice reminder even if it is from Tokyo.

 

As for the DVD section ‘The State I’m In’ plays whilst we watch grainy footage before the multi angle footage shot in Tokyo kicks in and what you get here is fresh material ranging from ‘Comfort Of The Devil’ and ‘Billy Two Rivers’ before we get some home made quality footage shot in soundcheck which is the order of the rest of the film.  live interspersed with soundcheck footage.

‘Scared Of Dying’ peppers the Dogs set along with the excellent ‘All You Had’ and as the credits roll ‘Mad Bad Jack’ wraps up what is an impressive CV by anyones standard.  I used to love collecting all the Tyla solo bootlegs back in the times of Dial up and whilst this is not exactly Blockbuster quality is has charm and more than enough top tunes to lure in fans far and wide and its great to see Tyla and Dave Kusworth sitting next to each other sharing a good time in the credits.

It’s been a funny old year and it began with this trip to Japan and will end with the footage and audio.  Hopefully 2021 will be a much better year and Tyla will get out there and tour round an acoustic set with all these classics untilthen this will be alright innit.

*This edition is different from the KO/Cargo edition (release date 12 Feb 2021)by way of packaging which will be in a jewel case and not numbered or Signed.*

 

Buy Live In Tokyo Here

Tylas Art Tavern 

Facebook

Author: Dom Daley

The Last Internationale – Announce New Live Record ‘Live At Arda Recorders’

The Last Internationale – Announce New Live Record ‘Live At Arda Recorders’

The Last Internationale

Announce New Live Record ‘Live At Arda Recorders’

Re-Schedule UK Headline Tour Dates Announced October 2021 

The Last Internationale announce the release of their new live record ‘Live At Arda Recorders’ on 18thDecember 2020. Re-scheduled UK Headline Tour dates in October 2021. The process of recording the album was captured for a behind the scenes and live documentary. For this release The Last Internationale recorded with good friends from the French electro rock band Shaka Ponk: Ion Meunier, on drums, Mandris Da Cruz on Bass and Steve Desgarceaux on Keys.

Pre-Order HERE

Known for their live performances The Last Internationale’s new record ‘Live At Arda Recorders’ captures both the groups explosive and intense live style but also allowing the audience to feel the soulful blues roots that run deep through their sound.

Whilst the album explores a more intimate setting for the group it never shies away from the gritty, rough around the edges and heavy traits synonymous with their 2019 album ‘Soul On Fire’ which showed a song-writing evolution towards a more complex, full-bodied sound; that truly reflects the band’s musical and personal growth.

2019 was a standout year for The Last Internationale, they released their second studio album the critically acclaimed ‘Soul On Fire’, performed a host of sold out headline shows across Europe and in addition to this appeared as special guest to the legendary UK rockers The Cult and California rock outfit Rival Sons.

Today the group drop the first single and video from the up and coming record with the groove driven track ‘Try Me’The band comments: “For this record, what we wanted to do was bring the live stage energy into the studio. We want people to get the full experience of a TLI show and the team at Arda were instrumental in helping us perfectly blend our rock, blues, hip-hop, and folk influences into a perfect colourful bleeding spectrum of soft dynamics to a full sonic assault. When we mixed it, we’d take the song into the car and if the speakers weren’t kicking air into our legs or the doors rattling, we’d send it back for another revision. When we were told “it’s too much,” we’d always ask for more. The result is that NY boom-bap without the use of triggers or samples. It’s raw, it’s imperfect, it’s perfect, it’s… live. No overdubs (except the backing vocals because the backup singers failed to show up), no stacking guitars, no labouring over parts. We just plugged in and played. So turn it up, close your eyes, scream your lungs out, and pretend you’re at a live show until this damn pandemic is finally over. See you soon, in the flesh.” 

The Last Internationale – ‘Live At Arda Recorders’ Pre-Order HERE

Festival Shows – 2021

Tue 1stJune – Acoustic show Stourport (Festival Warm Up Intimate Show)
Fri 4thJune – Nova Rock, Austria
Sun 6thJune – Download Festival, UK
Wed 7thJuly – Mad Cool Festival, Spain

UK Headline Tour – 2021
Tue 1st June – Acoustic show Stourport (UK)
Sat 23rd Oct – Night People, Manchester (UK)
Sun 24th Oct – Exchange, Bristol (UK)
Mon 25th Oct – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (UK)
Tue 26th Oct – Stereo, Glasgow (UK)
Wed 27th Oct – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (UK)
Thu 28th Oct – 100 Club, London (UK)

Get Your Tickets – Here

For more information on The Last Internationale please visit: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

The Dirty Strangers – ‘Burn The Bubble’ (DS Records)

The Dirty Strangers – ‘Burn The Bubble’ (DS Records)

There’s an Elephant in the room.  Nah not the fact that this second album from The Dirty Strangers has guest slots from some Rolling Stones and also a tune co-written by Keif Richards but the fact that Alan Clayton has always been a top Rock and Roll songwriter and churned out albeit infrequent albums but they’ve always been a bit bloody good, regardless of who’s playing on them.

Oh, and to be fair most of us did arrive at the party due to the association with a couple of six-string slingers who also have a penchant for churning out the odd decent album Keif and Ronnie or something like that.

Imagine you could pick up all the good and the great from the 60s, 70s and 80s Rock n Roll that ever stumbled around Carnaby Street or one of the dive bars in Soho and as you hoovered it all up (and remembered to take note or almost remember) then you put it to music well that’s the sound of the Dirty Strangers that is with some added thunderbird mouthwash for good measure and a sprinkling of super talented mates.

Alan Clayton is joined for the last time by this impressive line up consisting of the super talented Paul Fox, ‘Steady’ Ray King on Bass Guitar, Mark Harrison  Drums & Backing VOX, Scott Mulvey on Keys & Backing VOX, and the impressive Angie Brown on guest vocals.  Now seems like as good a time as any to give this bad boy a re-release and for me to give this album a leg up.

The keyboards swirl and then Clayton’s instantly recognisable drawl enters the fray.’The Biggest Mouth’ is a foot-stomping rock and roller.  Of course, it’s not original and it might even be dated with the production and arrangement but hell, it’s only Rock and Roll and I like it.

 

‘Party 4 2’ is exactly that, it’s a party for two dancing through your speakers.  Then a track was co-written by a certain Mr. Richards that Boogie Woogies into the ether has me wondering how 1993 missed this album first time around.  I blame the lame music press for only being interested in gazing at its collective shoes whilst wigging out on churned up long solos from Soundgarden or self-harming over Nirvana whilst over there Clayton and his muckers were kicking up a shitstorm in the name of a good time and supplying all the toons it would seem.

It wasn’t all twelve-bar parties you know they were rivalling anything the Quireboys might have had in the locker at the time as ‘High Heels And Hangovers’ is swinging from the chandeliers with style and when the time was right Clayton could slow things down like The Faces did like on the majestic ‘Only For You’ with its false starts and laid back finger work from Fox.  It also has some fine vocal arrangments and a killer delivery but the Ian Maclagan like touch on those keys is a game-changer and adds a tonne of class to proceedings.  superb song!

 

No time like after a masterclass in balladeering to smash it up with some good old Rock and Roll as ‘Special Girl’ has a whole bunch of attitude and swagger.  Songs like ‘Got To Know Her’ are easily as good as some of the better songs Ian Hunter was rocking up with his ‘Dirty Laundry’  and his Rant Band. Before we finish there’s always time for some acoustic pickings and ‘The Gamblers Song’ provides the service and had this been a Frankie Miller song or dare I say it Stones song it would have been a smash.  It could have broken out with the big drum fill but it doesn’t – its more restrained than that and that’s the difference in class you’ve either got it or you ain’t and on this occasion, The Dirty Strangers are dripping in class.

With time for a couple more Rockers before this party gets shut down it seems as good a time as any to pay this a visit.  If you are a dreamer always looking for that Rock and Roll fix then you can stop looking because I can point you in the right direction for a good time.  The Dirty Strangers ‘Burn The Bubble’ is a long lost classic with variety and class just waiting for you to come along and bring a bottle.

Buy ‘Burn The Bubble’ Here

Facebook

Author: Dom Daley

Rainy Days & Mondays

Rainy Days & Mondays

Born in the winter of 1976 along side the Ramones’ first album and the Damned’s New Rose. Jiffy Marx has toured all over North America and Europe with a kitchen sink of bands such as Black Rice, Blood Meridian, Hard Drugs, Jiffy Marker and most recently Canadian new wave revivalists Autogramm. On hiatus from touring and while chipping away at Autogramm’s sophomore album, Marx took a weekend to visit his pals from Seattle’s Bread & Butter. Over the course of 36 hours they managed to drink a shit load of beer, eat a ton of peanut butter pretzels, and track Jiffy’s first solo 45rpm single.

There are 50 limited picture sleeve edition 7″s available through the band, the label, and Green Noise Records until they sell out!

 

This is Andy Guttercat’s 1st Solo release, since leaving The Guttercats. Enjoy ‘Two Faced People’. The song is available to purchase: Bandcamp /  Apple /  Spotify /  Amazon

Finally for something completely different we bring you Lyoness with the new single ‘Vulture & The Snake’

You can follow the band here… Facebook /  Instagram / Twitter

The Guilty Hearts – ‘The Guilty Hearts’ (Voodoo rhythm Records)

The Guilty Hearts – ‘The Guilty Hearts’ (Voodoo rhythm Records)
The re-release of this overlooked early noughties debut, that wouldn’t look out of place alongside the rougher more streetwise garage rock that littered the era, imagine Eighties Matchbox after the acid trip or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club if they were inclined to get into more bar fights.
The Los Angeles group certainly know their stuff, this record is a brutal melting pot of garage, psych and cow punk from the getgo. ‘Too far down’ kicks off the affair with a classic psychobilly rhythm and vocals full of hypnotic drones. ‘She’s trouble’ lives up to it’s mantra with savage Cramps style guitar lines but with a pumped up bass line laced with steroids.
The album ticks all the boxes for me like a winning bingo card, the guitars are scuzzy, the organ sounds are plentiful and the only real downer is that some of the songs pass by too quickly but there is the real genius where it leaves you wanting more!
Whether you are a revival fan of the genres represented here or a sixties purist it’s hard to deny that this is a treasure trove of Nuggets from any era. If you’re like me and this debut is a new discovery for you, make up for lost time and get it on heavy rotation straight away.
Buy The Guilty Hearts Here
Author: Dan Kasm

Various Artists – ‘Southend Punk Volume One’ (Angels In Exile)

Various Artists – ‘Southend Punk Volume One’ (Angels In Exile)

Way back in the early 2000s, Steve Pegrum launched a website like many others charting the family tree of Punk Rock in his localities.  (www.southendpunk.com). There was a similar one here for South Wales bands that was fantastic but I’m sure there were loads cropping up as punks got tech-savvy.

 

With Southend being a mere stones throw from the epicentre of the UK Punk scene in London. It was easy to see how the scene grew quickly and way before mobile phones and 24hr news it was accessible. This CD is ground zero with Volume One being the giveaway as every stone gets turned.  Its fourteen tracks of original material plus a veritable feast of a booklet with a short but succinct summary of the band and the song which makes for a great read.  Shame its just the CD and not a record with a big book to accompany it for those who now have to wear readers.

The styles are varied ranging from kids who clearly haven’t had their instruments long but are quick learners and enthusiastic participators like the opening ‘You Better Hear’ from The Machines it’s snotty and vibrant and took the band all the way to the epicentre and shows at the Vortex and Roxy.

You also have the more Pub Rock, power Pop end of the spectrum with the excellent Steve Hooker Band. Interestingly at number three on the running order and clearly inspired by those Banshees sees Alison Moyet kick out ‘Radio Roy’ in fine style and a decent demo it is too.

 

The next few tracks were assured are ultra-rare recordings from the Deciballs with their Snotty ‘Solitary’. The Psychopaths do ‘Drugs’ and you have to love the timing issues with something more akin to the Buzzcocks.  One of the best songs on display might be one of the poorest recordings but that’s understandable due to the time-lapse and it was probably taken from a C60 – The Shocks playing with a fantastic exuberance on ‘Too Close For Comfort’.

The Bullies go for a more sophisticated sound and build into the song with some skank on the verse ‘The Fighting Continues’ is a decent song and might have been riding the curve from Strummer and his mob. with a decent arrangement and quite an intricate solo for its time.  short-lived as were most of the bands at this furtive time.

Back to the more aggressive bosh of The Icons and their ‘5.15’ before the crustie punx wade in as The Sinyx are up first and its not hard to see their Crass style but they make way for the more aggressive ‘Blind People’ from The Kronstadt Uprising’.

Allegiance To No One dared to incorporate a synth into their armoury like Joy Division did or Tubeway Army even.  A band who obviously saw a bigger picture than a lot of their contemporaries. You have to love the energy of Burning Idols who clearly had a lot of love for The Clash with ‘Give Me A Chance’.

By now we’re well into the ’80s and production clearly has improved from the DIY demos of the late ’70s. The Prey had ‘Sleepless Nights’ which has a familiar melody and I like it. They’d had time to absorb all that had gone on in the previous decade and make use of what they’d taken on board and clearly penned a decent song.

 

Wrapping this compilation up are the Armless Teddies (who knows why?) but they had clearly spent the early ’80s becoming one with the Damneds back catalogue of the Algy Ward years and beyond as ‘Serenade’ dared to dream with the keyboards and acoustic guitars and the build isn’t a million miles away from Smash it up pt 1  and bits and bobs off ‘The Black Album’ good on em I say shame there’s no vocals though but hey maybe on Volume Two.

 

Sarfend I salute you and Steve for his obvious love for the scene that was Southend that clearly painted a rich tapestry judging by the songs on this very enjoyable compilation.

Label 

website 

Facebook

Author: Dom Daley

Interview Exclusive : The Spitfires

Interview Exclusive : The Spitfires

Once upon a time, it was cool to be a full-tilt Rock and Roll band and get in a van with your mates and drive around continents plugging in goofin’ round and playing it like your life depended on it night after night putting in the hard yards – earning those Rock and Roll stripes without much fuss just doin’ it because you had to it where your heart was taking you for little reward except to find like-minded people around this globe digging what it was you were playing and the records you were writing and releasing.  Well, guess what.  It’s still cool and those guys who were in the trenches back then are still in the trenches fighting for their cause in the name of entertainment some Brothers fell by the wayside like The Dragons but some kept at it and still have records coming out like the recent ‘Live At The Pic’ set on Yeah Right! Records so I thought Id give CC a call and find out what it was like playing in cool rock and roll band and let him tell the story of The Spitfires.  So here goes folks sit back relax and enjoy…

 

Tell us about The Spitfires how did the band come about where did you guys meet?

The original line up of the band grew up in the ‘burbs outside of Vancouver. We’d been jamming for a couple years under different names, not being very serious about anything. Being from a small town, anyone who had an instrument, or a place to jam, was someone you knew. The later members were friends we made in Vancouver.

 

 

That debut CD how did it come about?

 

C.C. We had a record finished and ready to release with Vancouver’s Mint Records before they suddenly dropped us. I think we were too trashy for them. I sent around the recordings (on cassette tape and in the mail!) to a bunch of labels I’d seen in Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll or Flipside. Mike at Sonic Swirl in Cleveland loved it, and he had released some stuff from Jason Solyom’s other garage rock band, The Fiends. Somehow Brian at TSB in Scotland got a hold of the album too, and he released the UK/Euro version.

 

Was the late 90s a good time for Rock and Roll bands in your district?  Who else was out at the time? That you’d meet on the road?

Yeah, it was a blast. We had a really amazing group of friends up and down the West Coast. The Dragons, Murder City Devils, Humpers, Black Halo, Catheters etc. We’d gone to NYC a few times and never really made any tight friends. In Columbus we had the New Bomb Turks, and up in Montreal and Toronto we had The Spaceshits and The Deadly Snakes. It was a fun time. People made phone calls to book tours, and connect with people. We’d drive into some new city and hope the promoter would pick up the phone. Otherwise we’d sometimes be stuck at a coin phone at some gas station. Compton was a particularly interesting gas station phone booth to wait at.

 

What bands were inspiring you guys at the time?

We were really into Crypt Records bands and Sympathy for the Record Industry. A lot of the “Glunk Punk” as Eric Davidson would later coin it. But we were all suburban kids, who weren’t afraid to say we liked Alice Cooper, Kiss, Aerosmith and all the other great arena rock bands of our youth.

 

You managed to get Junk to press the new album on Vinyl.  That must have been so uncool at the time hardly anyone was pressing vinyl at the time what kinda deal were labels like Junk offering at the time was there the opportunity to hit Europe on tour?

Haha, that’s a different perspective. Over here vinyl was totally cool at that time, at least with the scene we were in. Labels like Junk, Estrus, Sympathy, Crypt, were all putting out loads of good stuff. On CD too of course, but we had been hoping to get some real vinyl out. It was actually Estrus who put out our first vinyl single, “Cut Me Some Slack”. Junk was a really good label at the time. Lou Carus, the owner, was working as an engineer with Boeing. I’m pretty sure he spent every penny he earned on his bands. He’s still a really good friend, and every time I’m in California I make sure to see him. Junk was a sub label to Nitro at the time, so we really had great press and distribution. We didn’t get to Europe until the third album though.

 

Who decided on the third album title?  I guess you were firing on all cylinders at the time? You also added a second guitarist.  What was the reason for that?  and by the time you made it back into the studio, you were back to a four-piece for the ‘Aim Low’ album.

I think that “Three” was a band decision? We love classic rock, and that seemed like a cool classic rock kind of thing to do. And yeah, we were on fire at that time. We did add Dave Paterson for that album, who was a lot of fun and a great player, but he only lasted a year. We replaced him with Jay Millette from the Black Halos, because Rich had just quit their band and moved to L.A.. “Aim Low” was a few years after the band had actually broken up. Jay Millette wasn’t in the band by then, he had moved to Toronto. It was actually a 5-piece recording with Marcel LaFluer and Deano on guitars. Deano, the last of the originals besides me and Solyom, was still in the band but he quit after the recording. That’s when Graham Tuson joined. We recorded a few songs with that line-up that are still in the vaults.

 

Did you ever get any heat from other bands called the Spitfires?

Good question. At the time that we started we had found out that “Pooch” from Flipside Magazine had a band in L.A. called the Spitfires. So I wrote him a letter and sent a demo tape. I said we’d happily chnge the name if they wanted us to. He wrote back to say, in fact, they would change their name! They became The Condors, and I’ve remained friends with Pooch to this day.

 

What were some of the tours like?

That’s funny, Marty (drummer) and I were talking about this just the other day. I’ve forgotten a lot of the stuff we did. We were a rolling disaster. I mean, we had a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t be able to tell my colleagues at work any of those stories! Haha. One of my best memories though was the U.K. tour we did in 2002. We had so much fun and so many laughs. The highlight was playing the Astoria in London with the Rezillos! We also played the Dirty Water Club which was packed and super fun.

 

What with hindsight was the best Spitfires album?

I’m partial to “Three”. I think the production and songs are really the best we had. Howard Redekopp recorded and produced it at a really great studio (Mushroom RIP), and that made a big difference. A lot of people thought we had recorded that on Pro Tools (which people thought was lame at the time) but it’s all analogue 24 channel board to 2-inch tape.

 

 

 

 

On the Yeah right! Bandcamp page they say to hide the fire extinguisher.  Care to expand?

Well, this goes back to The Dirty Water Club in London. We had set an extinguisher off on stage, and it was awesome. Looked totally cool and it was a mellow shot of water that misted the whole room. But when we did it at the Horseshoe, it ruined our career and got us banned in Toronto. The build-up to the ban in Toronto was signing on with a bigwig agent, Ralph James at the Agency Group and touring with the Headstones (and getting them back on the sauce). When our agent got us a show at the Horseshoe Tavern for Canadian Music Week we were blown away. Then we ended up being Now Magazine’s pick of the week and headlining the show with Robbie Robertson, Chad Kroeger, Brittany Murphy, etc. in attendance. Ralph was fast tracking us at the time. Then our singer shot off a chemical fire extinguisher on stage which choked the crowd and created a panic and rush to the exit. This was shortly after the Great White fire in Rhode Island, so people were on edge. Anyway, it effectively ruined our career and probably rightly so! haha.

Who’s idea was the ‘Live at the Pic’ album? just released after some 17 years,  It’s a bit tasty.  How well did it capture the band live?  Recorded in 2003 the line up had two guitars again, did the dynamic change when the band went from 4 to 5? What memorable shows stand out and why? Was the pic a one-off show for the recording or were you recording shows most nights and this is the pic(K)  sorry couldn’t resist it 🙂

The album has been sitting collecting (digital) dust for more than 17 years now! It was the pinnacle of our career I’d say. We were totally on fire, and this might be the only recording that truly captures what the band sounded like. It was recorded by Howard Redekopp before he became well known (Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, New Pornographers). The live footage that will accompany it was shot by Danny Nowack and his crew (Hard Core Logo etc.), so there’s some Canadiana there. The video was lost in our Jason’s basement until this spring! It is, however, not just a digital release. Yeah Right! Records is releasing the vinyl LP before Xmas this year!

 

When you hit the UK for some shows how did that come about?

That was through the help of Brian at TSB records in Scotland. He hooked it up with Ian at Hidden Talent over in the UK who booked everything and set up the gear/van/driver. Unfortunately, it was The Spitfires only trip off the North American continent. Our other bands have all toured Europe, but we never quite managed. It was an incredible tour tough, and we loved it. We got as far North as Glasgow and as far South as Brighton. Met a load of great people. Mark (RIP) up in Nottingham, Baz and the Punker Bunker, Dave Kerr and the Chery Kicks up in Scotland at the time. It was so fun.

 

 

Neil Leyton tried hard to put on a few tours of these shores for bands like The Pariahs as well as his own band.  How cool was the scene back where you are because of all the Canadian bands I saw him bring over they were all excellent and there has always been a really healthy underground that I’ve been aware of especially power pop and alternative rock n roll bands.  Is it still a cool place for bands and shows?

Yeah, it’s a cold country, what else are we gonna do? Haha. I think there are probably a few advantages we have here like Sweden, with a good education system that supports arts and music, as well as government assistance programs to support and develop Canadian talent. Which translates into free money for wild rock and rollers to take expensive trips around the world. You’re right though, this last decade has seen a hell of a lot of great Canadian music from all genres.

What’s next for the Spitfires post-pandemic?

There’s still all that new and unreleased stuff we recorded in 2009 sitting in Jason’s basement. At this rate we’ll have a new album done by 2030 hopefully!

 

You guys will win the record for the most bands within a band tell us about some of the projects you guys are working on that you think the readers should check out??

I really like the Dysnea Boys stuff I did while living in Berlin, but I’m in a New Wave/Power Pop trio now called Autogramm. I’m also working on an album with Rich Jones (Michael Monroe/Loyalties/Black Halos) called “Dangercans”. It’s an epic project that I hope we actually finish. Jason Solyom is drumming and mixing the record too. Jason is in a great 70’s inspired boogie rock band called La Chinga. They’ve done a bunch of touring. Jay Millette in the reformed Black Halos (who I am managing!) and recording his own solo stuff under the name Silver Receiver. Jay Solyom also has a recording studio and Graham has also been recording a bunch of new stuff. Shock, the newest Spitfire, has a band going called The Slip Ons.

 

Buy ‘Live At The Pic’ Here

Facebook  / Yeah Right Records

Author: Dom Daley

Thee Acid Tongue – ‘Snake Rattle And Roll’ (Bear Bear Records)

Thee Acid Tongue – ‘Snake Rattle And Roll’ (Bear Bear Records)

The Midlands, Home to England’s second city, and a stone’s throw from London yet far enough away from all the Capitol city’s dramas and egos.  From an outsider’s perspective it’s a grounded part of the world yet a hotbed of talent always has and always will be.

It’s the home of Thee Acid Tongue featuring members of Fuckdust 4 and Skanks as well as a drongo and a Maximum Rock and Roller. As soon as the music hits the air they sure as hell rattle and roll my speakers as the full audio assault of Thee Acid Tongue hits you square on the jaw.

The dual guitar assault of Ohms and Mauronik is like a snarling dog straining at the leash but in order to be so ferocious, the rhythm section of Tracey Skarzynska on Bass and Steve Gameson on drums are the B2 bombers carpet-bombing their rhythms at the low end leaving Tommy Farrell the freedom to sing over the top.

The second ‘Lake Of Tears’ leaps into the ether the track sees the band boogie at volume and already you’re punching the air and joining in with those gang vocals. But hold on to your hat because the band is just settling into their groove as ‘Get Some’ brawls its way through before ’36 Needles’ pokes its dirty Rock n Roll into proceedings.

Sounding like a thunderous cousin to Sorry & The Sinatras or the bastard children of Lemmy and Charlie Harper at the peak of their powers Thee Acid Tongue clearly has a knack for penning great melodic loud Rock and Roll songs and that’s a fine art, It’s one of those things you either have it or you don’t and never will. It’s just a gift that is way beyond a lot of bands but not it would seem Thee Acid Tongue who have it in spades.

They then borrow a few absolute, stone-cold bangers from the ghost of Fuckdust 4 as ‘Radio’ paves the way for ‘Lorraine’ to strut into the ether and what was or is one of the finest Rock and Roll tunes to break out of the underground in many a year has gotten herself a lovely makeover,  and if I might be so bold it seems to have benefitted from the surgery with a wonderful solo and backing vocals to die for (ok maybe not die for but you get the picture) Damn, I can’t get the melody out of my head and now I’ve managed to piss off the kids, the wife and half the street they’re probably wondering who the fuck Lorraine is.  If only they knew they’d be dancing too.

‘Monkey At Sea’ has the benefit of some fantastic Bass bomb drops and the Hanoi Rocks breakdown is fanfuckintastic!  If you thought this album couldn’t get any better then wait for the Motorhead chug of ‘Bullets’.  With all these lockdowns and constantly being kicked in the knackers by lying politicians everywhere you look I wanted an album to grab me by the throat and kick me up the backside and by jove Thee Acid Tongue have gone and given me that shot of energy.

Man I’m already at the adrenalin ride of ‘Blood, Sex & Alcohol’ and there’s only ‘Nun With A Gun’ which is like The Beastie Boys if they cut their teeth in Edwards Number 8 and played three and in in Walsall rather than rapping in Queens and shooting hoops.

 

I love Rock and Roll when it’s loud, fast and a little bit grubby and it makes me smile because the writers have obviously grown up on the same tunes as me and have had the skills to Rock and Roll them onto a record or CD. Me,  I’m going back to the replay button and I’m going in for some more and then some more again.  When all this virus stuff has gone I’m gonna go see these good people and buy em a beer and sing along to their tunes because they bloody well deserve it.  Excellent album, Buy It!

Buy Thee Acid Tongue Here

Facebook

Author: Dom Daley