After a handful of well-received shows this winter Michael Monroe and his band of merry men will return to the UK for a proper tour hitting Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Tickets will be out Friday 6th December for what will be an awesome run of shows next Summer. Let’s sell out these dates and show the band that the support is out there for one of the most exciting bands currently treading the boards. Links for tickets below.
The sound of the underground is alive and well in South Wales and spearheading this particular charge are Cardiff Punks Bad Shout who gallop into pole position with this absolutely stonking EP ‘Volatile’.
Based in Cardiff, Formed in April 2022, influenced by the likes of DKs and classic 77 punk to DC hardcore and garage rock bands the list is exhaustive but I’m drawing parallels to Londons Los Pepe who also play Frantic, Frenetic riffs, snapping melodic vocals, hard-hitting Rat Scabies on Speed drums (with a feeling it could all fall apart at any second but its exciting whilst this runaway train steams down the tracks) and a Bass line that is like the glue to the whole thing. there are also comparisons to what has been going on down under with the likes of Grindhouse and The Chats. Its an attitude and a shared love in loud rapid rock n roll.
Frontman/guitarist Callum moved to Cardiff in 2021, with the aim of starting a band in a new city, having played in bands in London for five years. Things really started to click after meeting drummer Nathan. Since then, the band have played all across South Wales and the West of England and this new Repeat released EP should spur them on to bigger and brighter things and get them (more importantly) in people’s ears and on stages further afield.
Melody, Fuzzed Frantic riffs, thrashing manic drums and thumping Basslines is Bad Shouts MO. It sounds like they carry on what they do live into the studio it’s like a kid who’s had way too many Haribo sweets washed down with Energy drinks from Spar before drinking their first bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 then doing it all again because they can. ‘Do It Right’ is punk as fuck setting down a marker for the kids in the pit to build up a sweat. Don’t hang about though because these kids don’t have time to fuck about and hit the groove from the off. It’s like the Australian punk scene of Grindhouse and the souped-up Chats have rubbed off in old South Wales. Rather than do a guitar solo they have a groove on and jam at breakneck speed Bosh! done!
‘Find Out’ is faster again whereas ‘DoubleCross’ is as infectious as Covid with an insane melody. ‘Building ridges’ is the sound of a band in a hurry and if you snooze you will absolutely lose. ‘Keep Diggin’ is ninety seconds of sprinting on the spot whilst banging your head as hard as you can. Then to bring this to a close the title track is a progbustin two minutes plus of energy that sums up this band. If you could bottle the infectious good time that these songs create you’d be worth a fortune. Punk as fuck and producing the receipts to prove it Bad Shout are a good shout now get on board before they leave you behind. Buy It! Time to hop on Bad Shout’s ‘Volatile’ Party Bus next stop oblivion! ding ‘fuckin’ ding!
Keep A Good Heart Son is the opening track on what is a thoroughly impressive album from South Wales Old School Thrashers Lifer. Now I’m no expert on the genre of Thrash but sometimes it’s nice to step out of your comfort zone and dip your toe into some shark-infested waters and I do like Slayer and a few of the other heavier offerings and this is right in the same wheelhouse with some superb galloping riffs and well placed diabolical screams. Lifer are the real deal. If these gentlemen were from Northern California then they would be a sensation however they’re not they hail from various parts of South Wales that have a rich heritage of knocking out some top Heavy Rock. These boys can chop those riffs with the best of em and if they need to slow it down like on ‘Man And Pigs’ they can chug out the Iommi riffs when it suits and in the vocal department they have a contender to the Bush-era Anthrax which isn’t a bad thing either.
From the opener they nail their colours to the mast and head into battle. The production is spot on with every corner carpet-bombed with riff-a-rama and pounding drums Lifer are having it large here. The grunt on ‘Imperious Delirious’ is huge and they effortlessly glide from the thrash to a more measured grunt. ‘Different Kind Of Plan’ is rapid and the intensity intensifies on ‘Born To Lose’ the Thrash reaches its pinnacle on ‘Rise Above’ which gives the listener a proper seeing to. Fuck you all indeed, a stinking attitude and all the better for it. Thrash with all the old school attitude and a breakdown to rival the mighty Hanneman n King for intensity – music to run through brick walls and face the toughest days.
‘Hallowed Be Thy Pain’ opens with some cotton-picking harping n delta blues before having a shot of defribulation for a mid-paced slice of metal where the twin guitars shine. To be honest I don’t want the Metal I just want to Thrash and these boys do it as good as anything Stateside here and when they let their hair down (Cough Cough) they cut loose and make some most excellent noise. ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ is battered out of the way by the steamrolling ‘Fire In The Hole’ which is truly Metal Thrashing Mad and I love the riff makes me want to invite the neighbours round for a circle pit followed by a wall of death before I chug some beers. I’m not even taking the piss I’m sold right here and Satan can’t have my soul because Lifer have got it.
After all the madness and Pwoper Frash it’s ‘Stone Widow’ that’s left to take this bad boy home in true Metal style from the dusty opening of voice and clean guitar the song winds its way home through stormy seas building with some monster riffs and soaring vocals taking us to the roots of Metal via some Sabbath patented Riffs and the last forty years of the heaviest Rock out there Lifer have delivered a compelling case for Metal album of the year and in time for Christmas as well. When these boys turn up the heat and Thrash like fuck they absolutely nail it. Get involved and get those horns in the air. These gents are so nice they’ve even recorded clean versions of four of the songs so they’re not totally satanic.
“Gonna take a holiday down Trecco Beach. That’s what I’ll do!”
Okay, I might have twisted that lyric slightly, but the charming south Wales seaside town of Porthcawl has been my go-to place for some r’n’r for some time now, only this time around with Michael Monroe in da house I’m here to rock n roll, not rest n relax.
I’m of course not alone as Planet Rock’s excellent Planet Rockstock’s (once again) sold-out festival audience are here too. They are in for the long haul though, with four days of live music and a chance for everyone to let their hair down before Winter (and all that entails) fully descends on the UK. Me I’m just here for the Saturday night headliners, and only just make it in by the skin of my teeth (all thanks to Sir Rich Jones).
After the emotional roller coaster of the ‘Two Steps From The Move’ 40th Anniversary show I’d attended in London just a few days earlier it was going to be interesting to see what the guys would do in a festival headline capacity. Would they dare play the whole of ‘Two Steps From The Move’ record here, or would it be a solo years only show? Well the answer is…a bit of both.
High kicking things off (as only Michael Monroe can) and picking right up where we left proceedings in London, ‘Dead, Jail Or Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is the cocksure opener, immediately followed by ‘I Live Too Fast To Die Young’, ‘Murder The Summer Of Love’ and ‘Last Train To Tokyo’ and everyone in the place is already dripping in sweat.
“Get some oxygen in here, open some doors”, demands the frontman’s frontman as he jumps, jives, and sings his way into everyone’s hearts. There’s no escaping Michael Monroe as he tightrope walks the barrier to clamber on top of the PA before cajoling everyone to go just a little bit crazier because the night is still so young (ouch). He’s not alone in this either as guitarists Rich Jones and Steve Conte effortlessly work their sides of the stage whilst exchanging demon twin lead work and occasionally territories as well, and then there’s the Monroe rhythm section. Right now I honestly don’t think there’s a better bottom-end combo out there in the world of rock ‘n’ roll as drummer Karl Rockfist and bassist Sami Yaffa are rock solid, and that Yaffa bass thump when blended in with Rockfist’s bass drum and snare is a sonic punch to knock you square off your feet.
‘Horns And Halos’ is the first track up not played at the previous Anniversary shows and it slots in perfectly alongside the more recent setlist regulars ‘Young Drunks & Old Alcoholics’, ‘78’ and ‘Ballad of The Lower East Side’. One thing that is obvious tonight whilst up close and personal and not halfway back like in London is just how much fun the guys are having as a band right now. The smiles, the in-jokes, and the chemistry is simply infectious, and whilst Monroe, Yaffa and Conte are all now in their early sixties the energy they generate as a collective could power a small town…like Porthcawl, and they do just that lighting up everyone’s lives for the time they are on stage
Things do finally slow down (albeit briefly) for a run-through of ‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’, Michael playfully touching up his make-up whilst explaining the back story behind the recent Anniversary shows to the audience, then the pace is back up to double quick time and ‘One Man Gang’ brings to a close the solo years section of the show in deafening fashion.
From here on in its Hanoi and Demolition 23 songs to take us home with ‘Motorvatin’’, ‘Hammersmith Palais’ and the ‘Two Steps’ treats of ‘Underwater World’ and ‘Boiler’ all adding to my rapidly diminishing voice as it’s impossible not to just holler along at the top of my voice (apologies to those around me). ‘Boiler’ proving once again to be a real highlight not just simply because Hanoi never played it live, but also because Rich Jones does such a sterling job filling in for the dearly departed Razzle on the cockerknee chorus sections. I’d joked with him after the London show that he could join Cock Sparrer with an accent like that, and after experiencing a second airing in just a few days, I’m now not even joking when I say it, he really could fit right in.
With the clock fast ticking down to curfew there’s no time for chatter but still plenty of time to clatter us with Demolition 23’s ‘Nothing’s Alright’ and as Dom said in his summation of the London show, what I wouldn’t give to see that band playing live in the UK next year, maybe at Rebellion?
Which just leaves time for what would have been the set closing Hanoi one-two suckerpunch of ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Malibu Beach Nightmare’ to lead us into what would have been the encore (but Rockstock has a strict “no encore” policy) of a confetti cannon driven ‘Up Around The Bend’, and then just like that, the party’s over and we are all left beaming from ear to ear, drenched in sweat with love hearts and stars glued to our flesh, and no doubt still finding them in our clothes and underwear for days to follow.
Michael himself probably summed things up best tonight, “the last time we played here we didn’t headline, tonight we are headlining, so we must be doing something right, yes?” Yes, you are indeed guys, and if the rumours I heard here do turn out to be true then the UK will get another chance to see the Monroes doing all the right things all over again come spring 2025, and I for one can’t wait to RLF all over again.
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