RSD Recommendations

RSD Recommendations

So you’re prepared to stand in line this April for a copy of Bluey or the Dead Or Alive seven-inch single you never owned, or maybe some obscure soundtrack or Elvis compilation, it’s a broad church. Maybe RSD has lost its gloss and you won’t touch it with a barge pole. Me, I’m torn because there’s always something I’m after, but a lot of the 2024 list made it onto the mailorder lists and with a few exceptions, most were available at decent prices. This year is more of the same with a few eyebrow-raising listed costs thrown in just to upset us all. Heres a few in the mixed bag that I’ve come across and some I’ve been lucky enough to have got hold of to review. Sure there are hundreds more released this April 12th and you might not agree with my selections but good luck in whichever way you choose to spend your money and I can only apologise on some of the prices this year they are truly crazy and maybe the independent retailer has managed to begin canabalising itself and who knows where the cost of a new record in 2025 is heading but until the dust settles these are a few solid choices with the previously reviewed “utter Filth” choice of The Dwarves who won this years RSD 2025 release of the day challenge hands down.

The Adicts – Rockers Into Orbit (Jungle/Fallout Records) ‘Viva Le Revolution’ sounding like it’s old school bootleg meets brand new shiny tech for a close your eyes and let the music wash over you moment. Like it or loath it, RSD does throw up some curious releases, and this year is no exception with this one on clear vinyl, it’s The Adicts live and in the raw, where they’ve always worked best. Slamming from one into the next, it’s a great showcase for just how bloody good The Adicts are live. Sure, the theatrics from frontman and Ipswich Town fan Monkey the Adicts have some proper bangers in their repertoire from the opener and one of their most well-known song through the rapid ‘Lets Go’ to ‘Joker In The Pack’ ‘Chinese Takeaway’ and ‘Bad Boy’ they’re all here to be fair and a whole lot more besides. If you’re looking for VFM this RSD then this is a good bet with a whopping thirteen bonus tracks and a much improved jacket to house this splendid double album in. Pick one up, it’s excellent and has not been pressed for thirty-five years! My God, how time flies.

UK Subs – Japan Today (Jungle/ Fallout Records) The Subs in the 80s was a curious thing, and post Gibbs, Roberts, Harper and Garrett line up it was always going to be tough. The last few RSD have seen plenty of Subs action with comps n stuff and they are constantly havign a boost of the back catalogue with coloured pressings or different formats to keep the fans interested and maybe outside of the general consensus of “classic” subs albums I do like to revisit them from time to time so I have no problem with reissues on RSD because we do need to champion bands as good as the UK Subs. In fact the last reissue was the really good ‘Flood Of Lies’, so I’m not shocked that ‘Japan Today’ is next, although I do vaguely remember there being a gatefold version I purchased a few years ago of this album. The LP starts off with the excellent ‘Another Cuba’. I’ve always been a fan of Darrell Bath’s guitar work. The guy was so underrated. ‘Punk Rap’ always made me giggle and as the kids would say, WTF. Anyway, moving on, ‘Streets On Fire’ is Subs by numbers and something Charlie could write in his sleep and the likes of ‘Captain Scarlet’ might not be remembered as fondly as a ‘Warhead’ or ‘Limo Life’, but hey, it is what it is. Side two might be a little duller, but it does have ‘Hey Santa’ and that’s always welcome for an April released album, there’s always ‘Surf Bastard’ and the excellent ‘Street Legal’, something of a tip of the hat to Johnny Thunders, I always thought with its very Dolls like groove. It is remastered, so to be fair, it’s never sounded as good as this, and being RSD it’s pressed on Orange vinyl, so get in line Subs fans, this one’s for you.

Fields Of The Nephilim – Fallen (Jungle Records) Ah The Fields Of The Nephilim and their 2002 album ‘Fallen’ the bait on this particular hook is simple, its not been available for ages (over a decade to be exact) this gatefold double album contains an essay from Mick Mercer its on yellow vinyl (should have been smokey colour – missed a trick there) and the bonus disc is ‘Live In Roskilde’ from 2000. Always an album that took an eternity to get going with the intro and then the epic ‘From The Fire’, it’s an album that took a while to create an impact with me as well. It wasn’t until ‘Subsanity’ hit the speakers did I take notice, and it never had the impact of the very early days of the band, but this version is well worth picking u,p considering the bonus disc is so bloody good. The final two tracks being ‘Dawnrazor’ and the mighty ‘Psychonaut’ turning this maybe purchase into a must own.

With a few years between this albums release and the live show to now – this record and it’s dark offerings has been fermenting and a few things stood out such as the sonic scapes on this remastered version or maybe my equipment is just better now as I’m older but the depth of ‘Hollow Doll’ and the title track in particular sounded much better than I anticipated whoever did the job did it very well. As mentioned, the real gold here has to be the inclusion of the live material live at Roskilde. It’s sadly not the full ten track set but highlights of six of the best: ‘Preacher Man’, ‘Moonchild’, ‘For Her Light’, ‘Love Under Will’, ‘Dawnrazor’ and ‘Psychonaut’, which will justify about £30 of any self-respecting Goth’s money.

Neurotic Outsiders – ‘Self Titled’ (Rhino Records) Double LP that originally came out on Madonna’s label featured a superstar lineup of Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, Steve Jones, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum. An album of its time in the 90s that should have been huge and a base point for all budding rockers to check in on and learn how to hone their craft. Jones’ guitar tone and croon is the album’s high point – ‘Nasty Ho’ is what a rock album should open with. It sets the tone and lays down a marker for others to follow, and what a meaty riff it is too.

It never got the love it deserved and sort of crept out of the RSD 25 list rather than with a fanfare announcing its arrival. This is, for me, exactly what RSD is about. A record having its due respect paid and put on vinyl (finally) with the second disc being the Japanese-only bonus disc. Beautiful, now get the band back together and let’s get some proper touring done. It’s a great blend of covers and original songs penned by the individuals and interpreted by what is and was a real super group no doubt about it. Possibly my pick of the RSD class of 25.

The Dictators – D.F.F.D. (Mainman Records) Another of this year’s gems. Dictators Forever Forever Dictators was the last Studio album the band recorded with Handsome Dick Manitoba and what a fantastic set of songs it is. From the anthemic ‘Who Will Save Rock N Roll’ to the intimidating ‘Avenue A’ possibly the best two songs the band ever wrote.

‘I Am Right’ is a swift punch to the nose and ‘Pussy And Money’ is pure NYC. If you can find a copy out in the wild, then don’t hesitate. They might be in the throes of an irreparable feud of words between the band, but they can be proud of this awesome album – Buy It!

The Dwarves – ‘Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows’ (Greedy Media)

The Dwarves – ‘Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows’ (Greedy Media)

“TOTAL FILTH!!!!!”

That’s what the spoken introduction to ‘Gash Wagon’, which lacerates your speaker cones at the midway point of ‘Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows’, the latest release from rock legends, The Dwarve,s is…. total and utter filth.

There are no spoilers here at RPM, but hearing this dialogue for the first time was enough to have our head honcho, Dom Dale,y snotting his breakfast porridge out of his nose, and if it had been 1977, I dare say he would have smashed up his stereo in outrage too.

This is the motherfuckin’ Dwarves, though, brothers and sisters and a fourteen-track slice of their kind of sleazy life is just what Record Store Day 2025 needs if you ask me (the price of the bloody thing here in the UK aside that is). Yup, as a special treat for all of us vinyl nerds, Blag Dahlia and co have decided to finally unleash these previously never-before-released tracks, recorded live in the studio in Seattle, Summer 1989. This is, by the band’s own admission, the missing link between the Dwarves classic 1990 Sub Pop release ‘Blood, Guts & Pussy’ and 1988’s ‘Toolin’ For a Warm Teabag’ which had been released on Nasty Gash Records.

Think of ‘Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows’ then as a seedy glimpse behind the band’s heavily soiled cross boners backdrop curtain, as eleven of the original ‘Blood, Guts & Pussy’ tracks get a down and dirty, live in the studio, mauling. Highlights for me still include ‘Fuck You Up And Get High’, ‘Astro Boy’ (the tragic backstory behind which guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed once shared with me and brought a whole new meaning to the song) as well as their wonderful reinterpretation of ‘Surfin’ Bird’, here reworked/renamed/repurposed within the truly awesome ‘Motherfucker’.

Just like their debut Sub Pop album there’s no fucking around here – it’s fourteen songs in the same number of minutes and only ‘Back Seat of My Car’ and ‘Drug Store’ are missing from that album’s thirteen tracks. However, in their place we get ‘Eat You To Survive’, ‘She’s Dead’ and ‘Fuckhead/Shout’, the latter being similar to ‘Motherfucker’ albeit here the song morphs into The Isley Brothers classic before seemingly the tape runs out and we can all catch our breath once again.

Sex, drugs and rock n roll is what The Dwarves were all about back in 1989, and probably still are to this very day. They are the band the PMRC (remember those fuckers?) would have loved to have cancelled back then but they effectively did that to themselves in 1993 when choosing to fake the death of HeWhoCannotBeNamed ahead of the release of their ‘Sugarfix’ record and subsequently imploded after Sub Pop didn’t see the funny side of it and promptly dropped the band.

‘Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows’ is the missing gem from the dawn of that Sub Pop era, and it finally sees the light of day on April 12th 2025 as part of Record Store Day. It’s released as a full colour picture disc, in a full colour gatefold sleeve, complete with a full colour inner bag containing dozens of photographs from the infamous ‘Blood, Guts & Pussy’ cover shoot and live photographs of the band from Seattle around 1989/90.

Just make sure to take your own brown paper bag to the record store in which to carry the total filth back home in.

Buy Here

Author: Johnny Hayward

For more information on ‘Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows’ or tour dates, visit https://thedwarves.com  

or follow them on social media at;

https://www.facebook.com/TheDwarves#

https://www.instagram.com/thedwarves#

https://twitter.com/@thedwarvesband

Taste Testors – Self Titled (Moodkiller Records)

Taste Testors – Self Titled (Moodkiller Records)

Just one month after TASTE TESTORS formed they played their first show, and a month after that they recorded and mastered their first album, and a month after that they cut a deal with Moodkiller Records (Hutchie, Trash Sound Conglomerate, The Snubs) these cats aren’t hanging around that’s for sure and with Steve E being such a busy boy its no wonder.

The debut album came together fast, just like the tempo of the tunes I guess. But when you have Steve E Nix on board how can’t you fall in love with this? Funnily Enough the opening salvo of ‘Don’t Fall In Love With Me’ coming thick and fast on the heels of ‘What She Don’t Know’ its punk rock Ramones style with a twinkle in the eye and a cheeky grin that turns into a bubblegum chewing snotty lyric here and there about Zombies and falling in and out of love Hell Dee Dee would be proud of this if this is what he passed on kinda his gift to the world being channelled from Seattle Washington to the world.

Ten tracks burrowing down inside your ears like the best earworms you could wish for as the winter falls away and the sun begins to shine through. ‘Doctor Doctor’ isn’t some twisted punk rock take on the UFO classic, but it’s a cheeky request for help on a borrowed and bastardised Who riff.

We’ve all got the capacity to grasp this record and pogo with it into the wee small hours as songs like ‘She Didn’t Tell Me’ fly by. I’m sure ‘No One’s Listening’ isn’t a pity party because I’m listening. It’s a short and sweet record and The Boys meets Da Bruddas sounding kiss off of ‘Narc’ is exactly the right place to call time on the Taste Testors debut album. in less than half an hour we can all have a great workout to some excellently executed punk rockin’ power pop from guys who know exactly how to do this shit right – Buy it!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Budgie – Book Tour

Budgie – Book Tour

JUST ANNOUNCED … Following the news that legendary punk & postpunk royalty; musician & drummer extraordinaire Peter Budgie Clarke will be releasing his memoirs via the forthcoming biography, ‘The Absence: Memoirs of a Banshee Drummer’ (released in June) – comes the news that Budgie will be launching the project via a UK book tour in July. Dates & venues below.

White Rabbit Books

Budgie Tickets Here

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Sevendials – ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ (Cadiz Music/Creation Youth Music)

Sevendials – ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ (Cadiz Music/Creation Youth Music)

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took the pulsating rhythms of Killing Joke smashed them headlong into the gothic guitar overtones The Mission and then topped it all off with the more melodic elements of Revolting Cocks? Well, I can tell you, it’s the sound of Svendials, and their debut ten track ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ is something I would urge any fan of these bands to check out immediately.

Why? Well, for starters, it’s a band that not only features the talents of Chris Connely, Paul Feguson and Mark Gemini Thwaite, but also, more importantly, what the resulting output from these guys sounds like is anything but a mere amalgam of their constituent parts. So, whilst on paper Sevendials may appear to be another alternative supergroup, what you actually get when you fully immerse yourself within the dark underbelly of ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ is anything but a record that is safe and plays by the rules.

Let’s start with lead single ‘Zodiac Morals’ as this was the first track I heard by Sevendials, here it pops up mid-album, all broody and full of swagger, propelled by a monstrous Mark Gemini Thwaite guitar riff that could have graced any Killing Joke record. It’s when Chris Connely opens his mouth to sing, though, that my interest levels really peak, though as here he seems to somehow be channelling the spirit of David Bowie circa the mid-90s, around the time when he was touring with Nine Inch Nails in the US to promote the ‘Outside’ album. It certainly raised my expectations of what ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ might offer as an album, but in reality, a few listens into the full affair (and it will take a few listens), it’s blown those expectations straight out of the water.

Granted the album starts with a cover, but it’s the band’s take on Sparks fantastic ‘Number One Song In Heaven’, and given Connely’s experience of working with Al Jourgensen (who himself loves a great cover) it comes complete with a semi-gothic remodelling that would be an immediate Batcave dancefloor fave, if the place still existed that is. 

It’s when ‘Where The Wolves’ raises its head and Connely howls at the moon that the album really takes off though. It kind of reminds me of Godhead, a long-lost band from the nu-metal age who once toured the UK with Marilyn Manson, and talking of the God of Fuck there is even an element of Mr Warner himself that is festering under the skin of ‘Knife Without Asking’, it’s heavy as hell, but heavy in that Killing Joke sense.

Following ‘Zodiac Morals’ we then have the album’s second cover, and this time around it’s their take on Animotion’s ‘Obsession’. Originally penned by rock ‘n’ roll aristocrat Michael Des Barres I’m sure he would raise a wry smile at this almost modern-day Numan-esque take of his 80s synth pop anthem, one that comes complete with Ashley Bad playing the part of a gothic Astrid Plane to absolute perfection.

From here on in its Sevendials’ originals all the way, and from ‘Before You Make Your Distance’ to album closer ‘Weathervane Days’ that shadow of mid 90s Bowie is something that is cast long. It’s one of my favourite eras of The Thin White Duke, but here unlike say with Gyasi where the influence is much more obvious, with the likes of ‘Whispering Wand’ and a stuttering steampunk rhythmic quality at its heart it’s Connely’s excellent vocals that once again get me thinking of Mr Jones in all of his ‘Outside’ era glory.

There’s not a weak song on ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’, in fact it’s a record that gets stronger the more you play it and the further you get into it as the NIN tinged ‘Corrupted Verse’ and yup, Bowie-esque ‘Too High To Live’ soon prove.

Mark Gemini Thwaite’s production on ‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ is as dark and dangerous as the 19th Century London area from which the band’s name is taken and having last seen the guitarist playing with Peter Murphy at Rebellion Festival many many (full) moons ago I do have to wonder what the chances are of Sevendials taking this record out on the road? It’s a shame that the Forever Now festival hasn’t got space for the trio, it’s an event almost purpose-built for their sound.

‘A Crash Course In Catastrophe’ is released on 11th of April 2025 on Cadiz Music/Creation Youth Music (a new label collaboration between Killing Joke bassist Youth and Alan McGee), and you can secure your copy from the weblinks below.

https://thesevendials.com

Sevendials – A Crash Course In Catastrophe – CD & LP Formats (RELEASE DATE 11/04/25)

Author: Johnny Hayward

Ravagers – ‘On The Loose’ (Wanda Records Europe, Spaghetty Town Records USA)

Ravagers – ‘On The Loose’ (Wanda Records Europe, Spaghetty Town Records USA)

It’s been a busy 3 years for Baltimore’s finest, but it’s been a long couple of years for the rest of us jonesing for this follow-up. And what a rapturous hit to the veins it is.

For the initiated this comes as no surprise, the snotty and glamorous street punks have been wowing crowds both sides of the pond, before and after their first longplayer, but it seems that these boys were only just getting started…..

Right off the bat, “on the loose” bolts out of your speakers with the one-two punch on unrelenting opener “public hell” and the chest beating swagger of recent taster single “razor love”. Never losing momentum, both “total crime” and “dogs” are just as sleazy and sublime, complete with air-punching sing-along choruses. Sugar-coated bullets, sweet and deadly. The underbelly of life has never sounded so good.

Anthemic and dangerous, “poison rite” continues us on this wild ride on the wrong side of town, and I for one can’t get enough! 

Track after track hits you in all the right places every time. With a fresh yet old skool punk’n’roll sound enviable to all the Scando rock heavy hitters. Particular standout is final track “wicked bones”, a bit more polished in structure and sound, but gets the serotonin pumping just as much.

Like a rock ‘n’ roll riot, that adrenaline-soaked feeling is palpable as soon as the needle hits the groove. Ravagers are the real deal, the illegitimate bastard offspring of Starz and Turbonegro. In the wrong hands, this posturing can come off as clichéd. No such issue here, the lads are pumping out nothing but pure, unadulterated classics. We at RPM are here for every moment.

Buy UK / Europe Here

Buy Here USA

Author: Dan Kasm