Aerial Salad – ‘R.O.I.’ (Venn Records)

Aerial Salad – ‘R.O.I.’ (Venn Records)

When Manchester trio Aerial Salad set the date of late March 2020 for the release of their awesome ‘Dirt Mall’ album who could ever have predicted that their fierce barrage of spikey adolescent punk pop was about to run headlong into a metaphorical career brick wall known as a global pandemic. That record really should have seen the Salad boys (Jamie Munro on vocals and guitar, Mike ‘Wimbo’ Wimbleton on vocals and bass and Jake Marshall on drums) leapfrogging all comers on the global scene but as with anyone with musician as their job description back then they were largely forgotten overnight.

How any band reacts to such outside forces is always going to make or break them, and in the case of Aerial Salad having to seemingly “start over again” (for want of a better phrase) only seems to have further galvanised them as a musical tour de force. With time on their hands to further refine and define their songwriting formula, the band’s follow up record ‘R.O.I.’ is indeed a mighty fine return on investment for all the blood, sweat and tears shed in the intervening years.

Released on April 12th 2024 via Venn Records (the label run by Lags from Gallows and home to the likes of Bob Vylan, Clobber and Meryl Streek) ‘R.O.I.’ sees the post punk influences of the band’s early ‘Roach’ era tunes crashing headlong into the Seattle guitar rawk of ‘Dirt Mall’ whilst adding a whole new twist to the Aerial Salad sound, something the lads have been quick to dub Madchester Punk.

A quick listen to recent single ‘Tied To Pieces Of Paper’ will give you near perfect sounbite of the band’s angsty take on life in 2024, as it’s sounds not unlike Mark E Smith fronting The Jam before they are joined by Nirvana for the tune’s chorus crescendo, and it’s all over in 2 minutes and 40 seconds.  BOSH! ‘ave it!

The anger has certainly been dialled up on ‘R.O.I.’ and straight from the off with opener ‘Rottin’ n Shakin’ you can almost taste the frustration in Jamie’s vocal delivery thanks to a fantastically tight production from Dean Glover (who has also worked with The Membranes) as tunes like ‘MDRN LVN’, ‘As The World Eats Itself’ and ‘They All Lied To Me’ perfectly illustrate what it must be like to be young growing up in this post-Brexit disunited kingdom we call home. 

With a mission statement to appeal to everyone and anyone, from rave heads to indie kids, poets to rockers, you just need to give the album’s first single ‘Big Business’ a listen to fully understand how they are going to achieve this, and this tune is not alone in its genre-blending potential as tracks like ‘Do You Like Flowers Son’, ‘Same 24 Hours (As Beyoncé)’ and the almost psych pop of ‘Capo 2’ will have you stomping around your bedroom like a good ‘un.

There are times during ‘R.O.I.’ where I have to check that this is really is still the same band I once saw upstairs in a tiny Bristol boozer long before global pandemics were ever a reality, as this is a record that truly transcends the pub circuit, and the likes of Yard Act, IDLES and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes best be looking over their shoulders because if Aerial Salad do take their ‘Chances’ (groans)  there’s nothing to say they won’t be stealing those band’s fanbases during the summer as the trio look to promote their finest record to date via a series of explosive live shows.

You can get your copy of ‘R.O.I.’ HERE!

Author:Johnny Hayward

The Middlenight Men – ‘Issue Number 2’ (Self Release)

The Middlenight Men – ‘Issue Number 2’ (Self Release)

When the first Midnight Men Album was released you could tell Nick had a vision for the band that was full of joy and fun. From the artwork to the music and finally to the stage. Here we find ourselves in 2024 and the release of Issue 2 is with us. I listened to this for the first time driving an articulated truck around southeast London during rush hour and whilst it definitely improved the experience it seemed quite apt from one juggernaut to another and I noticed my stress levels also decreased.

I was looking for more of the same catchy hooks and tunes and plenty of pop-punk fun. You get all that in abundance from the opening track ‘The Middlenight Men Theme’ into ‘Fighting Skylar’ and into track three ‘Bruno’ in the blink of an eye. this album certainly carries on where the first album left off catchier than a world-class keeper on a good day. The backing vocals are big and help lift the songs.

By the time ‘Living In the Heart Of Hell’ finishes you’re invested in the anthemic majesty of the album. The songs also show great maturity as well as killer hooks like what you get on ‘The Fear’ and really grips you…fantastic stuff.

As well as the pop-punk you get some AC/DC style riffing on ‘Sirens’ that seems to flow into something Kula Shaker would be proud of and it’s worked really well. The flavours of the album give you Britpop, Wildhearts, Pop, QOTSA and other influences like Chris Catalyst the diversity is wide but flows really well.

Whatever band Nick plays in be it Role Models, Terrorvision or Middlenight Men he always seems to enjoy himself and that is infectious and carries into his audience its great to have fun music that’s played with that in mind.

I know Nick doesn’t like to mention playing Wembley but I’d love to see it happen with Middlenight Men on the biggest of stages issue 2 is the perfect follow-up to issue 1 and the record delivers all you could hope for and more it keeps on brand and the vision Nick had for the band but he’s just made it bigger, better, bolder and added some more styles to the pot if this were a Rock n Roll cake issue 2 would be the icing.

you can also catch the band at The Underworld in Camden for the launch party I’ll see you down the front. Buy It now.

Author: Gordon Lancaster

Snuff – ‘Off On The Charabanc’ (Sbam)

Snuff – ‘Off On The Charabanc’ (Sbam)

Eight new tracks and seven acoustic versions from Snuff. A mixture of Punk that’s bright and punchy mixed with the finer parts of The Levellers Snuff have been doing this for long enough to know they’re pretty good at what they deliver and on this latest offering they’ve thrown the kitchen sink at it with what amounts to a modern-day “its got the lot” crammed into its fifteen tracks. No writers block here folks just value fo money.

Duncan Redmonds likes a story tends to put a lot of what he observes into his lyrics. It’s roots are equally in folk and punk rock.

Raucous songs with that earthy modern folk edge. Each story unfolds as you listen like the pages of a good book of short stories. It’s tough to define their sound because the band definitely do like to dabble in a few musical styles whilst keeping it all together with a cohesive style that is their own much like the men they couldn’t hang used to do. Guitar riffs, organs, horns and plenty of harmonies. ‘Go Easy’ gets proceedings underway in fine fashion with a good energy and plenty of upbeat punch. Thats carried through with the title track and then the band put their foot on the accelerator for ‘Booster’ Not much sign of the Folky edge on the first bunch of tunes but the melodies are strong especially on ‘Yellow Lights’. they give the Organ a good shoeing for the groovy for the ‘Purple PRisoner’ one I’m sure Deep Purple fans could get on board with here on this Snuff record. A little bit proggy for my ears but it did grab my attention that’s for sure.

‘Fireball’ shakes off any prog residue left on my speakers with a sprightly thrasher. That’s the first half done in a very loud fashion until the gentler acoustic ‘The Skip’ before we take our seats around the campfire for the acoustic offerings that work really well to be fair in fact quite a few are better than their Electric siblings.

‘Toxic’ is Acoustic but didn’t feature on the Electric half and makes way for one of the best tracks on the album ‘All Over Now’ has excellent vocals and massive harmonies but the strings add a really sombre mellow texture that works well. If you like the folk side of punk rock then this is for you defiantly a game of two contrasting halves from the fired-up punk rock to the acoustic mellow moments – it all makes for an interesting record that offers up weaving melodies and sounds that ebb and flow really well. That’s Snuff from me until the record is released and you can then decide for yourself.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Cock Sparrer – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 6th April 2024

Cock Sparrer – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 6<sup>th</sup> April 2024

I’d hazard a guess that there’s not many bands that can headline a venue the size of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire where you’d find band members in the neighbouring pubs before the show happy to chat and have selfies taken with their fans. Then again Cock Sparrer are not just any ole headline band, and as frontman Colin McFaull is quick to point out towards the end of their headline set here tonight “without you the fans we really wouldn’t be doing what we are doing right now”, so they appreciate our support, a hell of a lot. Especially as this, the first gig in support of the release of their latest album ‘Hand On Heart’, has also just happened to coincide with the latest round of rail strikes here in the UK.

For yours truly this means around 7 hours in total on a coach travelling up and back from south Wales for the gig, but that’s nothing compared to the time and money invested in today by those who have travelled from not only other parts of the UK but also Europe and the US, all eager to once again see everyone’s favourite Oi! streetpunk band performing live, and with this aim in common when we all do finally get together we are just like one big happy family.

Having been lucky enough to secure tickets for one of the fiftieth anniversary shows the band put together at The Roundhouse a couple of years back, I’ll admit that I really enjoyed the format of that gig with the band playing two sets instead of having a support act, and here tonight that is repeated, albeit here the first set is a mash up of deep cuts and new tracks and the second being the regular “hits(?)” package. What is really odd though is when the band (once again complete with the Cockettes – James Bragg on guitar and backing vocals and Jet Baker on keyboards and backing vocals) do take to the stage a little after 8pm tonight it’s almost like they are the support band as the crowd is not only initially quite sparse (keep this in mind for what is to follow) down the front but oddly a little subdued when the intro tape of ‘Last Orders’ blasts out of the PA segueing neatly into ‘Sunday Stripper’, a track I don’t think I’ve heard the band play live since the back to back Kentish Town Forum shows all the way back in March 2010. It’s the new songs I’ve been really looking forward to hearing live for the first time though and ‘With My Hand On My Heart’ quickly follows along with ‘Mind Your Own Business’ the opening 1-2 from the ‘Hand On Heart’ album and these two start to warm those of us down the front up very nicely indeed. Of the older tunes included ‘Roads To Freedom’ from the ‘Guilty As Charged’ album gets its live debut, whilst (possibly the only Oi! song to ever be written about Potsdam) ‘Bats Out’ from ‘Two Monkeys’ makes a welcome return after featuring in the Roundhouse set, and then there’s ‘Shock Troops’ deep cut ‘Secret Army’ and ‘Contender’ from 2018’s ‘Forever’ to prove there’s much more to those records than what is about to follow in the next hour. As for the rest of ‘Hand On Heart’ (which is out to buy right now folks, something Colin and guitarist Daryl Smith remind us many times over tonight – and why not) we also get ‘I Belong To You’, ‘Take It On The Chin’ (written with the mighty Spunk Volcano no less) and ‘Here We Stand’ before we return to ‘Guilty As Charged’ for first set closer ‘We Know How To Live’, a song that bassist Steve Burgess apparently wrote as the band’s answer to the Minder theme tune. Well, you live and learn, eh?

As the band heads off for some cheese sandwiches and a small Jack Daniels between sets we are left to partake of our own ablutions and libations, only we would do if we could actually get anywhere near the toilets and bars, as the stalls are now totally rammed. Dangerously so in the case of the stairs leading to the toilets, thankfully though in spite of the skinhead tough guy image egos really are checked in at the door when you go see Cock Sparrer and even when a mate of mine accidentally spills a bloke’s pint bashing into him it’s all okay and hands are shaken with nothing further to be said.

With this in mind, trying to return to our original vantage spot in time for set two is never going to be on the cards, but we are close enough to experience the energy surge as the ‘Overture’ intro tape goes up and the cooling alcoholic rain that falls during the nee-naw, nee-naw guitar intro of ‘Riot Squad’ is actually quite refreshing. Let’s just be thankful it’s not warm, especially given the toilet situation.

Set mainstays ‘Watch Your Back’ and ‘Working’ follow and these raise the temperature even higher, whilst it’s during a frantic ‘Teenage Heart’ that my fifty-something heart decides to play silly buggers with me, and this Droog does indeed have to run, all the way to the medical room for some much-needed fresh air. I have to say the stewards and medical team at the Empire were both superb in responding to my heart issues, and thankfully as I now know what I’m dealing with I only need to take a brief (7-song) sabbatical from the Sparrer party fully raging just a few feet away. My only hope is that the American lady who was entering the room as I was leaving was okay too as she didn’t seem in a good place at all.  

Relocating to the balcony just in time for ‘Because You’re Young’ (oh the irony eh) the first thing  I note is that guitarist Mick Beaufoy is now sitting down whilst playing (apparently he’s not been too well either) and behind the kit Steve Bruce whilst still hammering away like a piston engine has rather sensibly slowed the tempo down a touch for the finale of ‘England Belongs To Me’ and ‘We’re Coming Back’ to not only reflect the fact that the band aren’t exactly spring chickens anymore…but also that they have another double set show to play in Glasgow in a just a few days’ time.

 I said at the top of this review that there are not many bands like Cock Sparrer, and that’s why with ‘Hand On Heart’ in the shops and a series of live shows booked throughout the year to help promote the record we should truly value the time we have with the band more now than ever. That’s because hand on my (dodgy) heart punk rock music doesn’t get much better than this.  Long may it continue.

Author: Johnny Hayward

Buy the new album ‘Hand On Heart’ Here

The Hives / Bad Nerves – The Great Hall, Cardiff Uni. Cardiff – 05.04.24

The Hives / Bad Nerves – The Great Hall, Cardiff Uni. Cardiff – 05.04.24

A night when the old school garage rock grandmasters that are The Hives take young jedis in training out on tour to show them how it’s done by the best in the business and give them the leg up they deserve as they continue their upward trajectory to what can and should be a deserved seat at the top table.

Bad Nerves have been constantly touring and recording their second album then touring some more across the states they’re certainly not afraid of hard work and know that you have to go out and get every single sale and work for it. Tonight they strode onto the well-trodden boards of the great hall in Cardiff to a very healthy audience. They purposefully took up their stage positions and with an effortless cool, they exploded into ‘Don’t Stop’ and don’t look back for the next half hour.

With ‘Still Nervous’ getting its timely release at the end of this tour Bad Nerves have global domination in the pal of their hands. They’ve got the chops, tunes and attitude to one day go toe to toe with The Hives but at this point, they are the perfect Garage punks to open up this Rock n Roll show.

Bobby Bird leads the troops through a blistering set of well-worn in tunes and a couple of new ones. They look the part on the big stage and seem super comfortable pumping out their power pop punk anthems. It’s like all the vital ingredients for success and the right place at the right time but all that is immaterial if they don’t have the tunes but on tonight’s evidence they don’t have to worry on that front because the new songs are so strong. ‘USA’ is a vicious romp through the best power pop punk rock and with ‘You’ve Got The Nerve’ they have the punk rock authentic attitude to pull this off. As was pointed out by Mr H they have the songs like the mighty Cyanide Pills (who would be fantastic touring partners when they finish their stint with The Hives)

There was no fuckin about, no bullshit just Rock n Roll from top to bottom and Cardiff Uni had just been served up a lesson in how to open a show good and proper. Belting performance, catch em while you can Bad Nerves are going places.

After an impressive opener we readied ourselves for The Mighty Hives a band I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many times in many venues and this being their second time here after playing the smaller Yr Plas across the corridor two decades ago! Wow, Those twenty two years have flown by I’ve been lucky to see these Swedes play in front of 100,000 in Hyde Park and less than 1000 in Cardiff but the one thing I had on each occasion was a rock and roll show of the highest calibre. There aren’t many who can match the energy and drive of The Hives and that’s before we get to the arsenal of songs they have at their disposal. they treat each performance the same be it in the tiny Fleece in Bristol or a football stadium or a students union The hives put on a show and every night is nothing short of 100% they leave nothing on the stage when they leave except a puddle of sweat and an audience of beaming smiles on sweaty faces leaving knowing they’ve seen one of the best garage rock bands anywhere on the planet.

From the opening of ‘Bogus Operandi’ through the hits like ‘Main Offender’ or ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ the energy is incredible only matched by the quality of the music. In Howlin Pelle they have an exceptional frontman who has every audience eating from the palm of his hand from the moment he steps on the stage but he is enabled by an incredible band none more so than his brother Nicholaus who doesn’t stop making eye contact and moving like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Its a magnificent performance and the levels they reach are second to none be it old classics like ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ to new songs of the Death Of album that peaked with ‘Trapdoor Solution’ or who cares they’re all spectacular and there can’t be single person wedged into this room who left disappointed with the garage rock majesty that is the Hives.

After seventy five minutes its a brief encore before a devastating one two three of ‘Come On’, ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and ‘Tick Tick Boom’ and we’re done. Another magnificent evening with the Hives. Lets do it again same time same place next year. Simply magnificent!

Author: Dom Daley

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – ‘Skinwalker’ (Communion Records)

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – ‘Skinwalker’ (Communion Records)

‘Backhand Deals’, the debut album from Cardiff based indie power pop sensations Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard made waves amongst those in the know back in 2022. With an image straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon circa ‘77 and an album choc-a-bloc with radio-friendly singles such as ‘New Age Millennial Magic’ and ‘Good Day’, they channelled the pomp and circumstance of Queen, the guitar-driven glam rock of T Rex and the quirky songwriting magic of Jellyfish. How could they fail?

Fast forward 2 years and the band’s sophomore long player ‘Skinwalker’ sees singer and main songwriter Tom Reese take his band in a different direction than anyone could have expected.

In the lead-up to this album’s release, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard opted to tour playing none of their older songs. Apart from the recent singles, it was all unfamiliar songs. A very brave or a very stupid move depending on your perspective. Turns out that there’s a newfound intensity to Tom’s songwriting and these songs sounded fresh, vital and cool as fuck in a live environment. I snapped up a copy of the tour exclusive ‘blood splatter’ vinyl from the merch stand without hesitation, as soon as the band finished playing.

‘Skinwalker’ is a rollercoaster ride through the mind of Tom Reese as he comes to terms with depression, anxiety and a trip into therapy. As well as the metaphorical nods to the shifts in the band such as the album title and the Blair Witch styled cover art, there are the physical ones. Gone are the stripey jumpers and the quirky haircuts, the singer has shaved his head, wears Black Sabbath t-shirts and has penned a set of tunes that seem to be a reaction to the definite power pop of the debut.

The trademark layered vocals are still omnipresent, but the music is a gargantuan alt-rock, fuzzy monster. The album opens with a doomy, heavy metal chord that will make you jump and reach for the volume button before we glide into the first single ‘National Rust’, a Talking Heads-inspired alt-rock ditty, full of glorious bass and drums. Next, the Sabbathy fuzz of ‘Chew’, with its rising dance beat and lush harmonies takes over.

The brilliantly titled ‘My Starsign Is A Bassett Hound’ is next level. It was a standout live track for me and showcased not only great songwriting dynamics but also what an outstanding drummer they have. It verges on prog rock, and I mean that in a good way. Layers of Queen-like vocal harmonies cry out over stabs of rhythmic beats and furious, fuzzy guitars, it sounds massive.

The ghost of Silver Sun rears its golden skin on the fuzz-drenched ‘Sugar Sandwich’. With its sublime “sugar, sugar, sugar” refrain, it’s an earworm that remains after multiple listens. And when we flip the record over ‘Leather Bound’ has much the same impact. 

We delve deeper into Tom’s headfuck with ‘Therapy’, a six-minute plus dark and macabre alt-rock dance tune that rides on a throbbing bass groove and comes on like Viagra Boys for the win.

Epic closer ‘Night Of The Skinwalker’ is a full-on 70’s glam rock throwback, like Freddie Mercury and Richard O’Brien directing a Black Midi opus. As theatrical as it is guitar-driven, it feels like a hellish journey through one man’s headfuck as we come out the other side intact following a massive crescendo of noise.

Changing your sound, and your image and discarding your back catalogue is a brave move for any band no matter the stature, and ‘Skinwalker’ is a literal shedding of the skin of one of Wales’ finest musical exports in recent years.

If you witnessed them live recently, you know how good these tunes come across, and what a beast of a band they have become. If you are one of the few diehards that flicked ‘em two fingers and walked away because they didn’t play the old stuff, then more fool you!

Once this album has worn in and the dust has settled, it could turn out to be Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard’s ‘The Holy Bible’ or Tom Reese’s ‘The Wall’. And whether they do play the old stuff again in future, or implode after 12 months is anyone’s guess, but at least I can say I was there when they changed their world.

Seek out ‘Skinwalker’, buy ‘Skinwalker’, and experience the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into making one of the standout surprise releases of the year so far.

Buy Here

Author:Ben Hughes

The Unknowns – ‘East Coast Low’ (Drunken Sailor Records)

The Unknowns – ‘East Coast Low’ (Drunken Sailor Records)

The European release of The Unknowns second album, released on Bargain Bin Records in Australia is now out on Drunken Sailor Records in the UK.

The recently expanded four-piece has been bolstered by the addition of The Chats’ Eamon Sandwith on guitar, sees this Brisbane no-nonsense punk release their no frills just business album ‘East Coast Low’. It is not rocket science, it’s punk rock and it’s top-notch punk rock. It manages to draw from some pretty catchy pop tunes and collide it with ragged punk rock Aussie style it has the spirit of The Saints mashed up with The Ramones. It’s energetic, melodic, catchy and bang on the fucking money.

It all kicks off with the infectious big riff-a-rama of ‘Shot Down’. Its snotty, raw and bouncing with attitude. It’s the new school rockin the old school and has a ripping guitar break that’s not flash but spot on. You wont have to play it over and over to join in with the chorus but you’ll be on the bed with the tennis racket ripping out the solo before getting all sweaty with the feedback as the song crashes and burns. However, ‘Dianne’ is like the Dead Boys tipping up with a Ramones Chord book and a bunch of 77 choruses. Perfect!

Its not reinventing the wheel but its cruising along with the tool our forefathers left behind its thunder meets Dee Dee meets the Boys and of Course The Saints and threw them all in the back seat and went cruising round for a killer house party to crash. Garage punk, power pop, and straight-up rock n’ roll its all sewn into the rich tapestry that The Unknowns deliver.

‘East Coast Low’ is ten tracks of anthemic sing-along punk rock n roll and don’t worry about it dragging on it clocks in well under half an hour and is a no brainer if you are looking for a fix of snotty punk n roll done with a carefree attitude ‘Thinking About You’, and ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Beat Me’ are full of dumb fun and who doesn’t like that? Its like The Ramones never happened.

We’ve written about Australian Punk Rock and we’ll write about it again right here right now. Punk Rock is in safe hands with them folk down under they sure can rock n roll they do it just about better than most folks do you can now say that The Unknowns are going to come steaming to the front and centre of the cool kids looking for their next fix of sunshine, beer-swilling punk rockers The album crashes and burns with the blinding ‘Supersonic Love’ if AC/DC had grown up on the Ramones and Stooges and had short hair they could have sounded this good. Remember the name kids ‘East Coast Low’ is the Unknowns aiming high and on this evidence they’ve got every chance of success because they certainly got the chops, Buy It!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

The DeRellas want you to trust them for their new album

The DeRellas want you to trust them for their new album

Kickstarter Album Launch – Here

Trust Me, This Is Going to Hurt” is the Killer New Album from London Glam Punks, The DeRellas. 

Infused with the spirit of Dead Boys, Heartbreakers and MC5, it’s been three years since The DeRellas last studio album, and after tearing up stages across the UK and Europe, They’re ready to unleash another glorious slab of fiercely independent, in-your-face rock ‘n’ roll.

With a darker edge than 2021’s Something’s Got to Give, “Trust Me, This Is Going to Hurt” is fishnets and fag ends, heartaches and hangovers. It’s a glam-punk goldmine. 

They funded two of their earlier albums through Kickstarter.  Your support has kept them independent and built a community of great people around the world who are more than just fans, you’re their friends and your belief means everything.  

By helping them fund ‘Trust Me, This is Going to Hurt’ you’ll be one of the first to hear and to hold the new album, and it means they can pay for studio sessions, pay for the best production – They’ll be recording at the legendary Pat Collier’s studio to ensure the album sounds as massive as it feels.  They’ll also be able to wrap it all up in quality artwork and packaging to make sure it looks as good as it sounds.  

Most of all you’ll help Keep Music Alive!

Rewards from CD’s to vinyl, Studio visit to private performances and more hit em up at the link – Here

Fast Eddy – ‘To The Stars’ (Beluga Records, Spaghetty Town Records)

Fast Eddy – ‘To The Stars’ (Beluga Records, Spaghetty Town Records)

Great records come in all styles and all genres and sometimes it’s the ones you least expect that bring you the most pleasure. Fast Eddy has been on the RPM radar for a while and this latest offering is head and shoulders the best thing they’ve done thus far and right from the first few minutes you hear the class and top songwriting oozing out of your speakers. The album’s title track is a rock-solid introduction to the album that just gets better with every play. ‘Lucky Strike’ might not be the mantra we should be endorsing but this is excellent “Steal a car Rob a Bank and smoke a cigarette” is certainly old school head space but one thing I do know is it’s one hell of a tune that burrows into your ear and heads straight for the brain and those good vibe receptors.

Fast Eddy embrace the old school when bands like Aerosmith and AC/DC only put four songs on each side of the album. The album veers through the rocky road of high-energy Rock and Roll with Guitar, Bass And Drums being the MO and uses the weapons to write and play the best songs possible. From the title track through ‘Lost Child’ to the high energy ‘Spirit Commander’ that penultimately closes this mighty fine record. Fast Eddy manages to mix pop sensible tunes (‘Grey Day’) with the more full-bloodied rockers they have shades of Cheap Trick mixed with the DNA of Iggy And The Stooges and a whole lot besides it’s a real melting pot of a whole lot of influences and out of the process they have a record full of energy and excitement as well as melodies and some really stylish playing. Produced by Tuk Smith it has the shine and confidence you’d expect but the bottom line is without the songs they’d be nowhere and they could have the best production ever but thankfully they knocked this album out of the park and fill it with earworms that keep on giving throughout. ‘To The Stars’ is an excellent album, You’ll have to trust me on this. buy It!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

The Scaners – ‘iii’ (Beluga Records)

The Scaners – ‘iii’ (Beluga Records)

Strap in and we can begin. Synth punks The Scanners rev up their engine for a blast of pure punk rock synth style. Blasting off into orbit with their sharp yet oh-so-enjoyable blasts of punk rock. It’s rapid, retro yet thoroughly futuristic from the opening energetic race off that is ‘No Return’ It is like friends are electric and whilst they might have one foot firmly planted in the Devo or Numanoid past they are doing it all on their own terms and mixing the furious punk rock/new wave with guitars very much involved there is a fuller sound with the pops and sequenced tweaks of modern technology and none more than the opening energetic blast that is ‘No Return’. This sets the tone for what’s to come.

This electro bop til you drop is rapid and contains boundless energy as the band blasts through the eleven tracks on offer you get whipped up in the maelstrom and I found myself daydreaming about what out there and would they welcome this soundtrack. ‘Brutal City’ is…Brutal I guess, it can be the only way to describe what’s going on. then the pace relents as the bass throbbing ‘Zero Gravity’ sort of mashes up the Britpop bass sound preferred by dare I say it Blur and their more Buzzcocks-inspired songs of their younger days. These gonzo synth punks kick up one hell of a shitstorm as the album careers towards oblivion as their Lo-Fi punches through your speakers tracks like ‘R.O.B.O.T.’ shift through the gears dreaming of space voyages whilst making one hell of a noise it’s a captivating ride and a lot of fun.

None of the songs overstay their welcome and are pretty much all short and very sharp. they also manage to create a variety throughout the record and it never manages to sound boring or samey and who doesn’t love those distorted Tubeway Army style vocals or that whirling synth on tracks like ‘Feel The Blade’ or the thrashing ‘Satellite Rain’ that race to its own implosion.

There are gems throughout this album and every play I think I’ve identified a new favourite song and ‘Cosmos Kid’ might just be the latest. Buried deep in the record its purposeful guitar riff is perfectly complimented by the keyboard tweaks and whirls that really mess with your head (in a good way of course).

I love that bands like Scaners exist and labels like Beluga release them I only regret more people don’t get fully invested in what’s going on. Pick up this glorious racket and spread the word The Scaners ‘iii’ is a banger, that’s a fact kids, let this into your musical orbit and strap yourself in for one hell of a punk rocket ride. Buy It!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley