While he will always be known as the guy who replaced Izzy in Guns n’ Roses, Gilby Clarke has always been much more than just the Ronnie Wood to Slash’s Keef. When he left Guns n’ Roses in 1994 he went on to release arguably the best solo album by any member of the band with ‘Pawnshop Guitars’, proving he was always more than just a hired hand.
Gilby went on to release 4 quality solo albums in the late 90’s/early 00’s to much critical acclaim, yet little commercial success. The following years have seen the singer play with Slash’s Snakepit, Heart and MC5, as well as fronting the Rock Star Supernova project.
Now, 20 years after his last solo offering ‘Sawg’, Gilby returns with his new album ‘The Gospel Truth’. It was self-produced, written and laid down at his LA recording studio Redrum Recording, before lockdown was even a thing.
The thing I like about a Gilby Clarke album is you know what you are going to get. Let’s be honest here, he ain’t reinventing the wheel with his low-slung rock n’ roll tunes, but he has never claimed to. Gilby is just having fun writing and recording top quality tunes influenced by his heroes, pure and simple.
And the essence of loud guitars and rock n’ roll is evident from the off on the opening title track. With a killer, driving bassline, a cool ramshackle riff and those unmistakable raspy vocals, its low-slung rock n’ roll at its finest, delivered in the same vein as ‘Cure Me… or Kill Me…’ from that classic debut album. The cool female backing vocals add some soul to the rock n’ roll goodness here, which only helps to make a cracking opener.
‘Wayfarer’ follows, probably my current favourite song. Overly cool bass, handclaps and organ take us down a bluesy, well-travelled road. Again, some great backing harmonies that give a west coast vibe, you will keep returning to this one, believe me.
Motley Crue legend Nikki Sixx and Jane’s Addiction drummer Steven Perkins add their respective talents to ‘Tightwad’, a solid enough punky rocker where, funnily enough the bass is not as prominent or as cool as in the opening one-two.
Elsewhere, ‘Violation’ is full of punky attitude and NY garage rock goodness. A New York Dolls kinda riff gives way to honkytonk piano accompaniment to create a backstreet anthem that gets better the more you crank it. Funnily enough, this works just as well with ‘Rock N Roll Is Getting Louder’, where the killer bass groove returns. Add cowbell, a lyrical theme of motorcycles and guitars, then shake it but don’t stir it, and you have an instant classic Gilby track.
The warm production is perfect for the laid-back groove of ‘Rusted and Busted’. Again, a slow burner that benefits from repeated plays. Overdriven power chords, handclaps and that unmistakable vocal drawl, blend together in harmony, what’s not to like here? Closer ‘She Won’t Fight Fair’ is a goodtime glam stomper. A cool riff and powerhouse drums drive the song along towards an anthemic chorus with just a hint of Adam and The Ants in the backing vocal department if I’m not mistaken.
‘The Gospel Truth’ is a solid return to form from Gilby Clarke. No cover versions, no ballads, just 10 killer, groove heavy rock songs, influenced by the songwriter’s love of English bands like The Faces and The Stones. Sure, it ain’t no ‘Pawnshop Guitars’, but it is a fine collection of effortlessly cool songs, delivered with the fire and passion of a road worn rock n’ roll veteran with nothing to prove and much still to give.
My introduction to the Gadjits came via the compilation album ‘Give Em the Boot’ which launched Hellcat Records in a glorious way. Hearing ‘Beautiful Girl’ for the first time was one of those magical experiences where it just clicked with me completely. How did you guys get connected with Hellcat?
We had no idea that Hellcat was something that was in the works but we did know that Rancid was going to come through our town on tour and we wanted that gig badly enough to lobby hard for it with everyone we could think of. When Tim saw us play, he invited us to come do another show with them in Omaha, which we did and at some point after that, we got the phone call that Tim wanted us to come make records with Hellcat. We were all really young so there was a whole courtship thing that had to happen in order to satisfy our parents that we weren’t getting into the proverbial bed with bad people – which we weren’t but, it was funny that Brett Gurewitz had to shlep all the way to Kansas City to eat dinner at my mom’s house just to make the whole thing feel legit.
Back then, there was obviously not the ease of finding out more about the band or albums, and I remember I started doing some hunting and tracked down the release date for ‘At Ease,’ which is one of my all time favorite albums and one that ends up in my heavy rotation at least a couple times per year. I ended up with two copies when it was released because I had ordered it through my main record store and then I found it a couple days before the release date at one of the other record stores I would visit weekly. You had released ‘Da Gravy on You’ Grits’ the year before (1996) which I found after the release of ‘At Ease.’ Take me back to those early days, the band started with you and your two brothers. When did you guys know you had something special together? Were your parents supportive at the time?
We came from a performing arts family so our parents were absolutely supportive. They understood that we had to do things while there were things to be done. The band was actually started by my brothers Zach and Adam with their school friend Justin, as a reaction to the bands I was trying to form with my own school friends. Like, “Fuck Brandon, he thinks he’s better than us, we’ll start our own band and show him.” So anyway, I wrote a couple of songs for their band because they didn’t have any originals and then at some point, Justin’s parents decided that they didn’t want him playing gigs. Bars and all ages clubs seemed dubious (and they are) and so I got to join Zach and Adam’s band. At this point we were playing elementary school carnivals but not long after we went looking for some real shows and when we found them, those very early shows really helped us shape how we played and performed and what we wanted to sound like. At some point we hit upon adding some ska to our punk and then at some point soon after that, we were figuring out how to record music in our parent’s basement – which led to both the original Gadjits 5 song demo tape and the Gravy record. I was just telling someone the other day that making that demo seems to me like the very first artistic act I ever committed.
I don’t remember too many other bands at the time being discovered in Kansas City, Missouri. I have the gift of at least being able to see some of your old live stuff thanks to YouTube. What was it like developing the band in Kansas City?
There was a bunch going on in KC around that time. There was Frogpond and Shiner and Season To Risk and Stick and a bunch more bands in that vein who were just in a different place on the alternative music spectrum than we were. The Get Up Kids were happening literally at the same time we were, just coming from a different place musically. Anyway, I digress. We didn’t know any home but KC so we just played as much as we could wherever people would have us. It was many years before we would have any sense of “developing a sound” or “saturating a market” or anything like that so we just went hard because it was fun. With the benefit of experience and hindsight, I can say now that we were lucky to have a place as un-jaded and un-monetized as Kansas City was then. It’s a lot easier to be a young band when there is no pressure to adultify your perspective on the music you’re making or the show you’re putting on or the kids who are coming to see you. Every time I see a sixteen year old go on American Idol or something, it just makes my heart hurt like, “Don’t do this! Keep it fun for a while!”
I had completely forgot about Season to Risk, but they were another band I enjoyed. For ‘At Ease,’ you only revisited ‘Corpse I Fell in Live With’ from your debut, did you consider others? What made that the one you wanted to redo?
I distinctly remember Tim Armstrong and Brett Gurewitz putting their foot down about re-recording previously released songs. My memory of that is very clear but I cannot for the life of me recall what was going on in our heads that we fought to re-record THAT song of all the fucking songs. It just makes no sense.
What are your thoughts on the album now? You were all young when you made it, which I think is people would not be able to recognize if they heard it.
I am absolutely miserable at nostalgia for whatever reason so I haven’t listened to any old Gadjits recordings in very long time. That said, my recollection of it is that there are parts of it that just sound very young and then parts that sound a little bit wise beyond our years. Everything is super urgent when you’re a kid and so I remember that Adam and Zach and I had all kind of pivoted into listening to lots of sixties soul music and lots of early Elvis Costello and the Attractions in the year or so before we made At Ease. And I remember that it seemed really important to us to get the vibes of those soul records and EC records into our new album. I think maybe Tim and the label were a little disappointed that we weren’t writing an album like the original demo or Gravy but we wanted our shit to reflect our idea of cool (which was an evolving thing obviously) and as Clash fans, Tim and Brett probably felt like they had to hold space for that.
Building on from that ‘Give Em the Boot’ compilation, it had also introduced me to the Slackers and Vic Ruggerio. How was it working with him in the studio? I know he is credited as an additional player but don’t know how much he did since Heidi was in the band doing keys.
Vic is just an outstanding guy and a fabulous musician so it’s always great to be around him and soak up some of that vibe. Honest to God, I was so wound up with unspeakable anxiety making that album with him and Tim in this huge studio that I’m sure I missed lots of great stuff just for being somewhat disassociated and stuck in my own head. So the story about Vic playing on the album … I’m certain that Heidi will not be pissed at me for telling this story since so much time has gone by. So anyway, we were struggling to get the song “Need Yo ‘ Love” in the can and Tim really wanted Heidi to do a Jerry Lee Lewis style rock-and-roll piano part. Heidi busted her ass trying to make that part happen and we pushed and pushed and finally Heidi was just like, “I CAN’T FUCKING PLAY LIKE JERRY LEE LEWIS GODDAMMIT!” So, Heidi went to get some air and Vic stepped in and did the part. It bears mentioning that at the time, this was a massively uncomfortable situation for me – in my mind, bands made records together and your band was your tightest friends, not some guy you just met – no matter how hard he rips. I mention this to illustrate how young we were and how young our perspectives were. These days, if I can’t do something, I call in the person who can and I understand that is the only way to do justice to a song and a recording.
I love that piano part in the song as I am a huge Jerry Lee Lewis fan. What artists inspired your own writing?
At that time, I’d digested a lot of The Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Operation Ivy and I’d just started to take in the first few Elvis Costello albums. I think I wanted to sound like Toots Hibbert or Wilson Picket doing EC and The Attractions type songs – specifically the style on Get Happy!! At the time of At Ease, there was not really a formal process for writing either alone or as a band so things tended to get thrown in a blender. Nowadays, I focus on one kind of song or style at a time or I get very intentional about mixing two styles but back then, the process was still a blank slate.
The lyrics on the album seem to be largely drawn from experience or stories you heard around you. The exception to that might be ‘Bullet in the Mattress’ but maybe not. Lyrically, what songs do you feel the strongest about?
I feel like Beautiful Girl is charming enough that it’s easy to forgive some cheap rhymes or a trite phrase or two. Bullet In The Mattress – Jesus – I wish someone would have sat me down and coached me through writing another draft of those lyrics because I really almost had the story I wanted and the playful tone that I wanted in balance. That same person should also have made me shitcan the entire lyrical idea on Traffic Tickets and start over. Solid music beshitted by an absolutely inane lyric. I won’t spend all night ripping my teenage self a new asshole for being an amateur songwriter but I will pull back the curtain just a little about how I think those songs got to be what they are on that album. Like I mentioned, I was pretty much gripped by colossal anxiety at all times back then but I wasn’t aware of it. That anxiety was good for writing music because it had me playing with sharpness and urgency and playing itself felt really good. But when it came to lyrics, I was puking alphabet soup because I had no idea how to externalize how I felt without some clever bullshit to hide behind. Now, surely at eighteen or nineteen, I wasn’t going to have some deep vein of experiences to write from and that’s maybe part of it but the anxiety is really, to me, the big influence on those early records.
You have a couple of covers on the album, but I have to ask how ‘Mustang Sally’ was selected. Was it just one that you had constantly played when the band first started? Obviously, it seems to have just become a standard karaoke song over the years.
Yeah, the changing times totally fucked us on that one. What mattered about Mustang Sally at the time we made At Ease was that a version of it was rehearsed over and over and over in the movie The Commitments and that was a movie that Adam and Zach and Heidi and I bonded over in a major way. The movie probably didn’t age that well either but holy mother of fuck did that song take on a patina of every despicable blues brunch, baby boomer cliché. I regret that song being on the record more than I regret trying heroin.
Most of us obviously have a lot of personal growth as we move from our teens to our twenties. How did those changes impact the band over the next couple of albums?
Honestly I think about this a lot because the time span between the beginning of At Ease and the end of Today Is My Day was such a wild ride. I can say with absolute honesty that we really thought we were doing what The Clash and Elvis Costello did, which is to say, we would incorporate anything we thought was good into what we were playing. What we missed however, was that NO ONE WAS DOING THAT ANYMORE. Mostly, bands and artists were doubling down and sticking to one lane or another. Audiences were also tending to only pay attention to the lanes they’d decided to be interested in. So for about seven years, The Gadjits were just pissing everyone off all the time because we insisted that we were a lane unto ourselves. We (and me especially) still had that old “alternative scene” mentality that cool people liked a lot of stuff because there was a lot of stuff worth liking. And that went over like a balloon full of shit in the punk scene and it sank like a stone in the ska scene and the more time we spent on the road, the less we gave a fuck about what any scene thought. There’s a fantasy version of these years that exists in my head where someone takes the time to help us figure out how to do what it was we wanted to do without seeming to veer around as much as we did, but that is, as I said, a fantasy.
How did Thick Records differ from Hellcat Records?
In every possible way, excepting the word “records.” Hellcat was very well resourced but very lonely. Thick was never lonely and bare bones resources. I’m not talking shit, I’m grateful for having worked with both labels and to have friends I care about from both places. No one ever hustled harder on my behalf than Thick though.
I have read that the Gadjits were preparing to record a record for RCA, but there was a merger with another label that essentially purged the label’s roster. Did any of those songs get recorded or used in any other projects?
We upcycled a few of those songs into Architects songs. I think we had to. We’d busted our asses for years on some of those tunes and fuck if Clive Davis was going to put the kibosh on that.
You went on to form the Architects, Brandon Phillips & the Condition, and Mensa Deathsquad. All of these have their own feel. What would you like people to know about each of them? I also recently caught that you are connected with the band Other Americans who are spectacularly and from my present research accurately described as ‘opulent splendor-core, Electro-alternative, trip-pop.’ What can you tell us about Other Americans?
Well, I’d point out that I am still very clearly in that “alternative scene” mentality – I do what I want because I know that’s what Strummer, Jones and Costello would do. I have, however, learned my lesson about diluting the brand in an era of brand primacy. So, everything gets its own project and name and lineup and sometimes there’s overlap but we make it work. The Architects was basically just The Gadjits forming a rock band. In doing so, we started from absolute square one in terms of touring and getting our records in front of anyone and I mention that because I am very proud of what we accomplished. Brandon Phillips and The Condition was formed so that we’d have a means of playing and recording songs that were much more in the Elvis Costello and sixties soul vein. We wanted to do that one right – full band, backup singers, wardrobe, the whole lot. It’s a constantly rotating lineup of players because I don’t want that band to be some big, heavy commitment for anyone. It has to stay fun. Other Americans has some personnel overlap with BP+C and some musical overlap with Mensa Deathsquad but it’s really supposed to be a dance band with a fairly alternative presentation and a lot of versatility. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to house show where a punk-adjacent dance band lays absolute waste to every living soul with song after song that sound like Top 40 bangers from an alternate universe, but that’s sort of what I aspire to with OA. Mensa Deathsquad is a solo project so I answer to no one but my own sensibilities about what can or cannot work as electro-alternative music. Mensa Deathsquad is also really high-stakes stuff for me for the same reasons. Going all the way back to The Gadjits, I had developed some really unhealthy patterns and relationships and behaviors around my writing process and that stuff had started to strangle me. MDS gives me a fresh start at refiguring my entire process of creation but it’s also a test of whatever it is I think I know about songwriting and music and production. The fact that it’s all electronic means I have to start from absolute zero and climb the learning curve again the same way that I did when I was a kid in my mom’s basement with a mixer and an 8-track cassette machine trying to figure out how to make a snare drum sound like a snare drum.
With the ability for so many bands to make records now and not focus on getting a record deal, what artists are you listening to that the rest of us need to hear?
Man, ever since COVID hit my music consumption has resembled the old cliché about pregnant ladies’ having urgent, insatiable cravings for odd foods. There are days where I don’t want to hear anything that isn’t the same four Jesus and Mary Chain songs and then suddenly at four PM I’m like, “I MUST HEAR GUSTAV MAHLER NOW!” I still go on rabbit hole adventures, deep-diving bansuri players or something which is really what I’d recommend – go to YouTube, plug in “bansur” or some other instrument and start with whatever concert video has the most views. Have an adventure. The world is not setting you up for adventure, it’s setting you up to make very predictable purchases from very well groomed rows of entertainment products. Fuck up the algo.
Politically, you are not shy on social media. We are obviously living in a very tumultuous time. How do we discover some unity and make this world better?
Honestly, if where we want to end up in fifty or a hundred years is “unity”, we need to start by detoxifying conflict. Conflict is not only the price you pay for a diverse, pluralistic democracy it’s the process by which all human intelligence and most human art is refined. Conflict informs and tests the most erudite opinions on policy, conflict is the forge of scientific knowledge, conflict is the dissonance in Birth of The Cool and the heart of Monday Night Football. It needs to be okay to disagree or to change your mind. The affliction of this age is not disunity, it’s festering insecurity that has become so malignant and so brittle that it cannot help but make every conflict into World War III and so it remains lost in its own misunderstanding of the world outside of it. Give the world insight and unity will seem significantly less important.
Razorbats are a band we’ve known about for some time and have had a few false starts from that debut album that blew us away which ended with that lineup playing the legendry Slugfest. three albums down and several line-up changes later the band is like a phoenix out of the flames and with this new album blazing a path for world domination and global success. I caught up with mainstay Kjetil and flung some questions in his general direction and with a flick of his fringe answered them all without flinching as we get down to the nitty-gritty and what’s going on in the world according to Razorbats…
Hi Kjetil, Hope you’re good? The feedback I’ve had from people who’ve heard the new album has been amazing and the songs are going down really well with everyone who’s heard them.Is that what you’re hearing?
Yes, sir! The feedback has been crazy good and I think ‘Mainline Rock ’N’ Roll’ is our best selling album after just a couple of weeks! Almost all the reviews have been 9/10 or 10/10, and as far as we know more than 150 radio stations in Europe and America have played the singles. Also done a bunch of radio IDs all over the place, from Argentina to Poland! The guys in the band are all buzzing, and it feels like we really have a special album on our hands this time around! Great to get some positivity in this mind-numbingly boring Covid world!
When you were writing and recording ‘Mainline’ did you feel you were onto something?
Not really! We tend not to write finished songs before we go in the studio. We just have rough sketches of the songs, with a main guitar riff, a chorus and maybe an idea for what to do in the verse and bridge. But they are not complete songs by any means. You don’t really hear what you’re doing in the rehearsal room, so you often end up with parts that don’t really get the full potential out of the songs. Especially for the singer it is a lot better to write the melodies in a studio setting where you can clearly hear what works. Something might sound amazing with guitars blasting at 115 dBs at rehearsal, but when you do the same in the studio it sounds like Phil Collins on PCP trying to serenade a pissed off pimp at a rave party!
We thought most of the songs showed some promise, but it wasn’t until Paul recorded the main vocals that we started to get an idea of how well the songs worked. And when Last Erik Westby at H10 Productions sent us the finished mixes we were all blown away! I think that was when we knew we had made a great album! It sounded huge, punchy and the songs jump out of the speakers. The songs also work well together as a whole, with enough variation that you can listen to the entire album without getting bored. From the pop rock of ‘Working For The Weekend’ to the cinematic semi-ballad ‘Little Ms. Crazy’ and the Mötley Crüe style album closer ‘Nightcrawlers’. That is something we always try to do, and people seem to think we really succeeded this time.
Was the process any different from previous recordings?
It was very different! On the previous albums we have worked with a producer/engineer called Kai Christoffersen. He is great and a lot of fun to work with, but we wanted a different sound on ‘Mainline Rock ’N’ Roll’. When you work with a producer the sound of the record is often the producer’s interpretation of what you’re going for, and not necessarily the sound you have in your head. So we decided to produce this one ourselves. All of us have recorded a bunch of albums, and we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted it to sound like. So we felt it was time to take the plunge!
The production side of it was pretty easy since knew what kind of sounds we were going for, but the engineering part was a bit difficult to get right. All that technical stuff, physics, computer geeking, and gadget-noodling is fascinatingly tedious for guys who basically just want to play loud rock music and drink beer! So the album probably took twice as long to record, because there was a lot of trial and error going on. We had to learn all the basics of the craft as we were recording, and of course, re-recording when we fucked up! Which was A LOT!! Three different studios were used in the process. One professional studio and we also built two home studios to record guitars, bass and keys. It took a lot of time, but we are very, very pleased with the results!
How is Covid affecting you guys up there in Norway?Did it alter your plans for recording the record?
I think we have coped well with Covid here, and there haven’t been as many deaths and break downs in the health care system as we’ve heard stories of from other countries. But we have had very strict restrictions. So we didn’t get the chance to be all of us together in the studio at the same time, as we were recording. That was a bit strange for the boys I think, because they didn’t know what the others were doing until it was their turn to lay down parts. And when they were done, they didn’t always hear the songs again until the rough mixes were done. But at the same time I didn’t have the studio full of loud, drunk rockers coming up with seemingly fantastic ideas after the 11th pint and maybe something extra to not pass out. So recording was a bit more efficient, and a little bit less fun. Apart from that, we were more or less able to make the album they way we had planned.
Talk us through the new album.How have line-up changes had a bearing on the sound of the band?Through the changes you’ve still managed to keep the Razorbats sound what have the individuals brought to the record?
We have always had this mantra in Razorbats, that the band should be whatever we want it to be. It’s OK to try something a bit different, and we don’t have to just make the same record over and over again. So line-up changes have had a pretty big impact on the changing sound of the band. The guys who recorded the ‘Bring It On’ EP and ‘Camp Rock’ album were very much into old dirty punk rock and garage rock, and I think you can hear that very clearly on those releases. That line-up collapsed during the record of ‘II’ after alle the basic tracks were done. We actually had done most of the vocals with the old singer, Even Berg, and I think we were just missing some guitar solos and backing vocals. We got Paul in the band to redo the vocals and finished up the album, and because of that we consider ‘Mainline’ the first real album with this line-up.
I don’t think the song writing has changed all that much over the years, and I think that’s the main reason the band still sounds like Razorbats even though the musicians have changed. The guys who are in the band now are more into classic rock, glam and melodic hard rock, and that’s why we sound less like a punk band and more like a modern hard rock band now. I personally love the direction we are heading in, and it will probably influence the song writing as well in the coming years.
What specific input has members brought to the recording process and I guess the songwriting?
All the guys have brought great things to the recording. Even more than before! Most of the songs are still written by me, but this time I didn’t make demos for all of them. That way the others would play what came naturally for them, instead of copying parts I had already written. I think that made a big difference. We did it the same way for the songs we hadn’t play before at rehearsals. The guys had usually prepared their parts at home, and we tried out a bunch of things when tracking. Asle also plays a couple of the guitar solos on this album, and he did a great job!
The song called ‘Rebel Soul’ was an old song Paul had leftover from a band called Hollywood Vampires that he was in 10 years ago, so we recorded that one. I always liked that band, and the song was too good not to use! ‘Nightcrawers’ was a collaboration between all of us. I had the main riff, and we came up with the rest of the song at rehearsals. Martin, the bass player, wrote the words for that one. So all in all the boys were a lot more involved in every aspect of the writing and recording on this one, and that made it a lot better!
What about live.Did you get the chance to road test any of these songs before the various lockdowns around Europe?
Nope! Not a single one of them… But we knew that we needed some more party songs that would work great live, and had that in the back of our minds when deciding what songs to record. Hope it worked!
What about live plans,getting out there and playing shows especially in other territories and of course plague Island (UK) shame there isn’t still a slugfest I bet you guys would love to come back here and play that?
We have one gig booked in Oslo in June, but apart from that, there’s absolutely nothing going on. Extremely disappointing, because playing live is what we live for! I think I am the only one who likes being in the studio, but even I prefer playing live. It’s not just the shows. It’s all the rituals that go with touring. Spending endless hours in a beat-up van from the early 80s with a bunch of smelly guys, drunk or hungover, blasting music on the stereo and laughing at lame jokes. Showing up late to soundcheck so we don’t get one, check-in at the hotel with one room for those who are getting shitfaced that night and one room for those who will drive the van in the morning, so they can get a couple of hours of sleep. And then the reward of playing kick-ass rock ’n’ roll and watch people have a great time and sing along to the songs we have spent so many hours getting just right. Hang out with the fans after the gig and talk about the show, music and life in general. It’s the best feeling ever! Those who have not experienced it are missing out on one of the best things life has to offer! Damn, I miss touring!!! We’ll be back in the UK as soon as humanly possible to make your asses shake!
Anyway back to the album.I’m loving it are there any particular songs you are most proud of on the record?
Thank you! That’s great to hear! It’s difficult to single out just a couple of tracks on this one, because I think it’s a very even record and no real fillers in my mind. We haven’t done a song quite like ‘Little Ms. Crazy’ before, so we are very proud of that one. It’s not really a ballad, but more of a slow, cinematic rocker with a great opening riff that Asle came up with. That one came out great, and people seem to like it a lot! ‘Rock ’N’ Roll Kills’ was a lot of fun to write. We needed an introduction to the theme of the album, and that is what the song is. The album is about rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, and all the dumb shit people like us do. So we wanted a warning to tell people that if you choose this life, you’ll probably go to hell! At least that is what we were told as kids. But it is of course just a load of bollocks, and what will really happen is that you will have a great time! Like this line from the chorus: Cruising like an easy rider. Feel the breeze softly on my skin. All around the road gets wider. The straight and narrow is somewhere I’ve never been». Of course the dudes in the Easy Rider movie got killed by rednecks for being different and part of the counterculture, and there are consequences to choosing that kind of life!
What about the easiest or quickest to write?
All of them took a long time to complete since I didn’t have them finished before we started tracking. So none of them really stand out in that way. The words to ‘Working For The Weekend’ were quick to write! It just tells the story of a guy who works a dead-end job, hates his boss and just wants to get drunk and have a good time with his friends. For some reason, that one came very naturally to me!! Hahahaha…
The flip side of that was there any songs you didn’t think were coming and found difficult to complete?Talk us through your process?
‘Venice’ was a pain in the ass to finish! I had the chords, melody and some of the words to the chorus for months, but could not finish the damn lyrics until the night before Paul was going to sing them. I always need some sort of angle or approach to the story of the songs before I can write them, and I just couldn’t find a good one. That is one of the drawbacks of writing the chorus first, and then figuring out what the hell a song is really about! It is a break-up song, but I wasn’t sure why this guy was breaking up with his girlfriend. I liked Venice as a metaphor because it’s considered a romantic city, but it is also very slowly sinking into the sea and drowning in a sense.
So I did what most people would do when you’re stuck and the singer is gonna track the song the next day. I started drinking! And after five hours, six beers and bottle of wine I came up with the pre-chorus line ‘There’s no fire’. There was nothing big that had happened that made him break up with her. He had just fallen out of love. He still loved her as a friend, but that romantic fire was gone and he felt he was living a lie. He had actually tried to break up with her before, but came back to her. At 4AM in the morning and another bottle of wine it was done, and I could get up in the morning, puke like a sailor on shore leave and go to the studio to record Paul! Good times!!!
What have I missed that Razorbats need to let people know?
We need to let the people know that we now have distribution for the new album in the UK through Glunk Records and that it is a lot cheaper for them to order from them! (drop Glunk an email at glunkrecordstcb@yahoo.co.uk for details)
Who are those bands that have had the biggest influences on the band?Who’s got the most annoying touring habits? Which band member has hidden depths or talent?who would shock us with their record collection out of the band any hidden shame perhaps a Phil collins record or a secret Ed Sheeran fan amongst you? C’mon these are the questions people really want to know.
Ohhhh!!! Tough question! The biggest influences are Cheap Trick, KISS, Hanoi Rocks, Aerosmith, The Ramones, Rancid, The Bouncing Souls, Def Leppard, The Hellacopters, Poison and Joan Jett (just to name a few). Basically all the cool and often popular rock bands from the 70s, 80s and 90s. We like some more obscure stuff as well, but most of us would rather put on ‘High ’N’ Dry’ by Def Leppard over some weird band with one good song that no one has heard of, except a few hipsters with silly beards! We have some guilty pleasures, but they are the normal stuff, like Samantha Fox, ABBA and Scooter! Fun songs to be played at high volume in the van to lighten the mood!
All the guys in the band are pretty easy to get along with, so there are no really, REALLY annoying habits I can share with you. But after a couple of days the van usually smells like a cheap hooker died in there, so maybe showering after the show or in the morning would be a good idea? And the farts can be a bit overwhelming at times. We don’t spend money on proper food on tour and there’s more than enough beer drinking. The natural effect of that combined has a very characteristic odour, that is more of an entity or life-form, that an actual smell! We call him Bob!
Finally, anything else you need to get off your chest?
Yes! Listen to the album, and buy it if you can! We love you all and hope to see you at a concert venue as soon as Armageddon is over!
We’ve got a few suggestions this Bandcamp Friday and we’ve kept it lean for you so get yer credit card out and come with us on the Bandcamp Friday journey kicking off with a couple of recommendations from some artists we love and then a few labels who do such a great job of releasing some of our favourite records. There are others that haven’t quite gone live at the time of writing such as a long out of sale Loyalties release you should go find and Steve Conte has an offer today
‘Be There’ (369 Music) is the next single from The Dowling Poole. Listen to the track on Soundcloud here.
It will be released on Friday the 7th of March for Bandcamp Friday when the music platform waives their fees and all revenue goes straight to the artists.
‘Be There’ features guest appearances from long time collaboratorAndy Lewis (Jackdaw4, Sugar Plum Fairies, Jocasta), on bass. Darby Todd guests on drums. Darby’s recently played with Martin Barr (Jethro Tull), The Darkness and Kee Marcello (Europe) and featured on the recent The Dowling Poole songs ‘We Are The Noise’ and ‘Slow Genocide’.
Recorded in different locations in France and the UK, Jon and Willie are busy writing their fourth album to be released later this year.
Author: Martin Chamarette
Another favourite round here is Rich Ragany & The Digressions so check out the latest tune Here
“There’s a place in the universe callled Boötes Void… where it’s near empty. It’s also been called “The Great Nothing”. A supervoid. One of the largest-known voids in the universe. Surrounded by galaxies and light.
It is believed the scale of the void is such that if the Milky Way had been in the center of the Boötes Void, we wouldn’t have known there were other galaxies until the 1960s.
That’s how long it would have taken light to travel… to journey through the darkness.
The song is from the perspective of someone who is within darkness in their lives and can’t unsee it.
Then, sees it in everything. Maybe even becomes it. But finds that through the very act of experience, and through the struggle of moving forward, can begin to see the warmth and light that also exists.
I find it very moving and inspiring that, even in the expanses of space, where there is cold chaotic changes that routinely destroy, that life and creation can, and do, emerge.
The idea of all these galaxies and filaments surrounding Boötes Void is light giving it a frame that can eventually travel through to the other side, is a comforting thought.
Not always easy… but our eyes, our hearts and spirits can stretch to see something beautiful.
I try to remember this (with varying degrees of success) when things get really rough… old ghosts and doubts whisper in my ear and tell me I am alone, not worthy or with no direction.
Stretch to see something beautiful. That was the feeling I had when writing it. Please forgive me if it’s a clumsy metaphor. It’s not so linear that it can’t be interpreted for your own experience (or hopefully, it will just sound pleasing to you).” What more can we add to that?
Some others who should benefit from Bandcamp Friday would be those independent labels who are the beating heart of the underground scenes we all love so much. A few of our favourites would be Beluga Records from out of Sweden who have their Bandcamp page and offer some amazing records we’ve had many an hour rocking out to some of their releases and records they put out.
Some of the recent records they’ve put out have been fantastic such as More Kicks, Jordan Jones, Mud City Manglers and most recently a nice compilation from Asteroid B-612 and most recently a cracking single from The Erratix.
Heading south you have Ghost Highway Records outta Madrid Spain. They’ve long championed underground garage rock and all other sub-genres including power pop, punk rock and more. Some of their recent releases that deserve people’s attention would be The Boatsmen and their superb ‘Verses The Boatsmen’ album they co-released as well as the tribute to the New Bomb Turks compilation. They’ve long been champions of UK kings of garage noise The Hip Priests and given access to some of America’s finest in the shape of Jeff Dahl, Electric Frankenstein and Pat Todd. A worthy benefactor of anyone’s Rock and Roll coin on Bandcamp Friday.
How about heading across the pond to Spaghetty Town Records and a label who’s partnered up with their European brothers in vinyl. they’ve also brought to the party some epic Rock and Roll records most recently in the shape of RMBLR who’ve just dropped their new EP and Spaghetty Town is the perfect label for these scuzzy rockers. The label has a wealth of great titles so you could do a lot worse things this Friday than delve through the Spaghetty Town wormhole and head off on a rockin’ discovery trip.
Heavy Medication Records have for a while had records reviewed on RPM and more recently put out a couple of really impressive releases primarily a New Bomb Turks tribute that’s available through their Bandcamp page. Based in Warsaw Poland the label have been responsible for Doojiman & The Exploders record that’s a must-own as well as records from Poison Hearts. Hit em up
What about some Taken By Suprise records? Out of München, Germany the label does a fine service if punk rock n Power Pop is your thing then they have a big catalogue up on Bandcamp that deserves your attention. Releases from The Briefs, Suspect Parts and more recently Neighbourhood Brats. you certainly won’t be disappointed with your catch if decide to dip in.
TNS Records out of Manchester have some cracking offers up for Bandcamp Friday as well and in turn, help support some great punk rock bands such as Wales finest Pizza Tramp. The new Jodie Faster is also a fine addition to their catalogue. They also do a Spotify list of New Punk Friday where they champion the best in punk, Hardcore and Ska tracks released recently. A label that does tireless work for a scene that deserves our attention.
Another German label that has always had the back of punk rock and roll is Wanda Records. With some excellent releases from Peter & The Berlin Blackouts and Mom the label has always delivered brilliant product and ship anywhere (or the UK at least). They’ll also be handling the Euro distro of the new RMBLR EP which is good for those having palpitations when faced with some of the overseas shipping fees.
Finally, another label releasing really good records is Drunken Sailor Records Banging out new bands and records like its nobodys business. Drunken Sailor also struck a distro deal to handle Australias finest Stiff Richards that should be Sold Out but they don’t hang about and are also pressing up a couple of new records that are also available for you digital fiends in the shape of Australias Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters out on digital through the label but coming soon on vinyl. They trawl through the worlds best underground bands to fit into their vision of what makes a great records and release it for our listening pleasure. Head down to their Bandcamp page and get lost investigating what they have to offer and grab yourself a new favourite band.
Jakob Mind, mostly known as the singer and frontman of Swedish punk outfit Rotten Mind, has released his solo debut album ”The One Who Got Away”. Honest indie-punk with strong melodies and no-nonsense lyrics and themes of everyday life.
Jakob pretty much stays true to what he does with Rotten Mind but adds his own individual touches that I guess he can dictate goes in the mix on a solo record whereas in a band it has to be a little more democratic. The result is a blend of influences, from straight-up punk rock to more pop or that should be power-pop leanings.
The album begins with a sprightly jangly number and the title track. It’s got an 80s retro sound on the attack of the vocals but it’s engaging and an opener that kinda lays out what’s coming over the next half hour. There aren’t really any surprises on offer here just uplifting power pop punk rock and if it leaves a smile across your chops then its job done isn’t it? ‘7 Days’ is a dreamy melody but an uptempo number. ‘Let Them Know’ is even more upbeat as it scuttles along towards the chorus with a retro ’60s harmony that gets in my head and it’s The Buzzcocks where I’m finding my comparison with a great Chuck Berry guitar rip on the solo.
‘The Little Evil One’ sees Jakob throw in some guitar effects to shake up the mood of the record and it’s like an 80s alternative walkthrough maybe in line with some Early Cure or a bit of Banshees for good measure. I keep waiting for the vocals to arrive but they don’t which is a curveball for me.
‘Rock And Rolls Got Me All Messed Up’ is the one that could reach a wider audience with a neat chorus that’s simple to remember and join in with as we just roll with the good times that this song alludes to all its missing is the handclaps to go with the shuffle backbeat. The tempo is taken down a gear with ‘On The Floor’ whereas ‘You Wanted Me To Hang Around With You’ is one of the best songs if not my favourite on offer. With a great heartbreak melody and some good lyrics and a chorus that I really enjoyed as the solo breaks through like the first sign of light in the morning, its got a great ragged feel to it.
With ten songs offering slightly different textures around a theme its a decent offering from Jakob and one I like and I’m sure power-pop-punk rockers will feel the same as the album ends strongly with ‘I Don’t Want To Be (Around) You’ so all in all a really decent offering and one that didn’t disappoint at all.
In a week when I hadn’t thought about New Bomb Turks in quite a while not one but two tribute albums drop and all of a sudden I’m transported back in time when a trip to TJ’s in Newport was an exciting time because one of the best-kept secrets in underground punk rock n roll was happening and along with bands like D4 and the Datsuns something was happening it seems like yesterday but it wasn’t and the old adage of time flies is certainly true and when I popped the CD in the player and I turned up the volume and peeled open the booklet and instantly recognised many of the bands taking part and was looking forward to some of the bands I’d never heard before taking on some great tunes and adding maybe a twist here and there.
First up is Berlins Hell Nation Army a band we’ve featured on RPM before so no surprise to hear them on this tribute with an impressive opener ‘Point A To Point Blank’. There are eighteen tracks on offer here and as the booklet points out four are from Poland, not somewhere you instantly associate with dirty punk rock n roll but don’t let that put you off investigating because Poison Heart are right on the money here with a blistering take on ‘Snap Decision’.
This is an exceptionally well researched tribute and a great platform for many bands as the booklet tells the story of each tune with detail and a passion that shines through. One of the best bands I’ve heard knocking out some sleazy punk n roll over the last few years has to be Doojiman & The Exploders who are at it again as they own ‘Automatic Teller’ which is a superb song anyway and done with much gusto here.
Warsaws Red Crap blast out the bass rumble as they annihilate ‘If I Only Could’ with no compromising on the attitude and quality another really great version from a band I’m off to investigate further. Randy Savages have a track on both the Turks tributes and why not I say because this version of ‘Leaving Town’ is exceptional it’s sleazy and greasy but with a melody to die for and they nail the harmonies making it one of the albums real highlights.
One of the best things about getting two tribute albums to the same band in the same week is there isn’t much overlapping at all (like magic that) and the fact they’ve recruited a couple of Australia’s finest in is another tip of the hat because no stane has been left unturned and no bar has been left untrawled as Howlin’ threads turn up the noise with a Rockin ‘Professional Againster’.
London dirty rockers Flash house are present and correct on the CD only track ‘I’m Weak’ which is set to rumble anything that’s not nailed down in yer house if the volumes right. Sleazy and dark its another highlight to be fair.
Anyone for some Dog Toffee? ‘I’d Slip In’ is a belter full of attitude and slipping it next to those Satanic Overlords Of Rock And Roll is nice as they blast away ‘Tattooed Apathetic Boys’ like it was some long lost Ramones romp then to unleash the wah on the breakdown before setting the burners to blast off for the finish line. Top tunes. This album is bursting with great bands contributing some fantastic interpretations of someone else’s songs.
With bands from Texas to Italy there a world of talent out there as Smalltown Tigers throw their hat in the ring with a really impressive take on ‘Girl Can Help It’. I’m sure they’ll be more widely known especially in the UK when they play support to The Original Damned when they do those shows next year. you also get Puffball turning up the distortion on ‘Never Will’ even though these Swedes don’t strictly exist anymore they like to keep their hand in so to speak and this compilation is all the better for it.
Punk rockers Moron’s Morons turn up with a barroom blitzing ‘wine And Depression’ whilst Jack Saint twists the melon with a delta bluesy take on ‘Grounded Ex Patriot’ it’s like the Gun Club never happened with this tip of the hat take. As we head into the final furlong the tasty Tongue Action have a sleazy Rockin’ take on ‘Telephone Numbrrrr’ but when you’ve paid your dues playing with Electric Frankenstein, Texas Terri Bomb and Killer Hearts was it ever in doubt that this was going to rule? Course not.
It only leaves two more entries with the band who opened proceedings Hell Nation Army to knock out a brutal ‘I Want My Baby…Dead!’ so its a rough and ready trip to the land of the rising sun and Jet Boys sleazy ‘Killer’s Kiss’ which seems like a fitting full stop to proceedings and another exception tribute to New Bomb Turks who had plenty to say and said it so well and passed on the baton to so many who carry the torch into the unknown and hopefully back into the filthy corners of the world where Rock and Roll still matters. Rock on kids and check out this tribute and the bands who’ve given their time and considerable talent for the good and the great. Get it!
*Includes a CD copy of the record, as well as a two-sided color, insert with information about the contributing bands. Tracks 9, 17 and 18 are CD-only tracks.So nobody misses out!*
A year ago Ardo from Dead Furies had an idea to compile a tribute album for New Bomb Turks, perhaps his favorite band. He reached out to some of the best up-and-coming rock bands and some rock mainstays to see if they would be interested. The response he got was overwhelmingly positive. The tracks started coming in, they were even better than he had hoped for. In the end, he got 14 different incredible artists from Europe and North America.
I love me some New Bomb Turks back in the day and like many, they were one of those underground bands who didn’t make bad records yet never copped the break to take them overground say in a way that Rocket From The Crypt did for a little while and had their fifteen minutes. I’ll admit I’ve not played a Turks record in a while but with recent represses of bands like The Dragons I did delve into the 90s mob of Zeke, Street walking Cheetahs and of course New Bomb Turks. Then this compilation album of some of the finest bands currently making the earth move popped up on my radar featuring fourteen takes on NBT tracks. what a great idea that man. But wait. Not one but two tribute albums come out around the same time as ‘Defiled’ A Heavy Medication Tribute To The New Bomb Turks also gets released. with a bumper eighteen covers featuring eighteen different bands but that’s for another review.
First up is Professional Againsters who do a rather splendid take on ‘Bolans Crash’ which sets the tone to be fair. With some harmonica honking added for good measure, it’s a really solid start to proceedings from a band who clearly gets it. Some of our favourite noisemakers are present and plugged in and its great to hear how bands put a twist on someone else’s song and take ownership like “Demons” who knock out an eventful ‘Pretty Lightning’.
Having knocked out this year’s frontrunner to the best album of the year The Boatsmen electrify ‘Wine And Depression’ and take it downtown for a night on the tiles and maybe a street fight before giving it an Iggy and the stooges twist – great stuff.
The Chuck Norris Experiment add some muscle with their take on ‘End Of The Great Credibility Race’ which appeared on the Turks ‘Nightmare Scenario’ album back in 2000. The quality of these bands is evident for all to hear and the respect for one of the bands that helped define a scene is clearly a labour of love as the bands do such a sterling job here none more so than plague Islands finest The Hip Priests who take ownership of ‘Jukebox Lean’ and close off a rather impressive side one as Von Cruz leads the boys on a scuzzed up fuzzed up noise fest and I love it.
Flipping over its time for Estonias finest combo Dead Furies to get their groove on as they kick back and just get on the groove of ‘Your Beaten Heart’ which is one of the records best numbers to give credit where its due. This really is a league of nations as Scumbag Millionaire turn up the bass rumble as they’re ‘Tryin’ To Get By’.
If I were to pick my favouite Turks album it might well be ‘Scared Straight’ and its a joy to hear The Drippers kick the shit out of that albums opener ‘Hammerless Nail’. Staying on ‘Scared Straight those purveyors of filth Jonesy knock out a fistful of dynamite on ‘Jeers Of A Clown’. Kicking it back they really use the harmonies well and give the track plenty of swing as they delve right back to the bands beginnings.
As we head into the home straight it’s the time for those punk rock n rollin Killer Hearts ‘Spanish Fly By Night’ that’s a lo-fi attack before Londons Randy Savages blast through ‘We Give A Rats Ass’ with gusto and a swagger that sums up what we have here and proof that there are plenty of great bands out there making loud rock and roll that you really should check out from the labels who’ve pulled this together to the bands who contriubte its always a real joy and pleasure to review some records when they’re as good as this.
with Scandi Rock legends the Hellacopters closing off this mighty fine tribute with ‘Veronicas Lake’ its an exceptional way to call time on this tribute. If you’ve never heard of the New Bomb turks or any of these bands then this a fantastic introduction but hurry before they are all gone!
Available through:
Spaghetty Town Records- USA / Dragstrip Riot Records – Estonia / Ghost Highway Recordings – Spain
It’s simple, really. Do you like Ramones? The Flamin’ Groovies? ‘Exile On Main Street’? If you answered “yes” to all the above, then Brad Marino has the album for you. He’s already written two of my favourite power pop classics in ‘Wake Up, Baby’ and ‘C’mon..’, and knows how to craft a short, snappy tune with four chords.
And he wields his Telecaster in a decidedly Keef-like fashion on opener ‘Even The Score’, plenty of slide guitar and choppy rhythms, similar to the title track, which straddles Stones/Groovies camps to good effect.
‘Taillights Fade’ sees the protagonist chased out of town, complete with handclaps and a simple, effective solo. ‘Local Show’ will be a familiar tale for many musicians; “it’s a local show, which means nobody will go”. Including the inevitable list of excuses your “friends” use to avoid going/paying to see an amateur gig.
‘Tripwire’ is a classy instrumental, while ‘False Alarm’ and ‘What Do You Know’ remind me a little of The Speedways. High praise indeed! Yes, some of the songs here are similar, but that never hurt Ramones, who I feel would approve of ‘To Bleed’. And when the quality is this high, it’s not a criticism. ‘Take Your Time’ has a hint of the mighty Groovies, with some Rickenbacker twang.
In an ideal world, these would be big radio tunes, especially with summer just around the corner. And the cd has three extra cover versions, as if you needed another reason to order it. In these somewhat bleak times, this is a pleasant respite.
RMBLR show their lighter side with the release of “Main Muscle” from the MF/EP,
coming soon
(Atlanta, GA) The release of RMBLR’s 6 song MF/EP is so close to seeing daylight, out officially in June. But we wanted to give you another sneak peek at the MF/EP.
“Main Muscle” shows the lighter side of RMBLR, but please, proceed with caution. There’s nothing soft about this track, and the vocals are more savage than the “Macho Man” himself. Wild west piano tapping helps to elevate the track into a saloon style brawl.
“Main Muscle” will be available on all streaming/download outlets on May 14, 2021.
The RMBLR MF/EP will be out in June 2021. In North America on Spaghetty Town Records and in Europe on Wanda Records (Germany). The MF/EP will be available on vinyl and digital formats.
I’ll confess right from the off and admit I’ve been a casual listener of Boss ToneS over the years sure they’ve made some great records but I always had other bands who I thought did it better or more consistently that would be fairer to say. When this album dropped it was the sunniest day of the year I’d been couped up for months with this pandemic so I went on my daily walk and put it on the walkman and BANG! it hit me hard and I was skanking in no time with a smile wider than kid creoles brim hat. Man, this album is like a ray of sunshine and such a feel-good record and it just connected with me from the opening skank blast of ‘Decide’ right through the tootin’ of ‘Don’t Believe In Anything’ to the gang choruses that make you want to join in no matter where you are its just such a great record.
Sure these cats know their field and are masters at their craft. They manage to mix styles throughout without seams from the lap steel and horns blasting out the melancholy on ‘Certain Things’ with the lyrics sitting front and center the albums had me thinking and not just getting lost in the music either. What a gift.
‘Lonely Boy’ is like the sound of waves lapping your feet whilst the tide drifts in whist in contrast the more edgy ‘The Killing Of Georgie (Part iii)’ is like a big band going rogue. The title track is piano-led glancing over your shoulder kinda stuff but it’s with a smile and a mellow intake of breath – reminiscing is cool and makes the heart beat faster in a good way. The album does go a little easy listening for a couple of tracks but don’t let that distract you, the overall feel is good, possitive, up and on point.
The album closes with a seven-plus minute epic story ‘The Final Parade’ and it encapsulates all that’s good about this record as it waves its magic into your ear and reaches its final destination of your heart. BossToneS magic that is right there. Check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me I believe in something, the power of good music.
While he will always be known as the guy who replaced Izzy in Guns n’ Roses, Gilby Clarke has always been much more than just the Ronnie Wood to Slash’s Keef. When he left Guns n’ Roses in 1994 he went on to release arguably the best solo album by any member of the band with ‘Pawnshop Guitars’, proving he was always more than just a hired hand.
Recent Comments