The Podcast – Episode 84 – ‘A Bitter Pill To Swallow’

The Podcast – Episode 84 – ‘A Bitter Pill To Swallow’

Come join the three amigos as they weave a complex pattern through the murky waters of underground Rock and Roll and some overground Rock and Roll at times. This week’s Episode, number 84 no less, is full to bursting with irrelevant chatter but plenty of banging new tunes as well as some old uns. Like – Follow and Subscribe it helps us reach further afield and spread the word and music into more ears.

We open the show with one from the brand new Oxys album ‘Casting Pearls Before Swine‘, which is out in a month and will be well worth the wait. Hailing from Austin, Texas, these chaps kick us off in style with a real swagger.

We head down under next for a pair of absolute bangers, firstly from the mighty C.O.F.F.I.N and a track off their last long player, ‘Australia Stops’ and the magnificent ‘Cut You Off’, a new album should be heading our way sharpish. Then a one and done, Ratso, who split up just before the release of their debut album Fuck Ratso, this is the excellent ‘Rock n Roll Ramraiders’.

Delighted to see Sonny Vincent returning to the stage after a lengthy hiatus. We’re delighted to play one of the tracks off his collaboration with Rocket From The Crypt and the ‘Vintage Piss’ album. Awesome garage punk rock from Sonny, and if you can get out to one of the shows, say hi.

Manchester punk rockers Aerial Salad released their brand new single with a great video recently, so it’s only fair we play ‘My Girl’. Following that up with the magnificent set of pipes belonging to Larry May and his band, The Candy Snatchers, who released their new single on i-94 recordings, as we pose the question, who has the best scream in alternative rock n roll? ‘Good Riddance’ is the title and I-94 is where you can pick up a copy.

We keep the good time rollin with some tasty power pop courtesy of Stacy! Dutch power-poppers Stacy! Announce the worldwide release of their debut 7” EP, ‘Classroom Blitz’, available on all major streaming platforms. Hailing from Amsterdam, this quartet channels the spirit of early power-pop pioneers like the Raspberries, The Cars, and Cheap Trick, which is never a bad thing.

We hit you with three classics next from the awesome Descendents and ‘I’m Not A Loser’ from their classic ‘Milo Goes To Collage’ which is getting a new vinyl pressing followed by the equally brilliant Leatherface with their brilliant cover of ‘Message In A Bottle’ which is also getting a fresh coat o fpaint as part of their BBC sessions album coming very soon. Finally, from this trio of new leases of lif,e we have the awesome Senseless Things and ‘a ‘All Over You’ off their ‘Last One Out The Window’ LP another sadly missed band who should have been huge.

Chris steps up and takes over the decks next with a trio of tunes he had going round his head lately, namely one off the brilliant new Hives album called ‘Paint A Picture’, followed by some Deftones and ‘Milk Of Madonna’ from their brand new album ‘Private Music’. Finally capping off his picks with Clutch and one of the heaviest songs he’s brought to the table in ‘The Mob Goes Wild’ from ‘ Blast Tyrant which is getting a new lease of life in 2025. I’m sure you’ll agree, Chris brought the noise once again

It is then time for Hotshots hot picks, and this wee,k after threatening for many month,s he gets to pick a Motley Crue track and he goes for one of their lesser known songs in ‘Bitter Pill’, exposing Chris to the Crue and the poor lad didn’t know what to make of it. Hotshot, however, didn’t stop there. He then followed it up with a track from this year’s Wildhearts album, ‘Troubadour Moon’ is the track he picked before closing off with a rare early Throbs track, leaving only the Eel Men to close off another diverse show with a little punk rock and their new track ‘Honeymoon’ from ‘Stop It Do Something’ and the curtain is drawn on another show. Please like follow and share our little podcast if you like what we play and even if you dont flood the zone with rock n roll and let us know what you think we should be playing.

HOME FRONT – ‘Watch It Die’

HOME FRONT – ‘Watch It Die’

NEW ALBUM ‘WATCH IT DIE’ COMING 14TH NOVEMBER 2025 VIA LA VIDA ES UN MUS DISCOS

HOME FRONT holds on to a particular kind of passion. The sort of thing that guides you – like a climbing vine steadily blanketing your bests and worsts, cutting through changes and impasses; victory and loss. This passion, their drive, is what makes a record like Watch It Die, their latest full-length for La Vida Es Un Mus, feel just right. For decades the duo’s Graeme MacKinnon and Clint Frazier have embedded themselves in grass roots music making, community building, and the overpowering ebbs and flows of diy punk.  With Home Front, formed in 2020, they’ve given their lifetime of experience a chance to distil and then power into this musically omnipotent project which equally conjures textured Tangerine Dream sounds in a film montage, or the pummelling soundtrack to the first steps taken towards winning the fight of your life.

Its lead single “Light Sleeper” sends energy waves rattling through speakers with all the urgency and volume of post punk/new wave/street punk. The track is available alongside its video which features a cast of characters including Home Front touring members Brandi Strauss (bass), Ian Rowley (guitar), and Warren Oostlander (drums).

Home Front’s nod to influences and the themes of their lyrics are direct and detailed while maintaining enough creative distance to feel universal and unique. The production has again been bolstered by a team of long time confidants making a huge and unique record under the humble and hard working circumstances of remote pre-production and choosing to do their recording in home studios in their home town in Edmonton, Alberta.

The architecture of ‘Watch It Die’ is simple – 12 songs of danceable, hummable, rousing and honest music that only Home Front could make. The emotion of this LP is what solidifies these musical notions into meaningful art. “For us, ultimately, this is music that comes out of loss and heartbreak and failure, but I hope people have a good time listening to us. You can get rowdy, you can get emotional, you can do whatever you want, but maybe with all of that freedom, we all take a second to reflect on all our fallen brothers and sisters and friends who may have slipped away.”

On previous revered recordings Games of Power (2023) and Think of the Lie (2021), Frazier and MacKinnon gave us a snapshot of a cynical and alienating world. A place where hope was tempered by insignificance, exhaustion takes us, and where 2,000,000 voices screaming in unison can still go unheard. Watch It Die instead of asking us why and how we got here, struggling to cope with the sadness of a desperate world, brings us their “step forward” moment. A dose of optimism and ownership in the bleakest of times in which maybe it doesn’t have to feel so bad to be alone or desperate. Where the passage of time is not coloured by the nostalgia of a lost youth but more toward the celebration of wisdom earned. Watch it Die owns the ills it describes and catapults us alongside its creators who have the confidence and presence of mind to live beyond their limitations.

Watch It Die continues along the path of Games of Power, but it isn’t just a sequel. It is a road map of hope. MacKinnon and Frazier state, “For all of us in Home Front, ‘Watch It Die’ comes at a very transformative time. Geopolitically, musically and in our personal lives. With friends and close family members dying, to massive uncertainty around the world, this album encapsulates what it’s like for us to step into a ‘new world’ where all the old adages of ‘everything is gonna work out fine’ feel like a joke. We watch rich people get richer while the rest of us struggle just to get by. We watch colonisers kill without consequence, and in an age of information at our fingertips we watch people choosing to be ignorant to what’s going on around them. ‘Watch It Die’ speaks about our own humanity, a rebirth into a new world and how we can never go back to the way things were. We suffer for their dreams, but in saying that we must recognise the importance of our own community and look to energise them to build a better way of life. We have always been an anti-war, anti-genocide, pro-peace band. We are against crimes to human rights and all of those struggling through the horrors of imperialism. We stand with the people of Palestine and we stand with the Canadian Indigenous communities who struggle to uphold treaty rights as well as basic human rights like clean drinking water and generational trauma. One takeaway from our music is to make a safe space where our community can come together to air out grievances and find a better way to a new future.”

Pre-Order / Pre-Save Watch It Die

 The band will play two shows in LA later this year:

Sat Nov 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Paladium w/ Cock Sparrer, Dillinger Four and Castillo
Sun Nov 23 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Paladium w/ Cock Sparrer, Dillinger Four and Generacion Suicida



‘WATCH IT DIE’  WILL BE RELEASED 14TH NOVEMBER 2025 VIA LA VIDA ES UN MUS DISCOS

The Lovely Egg – Grind for their 20th Anniversery

The Lovely Egg – Grind for their 20th Anniversery

THE LOVELY EGGS TO RELEASE A NEW ALBUM OF SELF-RECORDED OUTTAKES TO CELEBRATE THEIR 2OTH ANNIVERSARY

‘BIN JUICE’ OUT OCTOBER 17TH VIA EGG RECORDS 

PRE-ORDER HERE:

UK TOUR CONFIRMED FOR OCTOBER – TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE:

“You’ve got to hand it to The Lovely Eggs over 20 years and still making, distributing and promoting their music completely independently. In today’ climate, that’s no mean feat. It’s something to be fucking applauded.”– Rough Trade

The most inspiring bands are the ones that can create a world around themselves that is about far more than just the music. The artwork, lyrics, sounds and ethos all merge together perfectly to create its own universe, a secret club. The Lovely Eggs are one such band. And against all the odds, 2025 sees them celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band! Stubbornly and heroically independent, The Lovely Eggs have forged their own path and have achieved mainstream success without ever compromising their DIY ethics.

To mark their 20th anniversary, The Lovely Eggs have announced a very special LTD release entitled ‘Bin Juice’ – a collection of self-recorded outtakes from their last album ‘Eggsistentialism’, alongside rare B sides.

Released on their own label Egg Records, with eye watering artwork by Casey Raymond and hand packed in a black plastic bin bag on neon toxic slime green vinyl, this is yet another collectible release from a band who care as much about the art and ideas in their records as they do about the sound.

There will also be 300 copies exclusive to Rough Trade with alternative coloured sleeve and sticker art, on special edition transparent vinyl with toxic orange and slime green Bin Juice splatters.

“We had all these spare songs after we released our last album ‘Eggsistentialism’, and we didn’t really know what to do with them,” explained Holly. “They just didn’t seem to fit in with the vibe of ‘Eggsistentialism’, but we’d recorded them and wanted to get them out there.”

“They’re kind of a sketchbook of songs,” added David. “They’re not polished or laboured over but we thought it would be interesting to release them. It’s why we called the record Bin Juice. These were songs we had thrown away. But hopefully people like going through bins collecting trash.”

You can have a pre-release peak inside their bins with the just released track ‘The Grind’.

“Everybody wants an excuse to escape the 9-5 and day to day normality,” said Holly.” “It’s our raison d’etre for being in a band. The Grind looks at all that stuff and is a bit of a paperback anthem for the disenfranchised and disillusioned.”

Bin Juice will be released on 12” vinyl and CD on Friday 17th October. The band then head out on a UK tour later in the month.

“The last 20 years have been a lifelong dedication to music and art. It’s never been a job, it’s a lifestyle, a way of life, an ethos and a commitment to creating,” said David. “We’ve spent most of our lives being in bands and trying to challenge a mainstream conventional lifestyle.” 

Club Brat – ’25 Cameras’ Video

Club Brat – ’25 Cameras’ Video

CLUB BRAT TO RELEASE ‘FOUR SONGS’ EP ON SEPTEMBER 12TH VIA VENN RECORDS

UK TOUR CONFIRMED FOR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

CLUB BRAT is a high-intensity punk/noise pop band defying traditional labels, blending jagged guitars, bass-heavy dissonance, and volatile rhythmic urgency. Originally from Peterborough and now split between Bristol and London, the five-piece formed in 2023 and quickly earned a reputation for unpredictable live shows and a relentless DIY ethos, while still working with some of underground music’s most respected engineers.

Their upcoming EP, ‘Four Songs’ (out 12th September via VENN Records), was recorded at HUMM Studios with Dom Mitchison and Archie Jones, and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac – a clear nod to the Albini school of stark, unvarnished production. But the EP isn’t political in content – it’s political in form: concise, deliberate, and unapologetically direct. Yet CLUB BRAT resists comfortable interpretation. Their songs provoke, not preach – inviting listeners to draw their own conclusions and turning each encounter into something personal and open-ended.

Following on from their ‘Goodbye Pop Culture’ single released last month (and scoring plays on BBC Introducing West ‘Artist of the Week’, KEXP, SiriusXM, Radio X, RTE2 and Alex Baker ‘Featured Artist of the Week’ Kerrang! Radio, among others), Club Brat are set to reveal another track from the EP titled ’25 Cameras’. Perfectly compressing the bands discordant, uninhabited sound, ’25 Cameras’ is wiry, jagged and deliberately feral. 

“With ‘25 Cameras’, we wanted to capture the feeling of being constantly watched – the claustrophobia, the urgency, the tension that never lets up,” explains guitarist Joe Smith. “It channels the nervous system of Gang of Four through the brute force of METZ. At its heart, it’s a hymn to media culture – restless, uneasy, and impossible to ignore.”

“It’s about scrutiny – about being watched and inspected, “adds vocalist Ike McCormick. “Whether it speaks to an individual, a collective, or an authority. It is left open to the listener.” 

Club Brat previously worked with Don Zientara of Inner Ear Studios – legendary for his work with Fugazi – who described CLUB BRAT as: “A locomotive… who can REALLY put it into song”, and they’ve shared stages with Scream and HR (Bad Brains) and appeared at Rebellion Festival.

Drawing from Fugazi, Idles, and The Pixies to Drum ’n’ Bass and early 2000s Alternative, CLUB BRAT refuses to be boxed in by genre. What defines them isn’t style – it’s urgency: raw, confrontational, and constantly evolving. Or, as Steve Ignorant of CRASS puts it: “Miss out on this band at your peril – inspiring, entrancing and unstoppable – they are coming your way!”

Catch Club Brat live at the following dates:

September

18 September — Leeds, Headingley Social Club

19 September — Stamford, Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge

20 September — Bristol, The Golden Lion

25 September — London, Hope & Anchor

26 September — Nottingham, JT Soar

October

2 October — Sheffield, The Washington

9 October — Birmingham, The Rainbow

10 October — Brighton, The Pipeline

Find Club Brat online HERE:

No Apologies – ‘Life’ (Last Ride Records)

No Apologies – ‘Life’ (Last Ride Records)

Hailing from Sydney, hardcore sluggers No Apologies have been around for almost two decades. Their latest effort – Life is a full-on assault on the senses. Imagine if Biohazard, Sick of it All, Pantera and Life of Agony had a bastard child. That’s exactly what No Apologies sound like.

The songs kick you in the guts, huge riffs, pummelling drums, gang vocals a plenty and break downs that had this scribe headbanging away like a maniac. Fucking fantastic. Opening track, Womb Birth kicks off with an atmospheric intro before we are off into a monster of a track. The title track is another face melter, brutal! Every track is superb; the production compliments the bands style perfectly.

No Apologies have created something special here. The album takes the listener on a journey with tales of mortality, life’s ups and downs, and to the depths of despair. All woven together with style. It’s in my top 10 albums of 2025.

Life is out now on Last Ride Records. Go and get it, you won’t be disappointed.

Buy Here

Author: Kenny Kendrick

DUFF MCKAGAN UNVEILS – Lighthouse Live From London

DUFF MCKAGAN UNVEILS – Lighthouse Live From London

ALL-NEW 19-SONG LIVE ALBUM AND FULL-LENGTH CONCERT FILM – CAPTURED DURING LAST YEAR’S SOLD-OUT LIGHTHOUSE TOUR ‘24

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE A SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE

FROM SEX PISTOLS CO-FOUNDING GUITARIST STEVE JONES

LIGHTHOUSE: LIVE FROM LONDON

ARRIVES ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31

PRE-ORDERS/PRE-SAVES AVAILABLE NOW

Duff McKagan has unveiled LIGHTHOUSE: LIVE FROM LONDON, an all-new live album and full-length concert film recorded last October during his sold-out Lighthouse Tour ’24. The 19-track collection will be available in a wide variety of formats, including digital, CD Digipak, CD + Blu-ray Digipak (with live audio and the complete LIGHTHOUSE: LIVE FROM LONDON concert film), 2LP 180g Black vinyl (with gatefold sleeve and ticket replica), and limited edition 2LP 180g Black vinyl (with live audio, complete concert film, gatefold sleeve, and autographed ticket replica signed by McKagan). LIGHTHOUSE: LIVE FROM LONDON arrives on Friday, October 31. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now via duffmckagan.com.

Recorded and filmed October 5, 2024, before a sold-out crowd at London, England’s historic Islington Assembly Hall, LIGHTHOUSE: LIVE FROM LONDON sees McKagan and his band performing songs from throughout the iconic musician-songwriter’s legendary career, including stellar renditions of tracks originally found on his critically acclaimed third solo album, 2023’s LIGHTHOUSE. Among the live album’s many highlights is an unforgettable take on the plaintive fan favorite, LONGFEATHER, premiering everywhere today alongside an official live performance video streaming now on YouTube.

CONNECT WITH DUFF MCKAGAN

DUFFMCKAGAN.COM | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE

The Drowns/Fatal Blow/Deathtraps/Hurting Germs/Rumbrave – The Cab, Newport – 8th September 2025

The Drowns/Fatal Blow/Deathtraps/Hurting Germs/Rumbrave – The Cab, Newport – 8th September 2025

It’s been a little while since I last visited The Cab, Newport’s DIY punk and community activity venue, and just like yours truly it’s had a wee move around in that time. The stage area is now much bigger, and the PA that I always feared might topple when things got a little over excited in the pit is now flown overhead, plus there’s a downstairs area that’s opened up for merch, complete with a seated area, so if the pit action does get a little but too hot for you then there’s somewhere to go to relax and still hear the bands.

Talking of the heat, it’s sweltering even before openers Rumbrave are more than a couple of songs into their set, and the venue’s can bar (now conveniently situated by the main door) is already doing a roaring trade. I might know a few of the Rumbrave members from their other band, System Reset, but this is my first time of seeing their new baby live and they are mightily impressive indeed. Rumbrave are an altogether different musical proposition to System though and songs like ‘Johnny’s Shoes’, ‘Nowhere Town’ and set closer ‘Forty Minutes’ could easily have been written by Brain Fallon as opposed to Brian Baker, displaying a much more melodic twist to their infectious onstage (or in frontman Stan’s case “on the dance floor”) bravado.  With a new EP ready to sell at their gigs, Rumbrave are definitely a band worth getting in early doors for, and this evening that meant being in The Cab at an almost ungodly matinee show time too.

Next up, and a late addition to tonight’s bill, are Cardiff’s Hurting Germs, and just like the openers, they are also in the process of getting their first EP (entitled ‘Shallow Grave’) ready for public consumption. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from the four-piece having never seen or heard anything by them before tonight but I certainly wasn’t expecting to be scribbling down Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom as a musical reference, that’s for sure. There’s rap, there’s the odd Sex Pistols riff, there’s a double take when frontman Nick takes the stage and is a dead ringer for prime mover Mark Manning and there’s even a cheeky “Bloooobirds” chant at the end of their set to round things off, thankfully without any resulting bang (although Nick’s arm being a sling might indicate other previous misdemeanours). The Germs are spreading their musical message like crazy via gigs through the autumn and into winter, but this lot are the kind you won’t mind catching.

Another band that has been gigging like crazy is Newport’s Deathtraps, now sounding even more fast and furious they ride the universe like Motorhead around the time of the ‘Bomber’ album. There’s barely time to draw breath during their eleven song set as they bulldoze their way through the likes of ‘Private Vietnam’, ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come’ and the excellent ‘I Want Fun’ all from their recently released ‘The Lust For Likes’ EP (I’m sensing something of a trend here) and the band’s garish stage shirts are well and truly stuck to their bodies by the time ‘Denim Demon’ raises it’s (good) head to bring things to a close. Deathtraps are high-octane and spitting flames. Go see them live and get your fur scorched in the pit. 

If Deathtraps are Motorhead around 1979, then Fatal Blow are equal parts Angelic Upstarts and The Jam from that same era. With five studio albums and a multitude of gigs worldwide under their braces (no one wears belts here, ha!), Cobley, Bending and Kizz fire out underground hit after hit into the by now packed-out audience with the likes of ‘Generals And Soldiers’ and ‘Tent City Reality’ all getting the skinheads singing along at the tops of their voices. I’ve not seen Fatal Blow live since they opened for Grade 2 in this very same venue a few years back and the thing I notice most is not just how many more people know every word to their songs but also how much more anthemic they sound as a band. The set closing ‘Spirit of 69’ being without question the best example of this, a fantastic song of unity, and a bloody great singalong too. Oi! Oi!

Three years ago I had tickets to see The Drowns play their first Welsh gig at Pontypool’s Dragonffli venue but had to sell them after I got Covid. Needless to say, as is nearly always the bloody case, that gig became the stuff of legend, and it’s something Drowns singer/guitarist Aaron ‘Rev’ Peters is also very quick to highlight tonight, because many of those who were are that show are here tonight, and this time they’ve told their friends and they’ve come along too to find out what all the fuss is about, and that’s why tonight is the first sold out show of the band’s current extensive run of UK shows. Needless to say, what all the fuss is about is The Drowns from Seattle merely doing what they do, playing blue collar punk rock n roll, but by Christ, do they do it well.

I was at one point wondering how The Drowns might follow such a strong undercard of bands tonight, but by the time they let the leash off ‘Wolves On The Throne’ and asked ‘Where’s Bobby’ such thoughts are long forgotten, and that’s no disrespect to any of the other bands, it’s just The Drowns really are another level of awesome, and if you don’t believe me, just ask any one of the people squeezed in down the front singing along with every word of the songs played from the band’s three albums to date. The Drowns are that amazing tonight that I’ve forgotten to mention they are now also joined by ex-Chelsea Smiler Christian Martucci on guitar, who fires off lightning quick riffs whilst also grinning away like Kenicke Murdoch on graduation day.

It’s hotter than hell in The Cab by the time ‘Battery Street’ sends us out into Cambrian Road, and the sweat running down the walls and windows is testament to just how much energy is expelled in the place tonight. Long may nights like this continue, and kudos to venue boss and promoter Joe Wag for putting on such a tip top night of punk rock, and all for under £20 too. Now who was it that said they were getting too old for this shit???

Author: Johnny Hayward

Jim Bob – Art!

Jim Bob – Art!

Jim Bob is one of the UK’s most distinctive and enduring songwriters. Best known as the frontman of indie punk rock pop legends Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, he enjoyed 12 Top 40 singles and four Top 10 albums (including a No.1) before Carter disbanded in 1997. Since then, Jim Bob has forged a prolific solo career: thirteen solo albums, six novels, two acclaimed memoirs, a theatre debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, and most recently the career-spanning book Where Songs Come From.

His albums Pop Up Jim Bob (2021) and Who Do We Hate Today (2023) both broke into the UK Top 40, while 2024’s Beach Ready EP hit No.1 on both the Vinyl and Physical Singles charts. In August 2025, he released his most ambitious project yet – twin albums Automatic and Stick – to widespread acclaim.

Earlier this year, Jim Bob sold out London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire with a 40-song career-spanning set. A major UK tour for 2026 will be announced soon.

The track is available now across all streaming platforms — Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and more

THE ALBUMS

Automatic – a glorious, full-band statement bursting with melody, wit and heart.

Stick – the punkier, scrappier sibling: lean, loud and loaded with bite.

Together, they showcase Jim Bob at the peak of his powers. Or, as Jim himself puts it:

“Automatic and Stick are both the greatest album I’ve ever made.”

BLACK EYED SONS release ‘Dig me out of this hole” featuring Angry Anderson and Scotti Hill

BLACK EYED SONS release ‘Dig me out of this hole” featuring Angry Anderson and Scotti Hill

Black Eyed Sons return with a brand-new version of their track “Dig Me Out of This Hole”, featuring Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo) on vocals and Scotti Hill (Skid Row) on slide guitar. Written by Paul Guerin, the song is a raw, Rose Tattoo-inspired rocker, so who better to guest than the iconic voice of that legendary band?

Stream/download album HERE 
  
 Black Eyed Sons CD or Vinyl HERE 
  
 Facebook HERE

 

 
Frontman and guitarist Guy Griffin explains: “This is a brand-new version, not on the album. Due to time constraints and touring commitments, we missed the deadline to include it and at one point the vocal got lost somewhere in Australia! We finally tracked it down, and it’s too good not to release.” 
 
Guy continues: “It was great to have Scotti play on the track, who we’ve always admired as a guitarist and a good friend that we’ve toured with over the years. I read an interview where he said he wished he had more opportunities to play slide guitar, so I called him up and said we had just the track for him! And like us, he’s a massive Rose Tattoo fan.”
 
Scotti Hill adds “I’ve known the guys for many years and was very much looking forward to playing on one of the tracks. When they told me Angry Anderson was going to be on the record, I said that’s the song I need to play on!”
 
Also appearing on the track are Chip Z’Nuff (Enuff Z’Nuff) and Ronnie Simmons (Rose Tattoo).
 
The new single is accompanied by an action-packed, Sin City/Quentin Tarantino–inspired crime-noir style video, starring Black Eyed Sons and special guests, shot in high-contrast cinematic style with all the swagger and grit you’d expect.
 
The release coincides with Black Eyed Sons’ first-ever tour, where they’ll be performing songs from their debut album Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits, which entered at #1 on the Official UK Blues Chart.
 
Dig Me Out Of This Hole is OUT NOW on all digital platforms https://bfan.link/dig-me-out-of-this-hole
 
The Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits Tour Part 1
  
 Nov 6th  – Hard Rock Hell 18 – Sold Out
 Nov 7th  – Hard Rock Hell – Sold Out
 Nov 8th  – Bridgewater, Cobblestones (with Revenant)
 Nov 9th  – Southampton ,The Brook (with Revenant)
 Dec 12th  – Bradford, Nightrain (with Revenant)
 Dec13th  – Newcastle, The Cluny
 Dec 17th  – Bilston, The Robin (with Revenant)
 Dec18th – Llandudno, Motorsport Lounge
 Dec 19th  – Crumlin, The Patriot
 Dec 20th London, Camden Underworld (with The Dirty Strangers)
  
   
 Tickets available at: www.blackeyedsons.com   www.dice.fm 

The Hives – Stylus, Leeds – 31st August 2025

The Hives – Stylus, Leeds – 31st August 2025

“I think the show’s going well so far, what do you think?” asks The Hives mouthpiece Screamin’ Pelle Almqvist, halfway through a 45-minute set from probably the greatest garage rock band around. 

The Hives are playing a series of album release shows at intimate venues across the UK, promoting their most excellent new long player “The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives’. 

This show was arranged in conjunction with local independent record store Crash Records, and is a completely different kettle of fish compared to last night’s amazing Bryan Adams show at the Brudenell up the road.

While both acts hit the stage bang on 8pm and are done before 9pm, The Hives choose to play oldies and newbies rather than concentrate just on the new album.

That said, the first couple of tracks are new, and they absolutely kill it.  Opener ‘Enough Is Enough’ slays from the opening bombardment of jagged riffs and powerhouse drums. Pelle is stage front, motioning at the crowd to go wild before he has even sung a note, and they respond. To his left Nicholaus performs his signature moves while bashing out punchy riffs on his telecaster. You can’t take your eyes off the pair of them.

Like The Ramones before them, the Swedes deliver song after song. 3 chord punk rock, a tried and tested style where the songs may sound the same, yet are still different, energetic and exciting. You instantly know a Hives song when it hits the radio, right?

‘Paint A Picture’ follows, the crowd go wild for the hyper energetic vibe the band create. That chorus is sublime; it’s a killer tune make no mistake. Two songs in and the frontman has the whole room in the palm of his hands; oh he makes it look so easy!

Next up ‘Bogus Operandi’ sounds like an old friend, it’s epic, nearly as epic as the following classic ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’, which is never going to disappoint at any size venue.

It’s warming up nicely, hold on, we’re only 5 songs into a Hives show, that’s about 15 minutes in real time! They jam out and extend an incendiary ‘Tick Tick, Boom Boom’ to give the hyper crowd down the front a breather between Pelle’s high kicks and DLR style stage raps. He’s in the crowd for at least the third time tonight, and you can’t take your eyes off him. 

‘Legalise Living’ is another newbie single that goes down a blast, and Strokes soundalike ‘The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives’ closes the main set in style with an audience member dragged up on stage to play the 2 chords needed. 

A one-two encore of ‘Come On!’ And ‘Countdown To Shutdown’ ends a show that went by in the blink of an eye. 

9 tracks in 45 minutes, delivered with enough raw power, humour and energy to fuel a small city. With a frontman who entertains and lights up a crowd with his humour as much as his voice, and a band who are a well-oiled punk rock machine, The Hives were never going to be anything short of amazing tonight. The Hives forever, forever The Hives indeed. 

Author: Ben Hughes