Wonk Unit – ‘Uncle Daddy’ (Plasterer Records)

Wonk Unit – ‘Uncle Daddy’ (Plasterer Records)

Wonk Unit. what can you say about The Wonk that hasn’t already been said? Is Alex a punk rock genius or just plain mentalist? Always thinking outside the box and creating a sound that is thoroughly unique and inventive yet so very punk rock in fact Wonk are the embodiment of what is punk rock in the 21st century. One thing for sure regardless of who plays in the band the songs are always original and on point and fanbloodytastic.

‘Uncle Daddy’ Who knows what the fuck it’s all about I suspect Alex isn’t always sure. Contains twenty, yup twenty songs. From the opener ‘Green Eyed Monster’ to the closing ‘Summer Time’ oozes class and often the work of a songwriting genius.

After a rapid opener in the shape of the effervescent ‘Green Eyed Monster’ There’s a slightly creepy intro from Peter minus his test-tube babies and we’re off again with ‘Strength’ with its synth keyboard feeding the song its melodic line that gives it life as the song skittles along nicely. ‘Skin To Skin’ is smooth like butter as it gallops along to Alex’s direct vocal style. The song soars to its conclusion before ‘Stop’ adds a stomp with its tribal rhythm and distorted vocals it’s a menacing maneuver as the song moves forward with purpose but the beauty of Wonk is the songs don’t last two minutes and often leave you wanting more.

Where Wonk excell is songs like ‘Traditional Punk Song’ with some superb lyrics that really resonate as he takes aim at Patel and tory voters, in general, his conscience is clear as is mine I might add.

‘Raise My Glass’ is like the best Chumbawumba song with a big melody put to a familiar soundscape that just works. An album that comfortably fits on one side of a C90 with room to spare and what amounts to double albums worth of material that never drops below excellent wonk Unit do it again from raging punk rock that is simply uncompromising like ‘My Blood’, ‘Jamie’ and ‘Profiteroles’ to the downright headfuckers of the albums closer ‘Summertime’ with its bonkers lyrics and where they outdo anything the likes of Shaun Ryder could ever come up with at his finest Black Grape of Happy Mondays moments. You also have the 80s theme tune of ‘I’m Ok’ and the quirky ‘Bloodstains’ and the Wonk staples of ‘Cyclist song’ and ‘Disco Fever’ that fuck with the punks who want straight down the line punk rock. Wonk Unit is the embodiment of being a free spirit in a time when bands are vying to fit in and a place where we shoehorn bands into our safe genres, wonk aren’t like that they are a square peg in a round hole and that’s where they work best. Twenty songs is a hefty piece of work for anyone but for Wonk it’s just about perfect. Don’t fuck about get this ordered and in your collection pronto – it’s a real beauty.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Ryan Hamilton set to release ‘1221’ Digitally & on CD November 26th

Ryan Hamilton set to release ‘1221’ Digitally & on CD November 26th

Ryan Hamilton album, released digitally & CD November 26, 2021 on (Stevie Van Zandt’s) Wicked Cool Records

Hamilton’s Americana fuses his Country heritage with alt rock & power pop sensibilities. 


The central theme of this latest album is collaboration. Pandemically stripped – for now – of his transatlantic band the Harlequin Ghosts, Hamilton, working with long-time collaborator and producer Dave Draper, has drawn upon a variety of sources here. Including covers of tracks by The Spin Doctors, The Refreshments and Great Yarmouth’s finest – Catherine Wheel, ‘1221’ also offers a brace of previously unrecorded originals by Chuck Prophet and Bob Schneider along with the Hamilton penned singles.


Hamilton has released a track a month during 2021, each hitting the iTunes Americana Top 20.  Hamilton has been heralded by Spin magazine as one of the ‘Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years’.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – ‘Sticky’ (International Death Cult Records)

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – ‘Sticky’ (International Death Cult Records)

Snake, rattle and roll campers, Frank is back with album number four and it is as tasty as its title suggests. Short and sweet, ‘Sticky’ comes hot on the tails of its predecessor ‘End Of Suffering’. This album was written during lockdown and as such, is less about metal health and anxiety, but more of a social commentary full of pent-up anger and small-town survival in Covid Britain.

“We all lost a year to the doldrums” Frank sings during ‘Rat Race’, the penultimate track on ‘Sticky’. Elsewhere in killer single “Go Get A Tattoo” he proclaims to “never want a lockdown again”. These are perfect examples of the relatability of Frank Carter’s lyricism and one of the reasons The Rattlesnakes have become one of the best live bands in the UK.

With each album release songwriters Frank Carter and guitarist Dean Richardson have pushed the bar higher and ‘Sticky’ is no different. Taking inspiration from pop and electronic music and collaborating with rock diva Cassyette, Rapper Lynks and Idles main man Joe Talbot, the band move further from the hardcore punk roots and dig deeper into commercial rock territory, yet always keeping it diverse and interesting at every turn and twist.

The fuzzy bass, processed beats and frenetic guitars of the opening title track bode well. The social commentary is rife from the start and Frank’s message, as ever, is never subtle. A wicked tale of late-night drunken antics “what the fuck is wrong with me? kicking around at half past 3” he yells. Musically it continues where ‘Kitty Sucker’ left us on the last album, yet lyrically it spirals out of a lockdown hell. 2 minutes and 34 seconds of introspection, self-loathing and punk rock power. Just what’s needed right now, yeah?

We then take a one-two trip following our man on an all-night bender. The dumb-ass punk feel of ‘Bang Bang’ fits the bill and the barking dogs and sonic boom bass of ‘Take It To The Brink’ are either designed to confuse or make the listener uneasy, and they both succeed. It’s hyper cool and well, when Frank is inciting you to bang your head off the wall and take another drink, what is a man to do?

Aided and abetted by Idles man Joe Talbot, the single ‘My Town’ is a social sidewinder that highlights the struggles of mental health many have experienced during lockdown. It’s an anthemic blast of punk noise straight from the street that could be just like the one where you live.

The tongue-in-cheek ‘Get A Tattoo’ could be the greatest single of the year. Bouncy bass and gritty lyrics lead to a frantic, killer chorus that most bands would die to have written. The inclusion of rapper Lynks adds cool street cred for the kids and makes it one of the standout rock tracks of the year, let alone of this album. If you aren’t singing that chorus over and over by the time you read this, or you seriously don’t get the urge to go out and get inked immediately, then you must be dead inside.

Again, collaborating with an edgy, current artist is a master stroke. The helium induced vocalisin’ of Cassyette adds a new dimension to the signature Rattlesnakes sound. The juxtaposition of the male/female lead vocals works well and adds intensity to an already electrifying tune.

They even drag in Primal Scream legend Bobby Gillespie to add his dulcet tones to album closer ‘Original Sin’.

‘Sticky’ is a release for all the pent-up anger, aggression and forced confinement of recent times. It may be relatable if you felt like smashing a bottle against a wall just to feel the release, it may be relatable if you feel the urge to get a tattoo just to feel the pain, it may even be relatable if you just wanna see Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes live again and lose your shit like never before.

Many releases this year have been given the title ‘an album of the times’ and it’s no real surprise that Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes have given us another with ‘Sticky’.

Buy Here

Author: Ben Hughes

The Gun Club – Preaching The Blues’ Boxset set for January

The Gun Club – Preaching The Blues’ Boxset set for January
Pic by Ed Colver

Limited Edition 7 x 7inch vinyl Box Set


Includes the highly sought-after debut 7” ‘Ghost On The Highway/Sex Beat’ All tracks remastered and issued with original artwork.


52-page booklet with rare photographs, reminisces from Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan, Henry Rollins, X and extensive liner notes from noted author Clinton Heylin.


Includes exclusive ‘Fire Of Love’ Fanzine, ‘Gun’ Button and Promo Postcard Released by Flood Gallery on 21st January 2022

Box set Pre-Order Here

If ever there was a band seemingly determined to come from nowhere and go straight back there, it was The Gun Club. Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s search and destroy combo was spawned by the L.A. punk scene in 1979. Two years later their first LP, the incendiary Fire Of Love, was spewed out by Slash Records, a matter of months after the punk zine Pierce wrote for, and the label named itself after breathed its last. Fire Of Love was one of the 80s’ genuinely shape-shifting US debuts, igniting post-punk depth and minting genres including blues, psychobilly, and Americana. Yet before they could fire up the lathe to cut the album master, The Gun Club unleashed a debut 7” ‘Ghost On The Highway’ b/w ‘Sex Beat’, two purgatory-bound hellraisers from the pen of Pierce. Appearing in the UK on the Beggars Banquet label,
this single is now entrenched in the collectors’ market commanding a three-figure sum for a mint original. Its inclusion here is worth the price of the Box Set alone. “Ghost on the Highway/Sex Beat’ was the first in a run of fire and brimstone singles The Gun Club released. Seven of their very best 45’s issued between 1981-1993 are
brought together on this potent collection including three later day 7”s for the completists. Joining “Ghost On The Highway’ are ‘Fire Of Love’, the ‘Death Party EP’, ‘The Great Divide’, ‘Pastoral Hide & Seek’, ’Cry To Me’ and a ‘Miami Demos’ single, exclusively made for this box set.

Each double-sided single is remastered and reproduced with its original artwork. Inside the Box Set is a high quality 52-page page booklet complete with expert sleeve notes by author Clinton Heylin alongside various contributors, among them Mark Lanegan, Henry Rollins and Thurston Moore. Reproductions of gig posters, tickets,
rare photographs and other Gun Club memorabilia are featured throughout. The Box Set is produced in association with the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Estate. Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an extraordinary character. Learning to play guitar at the age
of 10, he quickly immersed himself firstly in reggae and later the Delta Blues, particularly works by Tommy Johnson & Robert Johnson. By 1976, he had become obsessed with Blondie, going on to become President of the West Coast Blondie Fan Club. It was Jeffrey Lee Pierce who suggested to the band they cover ‘Hanging On The Telephone’. The Blondie connection would later resurface in 1982 when Chris Stein signed and produced The Gun Club for his Animal Records label. In 1996, after releasing 7 studio albums, 37-year-old Jeffrey Lee Pierce sadly passed away following
a stroke. What he left behind is a legacy of work that has had a prolific effect on some of the most distinguished rock acts of the past 20+ years, these include Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth, The White Stripes, Mark Lanegan, Primal Scream and The Black Keys.


The Gun Club story would not be complete without mentioning the following personnel who played an integral role in the musical output of the Gun Club: Kid Congo Powers, Terry Graham, Chris D, Rob Ritter, Patricia Robinson, Romi Mori, Ward Dotson, Jim Duckworth, Dee Pop and Nick Sanderson.

The Gun Club ‘Preaching The Blues’ Singles Box Set

  • Ghost On The Highway (1982) – Ghost On The Highway/Sex Beat
  • Fire Of Love 1982 – Fire Of Love/Walking With The Beast
  • Miami Demos (1982) – Carry Home/Brother And Sister
  • Death Party EP (1983) – The House On Highland Ave./ The Lie/Death Party
  • The Great Divide (1990) – The Great Divide/Crabdance
  • Pastoral Hide And Seek (1990) – Pastoral Hide And Seek/Black Hole/Emily’s
    Changed (Live in Paris, 91)
  • Cry To Me (1993) – Cry To Me/Give Up The Sun

FUTURAMA – A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES

FUTURAMA – A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES

THE LEGENDARY 2-DAY POST-PUNK FESTIVAL CONFIRMED TO TAKE PLACE EASTER WEEKEND IN LIVERPOOL, APRIL 16TH – 17TH 2022

NEW MODEL ARMY AND THE SKIDS ADDED TO THE LINE-UP!

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE:

www.futuramafestival.com

Futurama, the legendary post-punk, and electronic music festival, originally due to return in 2020 and delayed twice due to the pandemic, is now set to finally take place Easter Weekend 2022 April 16th – 17th in Liverpool.

There has, nevertheless, been some unavoidable line-up changes to the event due to re-scheduling issues. Futurama was unable to offer a headline slot on a workable day for original headliners Heaven 17, so sadly they have had to withdraw from the event. However, Futurama are pleased to announce that New Model Army are now the new headliners for the Saturday with very special guests The Skids as main support.

New Model Army played the 5th Futurama in Leeds in 1983 and it makes perfect sense to headline nearly 40 years later. New Model Army have had an outstanding career and they are just about to embark on a 40th Anniversary Tour in November that takes in Glasgow, Nottingham Rock City and London Roundhouse. One of the best live bands on the circuit, they have a huge and loyal following and they will put an amazing show as headliners at the Futurama.

Likewise with The Skids, who since coming back together in 2016 have been wowing audiences with their brilliant and passionate live shows. The Skids didn’t play the Futuramas but Richard Jobson’s Armour Show also played Futurama 5 at the Queen’s Hall in 1983. Although, starting out as a punk band in 1977 many of their 80’s songs had a post punk feel and even though they were only together 5 years, they made four cracking albums together and had countless hits between 1979 and 1981. 

“I have a strong and fond memory of playing the Futurama festival with the Armory Show back in 1983,” recalls frontman Richard Jobson. “It was exactly the kind of event we should have been playing and in the right company such as Death Cult and Killing Joke (Youth is now our producer). I feel the same kind of excitement today having been asked to return with the reformed Skids. It’s Rock’n’roll dystopia made cool in a way that JG Ballard would have approved of. Can’t wait”

New Model Army and The Skids make a formidable Saturday evening in Liverpool. 

Owing to the pandemic and the postponements means the Futurama has lost a few bands to new gigging commitments which is completely understandable, and we wish them well.

FUTURAMA FESTIVAL IN LIVERPOOL TAKES PLACE OVER THE EASTER WEEKEND 16TH / 17TH APRIL 2022 HOSTED BY VIVE LE ROCK AND LOUDER THAN WAR

Tickers are now on sale at £99.00 for the weekend and £49.50 for Saturday and Sunday on SEETICKETS HERE:

FULL LINE UP

SATURDAY APRIL 16TH

HEADLINERS

NEW MODEL ARMY

VERY SPECIAL GUESTS

THE SKIDS

A CERTAIN RATIO / CLOCK DVA / BALAAM & THE ANGEL / SPIZZ ENERGI / HEAVY LUNGS / JOHN / SECTION 25 / EVIL BLIZZARD /IST IST / GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS / WE ARE NOT DEVO / THE DSM IV / DITZ / EXPELAIRES / PETE BENTHAM & THE DINNER LADIES / GRANDMAS HOUSE / FRAUDS / LIBRALIBRA 

SUNDAY APRIL 17TH

HEADLINERS

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT

For more info head to: futuramafestival.com

L.A. Guns – ‘Checkered Past’ (Frontiers Music)

L.A. Guns – ‘Checkered Past’ (Frontiers Music)

Written and recorded while the world was still in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, this new studio album sees the band just keep rolling and making music for the 21st Century as they did on “The Devil You Know” and “The Missing Peace” even if this has some softer lighter edges in the shape of the whistful ‘Get Along’.

Sure their classic rock influences are still in the mix. The heavier songs are present and correct but thats the beauty of an L.A. Guns album you kinda know what you’re going to get but there are subtle surprises within that keep the listener on their toes.

When fans absorb the album as a whole, they’ll see that the tracklisting is divided up into ‘sets’ or ‘suites’, where a sonic style is explored across multiple songs before moving on to the next, making for a longer-lasting listening experience that has certainly kept fans coming back for more (as well as the obvious talents within the line up).

I’ve always been a big fan of Lewis from when he was fronting Girl through Torme and as a solo artist he’s lost none of his talents over the years.

The album kicks off in style with the dirty rock of ‘Canonball’ that harks back to the real spirit of the band and when they first came to the fore. The attack of the two guitars and Lewis’ voice is excellent. then to follow it up with the groove-based boogie of ‘Bad Luck Charm’ then ‘Living Right Now’ that has attitude as well as grooving on a ‘Born To BE Wild’ opening riff its three songs in the intro and three styles that blend really well before the acoustic change of pace that is ‘Get Along’.

Going back to the ‘Sets’ where the album is divided into this laid-back, reflective acoustic section has the excellent ‘If It’s Over Now’ that has a great classic melody going on and Lewis vocals soar before gently getting back into the verse where its more softly spoken. The solo you know is coming and I got the impression of a Randy Rhodes style Ozzy feel and it hits the spot.

There is a solid more gang-like feel to this album and one the band seems altogether more comfortable with. There isn’t any need to just pummel the listener (even though they do at times) they seem more comfortable experimenting and taking different paths with the arrangments and that always makes for a better listen.

Halfway through the album, there’s plenty of grunt on ‘Better Than You’ before the boys get the feet up on the monitors for a DC like stomper in the shape of ‘Knock Me Down’. ‘Dog’ sees Tracii lead the way with a ballsy rocker.

As we head into the home straight the band shift through the gears with the slow-building ‘Let You Down’ that might just be the highlight of the whole album reminding me of the band’s darker classic ‘Hollywood Vampire’. Closing off proceedings with the sludgy, big, let’s get the fuck outta dodge grinding rhythm of ‘Physical Itch’ that closes off another long-player from a band that should rightfully get the respect of its peers for being not survivors but pioneers – a band who kept fighting against the odds and doing it on their own terms and a band that is maturing like a fine wine. Not going through the motions but a band that is going through the emotions – lifting you up and putting you down and if you turn up the speakers they’ll still throw you about. Long may this incarnation of L.A. Guns continue because they have the chops and are still very much capable of cutting the mustard and making really really good albums.

Buy ‘Checkered Past’ Here

https://www.lagunsmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/L.A.GunsOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/laguns/
https://twitter.com/laguns

Placebo resurface with new album and tour dates for 2022

Placebo resurface with new album and tour dates for 2022

long-awaited 8th studio album. Nine years on from the release of their last outing Loud Like Love, Never Let Me Go is confirmed for release on 25th March 2022. Also announced today is a new track from the album, ‘Surrounded By Spies’, along with a 2022 headline UK / IE tour dates.

Pre-order Never Let Me Go and access ticket pre-sale here.

In September, Placebo resurfaced from a long hibernation to release their first single in five years – and first from the new album – ‘Beautiful James’. A joyous and celebratory song, it came quietly loaded with antagonism for the increasingly prominent, ignorant, factions that have come to litter modern conversation. As Brian Molko commented at the time, “If the song serves to irritate the squares and the uptight, so gleefully be it.”

As great masters in cataloguing the human condition, Placebo’s unique way of examining both its flaws and beauty finds fertile ground in 2021. Crawling out of the pandemic into a landscape of intolerance, division, tech-saturation and imminent eco-catastrophe, theirs is a voice that has rarely felt more significant to contemporary discourse, and more appropriate to sing these stories to the world. Within the magnetic slow-burn of new track ‘Surrounded By Spies’ no punches are pulled in confronting the erosion of civil liberties, as Brian Molko’s deft lyrical delivery is married to a creeping sense of claustrophobia that fittingly makes the walls feel as though they are closing in from all around.

Brian Molko comments:

“I began writing the lyrics when I discovered my neighbours were spying on me on behalf of parties with a nefarious agenda. I then began to ponder the countless ways in which our privacy has been eroded and stolen since the introduction of worldwide CCTV cameras that now employ racist facial recognition technologies; the rise of the internet and the cellphone, which has turned practically every user into a paparazzo and spectators in their own lives, and how we have mostly all offered up personal information to enormous multinationals whose sole intent is to exploit us.

I used the cut-up technique invented by William S Burroughs and popularized in modern song by David Bowie. It’s a true story told through a lens of paranoia, complete disgust for modern society’s values and the deification of surveillance capitalism. The narrator is at the end of their tether, hopeless and afraid, completely at odds with our newfound progress and the god of money.”

PLACEBO UK + IE 2022 HEADLINE TOUR DATES

NOVEMBER
Fri 18 – Portsmouth – Guildhall
Sat 19 – Brighton – Brighton Centre
Mon 21 – Liverpool – Eventim Olympia
Tue 22 – Manchester – O2 Victoria Warehouse
Thu 24 – Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena
Sat 26 – London – O2 Brixton Academy
Sun 27 – London – O2 Brixton Academy
Tue 29 – Leicester – De Montford Hall
Wed 30 – Leeds – O2 Academy Leeds

DECEMBER
Fri 2 – Newcastle – O2 City Hall
Sat 3 – Glasgow – O2 Academy Glasgow
Mon 5 – Dublin – 3 Arena
Wed 7 – Cambridge – Corn Exchange
Thu 8 – Birmingham – O2 Academy 1

SLADE official deluxe vinyl album re-issue series ‘Slade in Flame’

SLADE official deluxe vinyl album re-issue series ‘Slade in Flame’

SLADEofficial deluxe vinyl album re-issue series slide in Flame’released on limited edition splatter vinyl out 26th November 

Pre-order here

‘Slade In Flame’, the third release in the series, will be released on red and yellow splatter vinyl. 


The first release in this beautifully presented re-issues collection ‘Slayed? debuted at #7 in the Official Vinyl Charts and the final release will be ‘Slade Alive!’.Slade’s first soundtrack album and fifth studio album ‘Slade In Flame’, includes the singles ‘Far Far Away’ and ‘How does it Feel’. Originally released on 29th November 1974, the album entered the UK album chart at #6 and it was certified gold by the BPI in February 1975. Slade’s seminal film was hailed as ‘the Citizen Kane of British pop movies” by Mark Kermode, BBC.


‘Slade In Flame’ follows the release of Slade’s third and fourth studio albums ‘Slayed?’, and ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’. ‘Slayed?’ features ten songs including Number One single, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’  and ‘Gudbuy T’Jane’ which reached Number two in the charts. While ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’, features the singles ‘My Friend Stan’ and ‘Everyday’ and  The Times to retrospectively state: “This is joyous, unshackled and unpretentious stuff that reminds you how they rattled off six No.1’s.”

Pictures By Barry Plummer


Slade are without doubt one of the most exciting bands to come out of Great Britain and were unstoppable throughout the Seventies becoming one of the biggest bands; releasing six smash hits albums, including three UK Number Ones, a run of 17 consecutive Top 20 singles and their hits provided a soundtrack to the Glam Generation.
To pre-order ‘Slade In Flame’, go to: https://slade.lnk.to/sladeinflamePRTo order ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’ go to: https://slade.lnk.to/onbabPR To order ‘Slayed?’ go to: https://slade.lnk.to/slayedPR

Anti – Mortem – ‘Anti Mortem’ (Romo Music Group)

Anti – Mortem – ‘Anti Mortem’ (Romo Music Group)

US rockers Anti – Mortem consist of members of Texas Hippie Coalition and Sign of Lies. This self-titled EP marks eight years since their last release of a bunch of singles. Here we have eight tracks full of spit and venom, and the sound is very much entrenched in the White Zombie, Corrosion of Conformity and Prong of the 90s. Crunchy riffs, screaming vocals and stabbing double bass drum flurries are very much the staple here. The bands logo doesn’t really sit with their sound though. I expected more of a Black Stone Cherry kind of vibe, but they are certainly not of that ilk.

The songs are short, tight, and straight to the point. With song titles like ‘STFU (Shut the Fuck Up)’, ‘Yeah Right’ and ‘Money’, Anti – Mortem attempt to address some of modern society’s issues and the lyrics are on point with their current themes.

An enjoyable listen with some interesting dynamics, the production values are great, the EP sounds relevant and old school at the same time. Check em out!

Author: Kenny Kendrick

Lars Frederiksen – ‘To Victory’ E.P (Pirates Press Records)

Lars Frederiksen – ‘To Victory’ E.P (Pirates Press Records)

Having just completed a run of US shows with Rancid, along with the recording of his first album as guitarist with The Last Resort punkaholic Lars Frederiksen has somehow managed to squeeze a few more hours into his rock ‘n’ roll day to finally deliver his debut solo release, the six track EP ‘To Victory’.

Inspired by a pre-lockdown sold out solo show in Oakland, ‘To Victory’ is a continuation of that show’s format and as such is very much in the style of one of Frederiksen’s heroes, Billy Bragg. It’s a one-man-gang kind of release, with the track listing featuring two songs each from The Old Firm Casuals and Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards all reworked to fit the stripped-down solo format along with a couple of choice cover versions making for a very interesting listen indeed.

It’s back to 2016’s ‘Butcher’s Banquet’ EP originally recorded by The Old Firm Casuals for ‘God And Guns’ to get the acoustic party started and here devoid of any drums the track still somehow pounds along at a fair old pace, and yeah whilst I may long for a drummer to help the track fully kick in, the piano and bass touches that complement the arrangement really do work well within the context of this project.

Likewise, ‘Army of Zombies’ originally from Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards self-titled 2001 released album, which also works particularly well due to a truly magical sprinkling of organ and piano which lifts the track out of merely sounding like a very well recorded acoustic demo up into a whole new sonic universe come the chorus.

Of the two cover versions on offer Lars’ version of UK Subs ‘Tomorrow’s Girl’ is the one that makes absolute sense (seeing as Lars was briefly in the band back in the early nineties) and here for the first time on the EP the song is driven by Lars’ trusty Gibson SG. Something that continues into the monster chug of ‘Motherland’, originally from The Old Firm Casual’s 2019 released ‘Holger Danske’ album. Now, I’ve always thought Frederiksen had more than a hint of Paul Stanley in his voice on the chorus of the original of this track and here it’s even more evident. Surely Lars would never admit to being a KISS fan though, right?

Err wrong, because the second of the covers is actually a mighty fine rendition of ‘Comin’ Home’ originally from that band’s 1974 classic ‘Hotter Than Hell’ album, albeit here it’s got more in common with the version the shock rockers did for their 1995 MTV Unplugged show. It’s certainly the bravest of song choices on ‘To Victory’ and may even win Lars some new fans in the process.

Returning to the electric guitar for an EP closing run through of Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards’ ‘Skunx’, I can’t help but think that having recorded a beefed-up cover of Billy Bragg’s ‘To Have And Have Not’ on their self-titled debut album this version of ‘Skunx’ could actually be Bragg’s payback cover if he were ever up to the challenge.

Released via Pirates Press on 19th November on vinyl, CD, cassette and online ‘To Victory’ is something that seriously has the legs to run as a whole new concept for Lars Frederiksen outside of that solo pre-lockdown gig that started all of this, just him, his guitar and a whole lot of stories certainly makes for an interesting proposition indeed.

https://www.facebook.com/larsfrederiksenofficial

https://larsfrederiksenmusic.com/

Lars Frederiksen – To Victory 12" EP / CD / Cassette

https://www.plastichead.com/item.aspx?catno=PPR301LP

Author: Johnny Hayward