Pack Rat – ‘Glad To Be Forgotten’ (Drunken Sailor Records)

Pack Rat – ‘Glad To Be Forgotten’ (Drunken Sailor Records)

The driving keyboard is what will get you in the end. Insanely catchy as the songs drive on mowing down everything in its wake. It’s like hypnosis through punk rock. ‘A Casual Death’ is anything but. Christ pre-pandemic (remember that?) there was a band out of Vancouver called The Corner Boys and they released one fantastic album then split. Another great record was Chain Whips well since Covid drummer/songwriter Patrick McEachnie has stayed as active as possible using his time to great effect by picking up a guitar and playing. Basically, he made an excellent record all on his own, and if you were paying any attention to his other releases you will know. Those who do just simply know what to expect, sure, of course, this is fucking right up there flat out excellent.

‘Coming After You’ is rapid and right to the point. Making a racket and finger-wagging and full of menace. The title track is a tub-thumping cross between some bedroom homage to the UK Subs and Tubeway Army it’s the synth that’s humming away throughout as the guitars sound like a twenty-year-old Tascam four-track at best only adds to the intensity and manic feel.

‘Two Sides Of Your Heart’ is akin to Chubby And The Gang in some ways – just thrashing away around a hypnotic melody and a blitzkrieg keyboard solo that is a face melter. The record isn’t hanging around either bopping til it drops with songs around the one and a half to two minutes long. Kick-off turn in an awesome melody – kick the listener in the tits then fuck off. Jobs a good un- Next!

When the tempo is turned down a shade (‘I’m No Sustitute’) it’s a killer with a twisted melody and that fuzzed-up synth. It’s not new at all, it’s not big or clever and it’s nothing to write home about if you’re after a polished modern production. Its infectious, banger after banger – twisted melodies layered upon thrashing guitars and monotonous melodies playing with your head. You know you like it but you haven’t the foggiest why? Is it the ripping pace? The Melodies? the mindless pogotastic beat? is it the Ramones love in of ‘Lost Cause’ and ‘Stay Away From Me’ reminding you what it was like to fall in love with punk rock? Of course, it’s all of it. A top tune is a top tune no matter what style it’s done in.

Hell, that was a blast! Ten songs in twenty-something minutes – perfect punk rock for the masses. Now how do we get to the masses? People need a face full of this DIY bad boy as soon as possible. Quality record – just buy it!

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Author: Dom Daley

Killing Joke – ‘Lord Of Chaos’ EP and live dates

Killing Joke – ‘Lord Of Chaos’ EP and live dates

AS THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK HITS 100 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT, THE ORIGINAL KJ LINE-UP ANNOUNCES THE:

‘LORD OF CHAOS’ EP

FIRST NEW MATERIAL IN 7 YEARS

KILLING JOKE confirms that all hope is probably lost (or at least missing) with their first new studio material in over seven years…

Enter the ‘LORD of CHAOS’ EP – two brand new recordings, plus two re-workings of songs from the confrontational UK band’s last studio album, ‘Pylon’ (2015).

“I’ve never known anything like the time we are living in now; not since the Cuban Missile crisis but now in comparison we have multiple flashpoints. Lord of Chaos is about complex systems failure when technology overloads and A.I. misreads the enemies intentions.” – Dr Jaz Coleman. 

To support and celebrate the arrival of new music, Killing Joke are set to undertake their first UK run in over three years, 2022’s Honour The Fire tour.

This11 date tour will start with a just-announced intimate warm-up show at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham on Sunday, March 27th; it will conclude in London at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Saturday, April 9th which is being filmed.

Killing Joke is very much music as ritual – raw, uncompromising and precisely-targeted lyrically; and Dr Jaz Coleman, Geordie, Youth, and Big Paul, founding fathers of the group and an ongoing influence on both alternative music and (counter) culture in general, show absolutely no signs of mellowing. 

With collective nostrils flared and righteous anger carried torch-high, The Fourcontinue to take their music of resistance to fresh levels.

Consider yourself warned.

* * * * 

The full list of ‘Honour The Fire’ UK 2022 shows.

The Imbeciles are supporting on all dates (except Cheltenham) and Brix Smith is the special guest in London.

March 2022

27th    Sun         Cheltenham     Frog & Fiddle 

28th       Mon        Cardiff        Tramshed

29th        Tue        Nottingham    Rock City

31st    Thu        Bristol        O2 Academy 

April 2022

1st    Fri        Liverpool    O2 Academy

2nd     Sat        Birmingham    O2 Institute 

4thMon        Manchester    Albert Hall

5thTue        Newcastle    Boiler Shop

6thWed        Glasgow    Barrowland

8thFri        Leeds        O2 Academy 

9th      Sat        London    Eventim Apollo Hammersmith 

Tickets available from www.myticket.co.uk.

* * * * 

The ‘Lord of Chaos’ EP will be available on CD, digital and three vinyl formats on 25th March.

Tracks 1 & 2 – Produced by Killing Joke andMixed by Tom Dalgety – set the tone for the band’s next studio album, currently being worked on in Prague.

Meanwhile, Tracks 3 & 4 give a fresh spin to numbers from the ‘Pylon’ album – ‘Big Buzz’ having been Re-mixed by Dalgety and Nick Evans, and ‘Delete’ getting the full Dub treatment courtesy of KJ’s Youth, who has a longstanding reputation in thisarea.

To purchase/stream the ‘Lord of Chaos’ EP go Here

FOR MORE INFORMATION

w/ https://www.killingjoke.co.uk/

f/ https://www.facebook.com/killingjokeofficial/

Urge Overkill – ‘Oui’ (Omnivore Recordings)

Urge Overkill – ‘Oui’ (Omnivore Recordings)

Chicago’s Urge Overkill has been away a while in fact it’s a decade since we really heard anything from the pair but they’re about to put that to rights with the much-anticipated release of ‘Oui’ and its magnificent artwork. To be fair as soon as the needle dropped the artwork became a big part of the record and a painting certainly does paint a thousand words because this record is a beast.

Unfairly remembered by many as that band who did the cover of ‘ Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon’ but those who know simply know. They were much more than that (great tune and working of it as it was) the Grunge striding Rock of ‘Saturation’ was excellent (still is) and then ‘Exit The Dragon’ which saw the band call it a day for a while but with a varied catalogue of albums UO are a welcome return and its refreshing to hear a guitar album that’s just that – no tricks or gimmicks just great tunes recorded well and released in a timely undelayed fashion. Some might say a more mature-sounding band in 2022 but who cares, elder statesmen, survivers, rockers. It’s all good in my book and refreshing to hear a band just kick out the jams at their own pace in their own style.

Well, it’s been a while but Nash Kato and King Roeser are back in the groove with ‘Oui’, and what a return it is. Guitars are turned up and the pair sound right on it, enthused and full of energy ‘Oui’ is loud and focussed. There is a weird But here. The record does kick off in controversial style with a cover this time of the classic Wham! song ‘Freedom’ . Sure they give it the UO treatment and twist it to fit their style of old-school Radio friendly rock but I do wonder is it needed here? I’m not convinced (personally) but I’m happy to let it grow on me, besides it just sounds great to have a new UO record. Sure, it’s a great song – boundless energy and played with a cheeky playful smile but to open your first album in over a decade? Brave and controversial.

‘Necessary Evil’ is understated with cool hooks on the chorus with a finely distorted guitar chugging away under some smart licks and the vocals weave really well together to make for a great song. The tempo is maintained through the rockin’ ‘Follow My Shadow’.   ‘How Sweet the Light’ has got a touch of the Who about it from the drum rolls to the building verses with some great drumming. ‘Forgiven’ has got an all-American riff that has been well worn by the likes of Mellencamp when he wanted a ‘Leg Up’ it’s a driving rhythm and the slightly croaky vocals work really well as the Blues are chased away.

It sounds like the band is enjoying writing and playing – there is no pretense or experimental moments just solid rock n roll   Past Urge records always had at least one song where the band got silly or experimental.  Here, it’s surprisingly focused.  I do get the impression that this is a record that will continue to grow on me and moments where a fill changes the groove or tempo will jump out and prelong the journey which always makes for a slow-burning album that gets better with age.  

Hopefully, ‘Oui’ will do well and people will lap it up and it won’t be another decade before we get another Urge Overkill record to champion.

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Author: Dom Daley

Lucifer Star Machine – ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Martyrs’ Vinyl Release

Lucifer Star Machine – ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Martyrs’ Vinyl Release

Lucifer Star Machine released Rock ‘n’ Roll Martyrs in 2013. The record was released as a CD but never on vinyl. Now it’s time for some vinyl justice. The 25th of February they are reissuing the album on vinyl.

500 Copies on white vinyl with black splatter
100 Copies on Silver vinyl 

The silver vinyl edition is available through Bandcamp and the Band. The splatter edition of the album is available through stores, mail orders and the label. 

Lucifer Star Machine released their latest album ‘The Devils Breath’ in 2020 on the Sign Records. The album received a lot of praises and the band was just about to start playing a lot live all over Europe as the pandemic arrived. They’re reported to be in the studio currently recording the follow up which we’ll try to keep you up to date with.

Pre-order from website:https://t1p.de/iejya

You may want to order directly from Bandcamp

The City Kids – ‘The City Kids’ (Self Release)

The City Kids – ‘The City Kids’ (Self Release)

The City Kids are a band that deserves your attention. The band is made up of four rock’n’roll renegades with a penchant for creating down and out sleazy rock music.

They released their debut album two years ago and was one of this writer’s favorites of that year, with its Wildhearts meets Social Distortion groove but with their own unique sound thrown into the mix. 

So while we patiently await the next long-player the band has put together this EP for a celebration of their two-year anniversary. It consists of four tracks which are covers of Motorhead classics and features some very special guests indeed.

First up we have the band’s namesake “City Kids” and we are off to a fast start with ripping guitars and  JJ’s throat-shredding vocals and this kids, is how rock’n’roll is supposed to sound.

Next up we have the top tunage of “Bomber” and this time we are treated to vocals from guitarist Dennis and with a guest appearance on lead guitar by Jay Pepper of Tigertailz this is another belter of a track.

Following on we have that classic Headgirl tune “Please don’t touch” and this is a tasty duet between guitarist JJ and Ruyter Suys of Nashville pussy fame and is every bit as good as the head girl version which is high praise indeed.

Last but not least we have Born to raise hell and this beast of a song would indeed have the devil himself raising the horns in salute and with guests Eddie spaghetti and Frank meyer you really are in for some headbanging action.

All that’s left to say is this  that JJ – guitar/vocals, Dennis – guitar / vocals, Berty Burton/ bass and Dave Saunders / drums have not only done these classic songs justice they have added their own filthy sound into the mix to make this a must-buy for rock fans.

Tracklisting and Players1 – City Kids (JJ lead vocals) Guests: Frank Meyer (The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs)- additional vocals

2 – Bomber (Dennis lead vocals) Guests: Ivan Tambac (Warrior Soul) – Drums Jay Pepper (Tigertailz) – Lead Guitars

3 – Please Don’t Touch (JJ lead vocals) Guests: Ruyter Suys (Nashville Pussy) – Lead Vocals Frank Meyer (The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs) – Vocals, Piano:Andy Barrott (The Dukes Of Bordello/Chrome Molly) – Lead Guitars: Dave Kerr (Silverjet) – Lead Guitars

4 – Born To Raise Hell (Dennis lead vocals) Guests: Eddie Spaghetti (Supersuckers) – Lead Vocals Frank Meyer (The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs) – Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar

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Author: Gareth ‘Hotshot’ Hooper

Beechwood – ‘Sleep Without Dreaming’ (Alive Records)

Beechwood – ‘Sleep Without Dreaming’ (Alive Records)

Jarring, cool, dark, equally loud and quiet, shimmering, frantic, measured rock & roll with some obvious influences and some more subtle. Take ‘Hurt Me’ Thunders and mix in some Lou Reed with a dash of Star Spangles and New York Dolls and you add a smattering of Bolan and Bowie and you have a little indication of the direction of travel Beechwood are on. At times Beechwood is the quintessential sound of ‘Taxi Driver’ sleazy New York City, A band that could only have been born out of that city.

Formed by a pair of close neighborhood friends as teenagers, Beechwood initially developed playing small clubs and DIY spaces of New York City.

 Beechwood are not a new band, no sir, this is album number four! I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing their previous albums from their debut album ‘Trash Glamour’ (Lolipop! Records) in 2016, ‘Songs From The Land of Nod’ and ‘Inside the Flesh Hotel’ (Alive Naturalsound Records) the everpresent songwriting and guitar-weaving partnership of Gordon Lawrence and Sid Simons, Russ Yusuf on drums and recent addition Jensen Gore on bass. The band has been honing their craft so far bringing it to a head on this new album in 2022.

A sound that comes from late-night dirt and the glamour of The Big Apple. A band who have been chipping away at the rough diamonds of previous recordings, their sound is finally formed on this record and they have come of age and delivered everything they’ve been threatening and some. It’s unpredictable but has a more mature feel than previous recordings.

Gordon Lawrence has a sultry, petulant, nonchalant vocal style. The band delivers a catchy melody as well, From the opening ‘Front Page News’ is instant with its swooning melody and the interweaving vocals are excellent. There is something rather infectious in Beechwood’s tunes, Which is probably what reminds me of Thunders.

‘Firing Line’ has a classic feel to it like you’ve heard the melody before but it’s been out on loan and others have kept it warm for Beechwood. The guitars with the echo and Thunder’s levels of reverb just add to the dreamy nature of those vocals.

‘Lost Lovers’ is an acoustic-driven late-night lament with hushed vocals. From the hushed melody were into a more caustic slice of Rock and Roll in the shape of ‘Luckiest Man Alive’. The ebb and flow is maintained with the wonderful ‘Go My Way’ driven by the hypnotic snare roll and chiming acoustic lick.

‘Silver Chord’ begins with a sparse arrangement before lift off. ‘She Broke Me’ has added piano and a chaotic sample with a ghostlike aura hanging over proceedings.

‘Carved Arm’ is a more straightforward slice of Loud Rock N Roll that proceeds the haunting ‘Gently Towards The Light’. The record then takes another twist as the band kick out the jams on a distorted stab at ‘Rain’ if only the original were this ragged and chaotic. Before the band sign off they turn the amps up on ‘Friendly Fire’ where they drop into a poptastic verse then take off on the chorus, Fantastic!

The band then sign off with the dreamy ‘Wept And Prayer’ a song that builds and builds over five minutes twisting and turning like its own Ray Davies five-minute summary. An album that’s been giving up a secret on every play just getting better and better. Beechwood have come of age and released an absolute belter of a record. Now if this virus would kindly fuck off they can hopefully, drag their Noo Yawk City bodies over this side of the pond and show us how they rip it up in a sweaty club, that would be the cherry on the icing on the cake. Buy It!

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Author: Dom Daley

Primal Scream – ‘Live At Levitation’ (Reverberation Appreciation)

Primal Scream – ‘Live At Levitation’ (Reverberation Appreciation)

Primal Scream’s ability to mix indie pop/Rock and dance broke down musical boundaries and opened all sides to what could be done in the ’90s, helping to push dance and techno into the rock mainstream.

Recorded in 2015 at Levitation in front of underground rock fans from around the world, the LP marks the next release in The Reverberation Appreciation Society’s Live at LEVITATION series, which captures key moments in rock

This Primal Scream set shows the band’s undeniable creativity and unique place in music, combining psychedelic garage rock, kaleidoscopic pop, and acid house to create a sound that’s simultaneously of its time and ahead of it. But ask me if it’s as good as the band’s ‘Live In Japan’ album then the answer is no. This is one disc whereas Japan is a double album that includes some right crossover bangers that this album doesn’t include as well as their awesome take on The Heartbreakers ‘Born To Lose’.

Known for their explosive live sets, the recordings show why Primal Scream are at their best live and around this time they were on fire and to be fair this recording does a great job in capturing that moment and the fact that the production is less polished or rather still has the soundboard feel makes for better energy. Belting through tracks off of 1991’s ‘Screamadelica’, ‘Give Out But Don’t Give Up’, and the heavily electro-influenced favorite ‘XTRMNTR’. Making it a bloody good show and mixing up the techno with some raw electric guitars is excellent and pretty much essential for any collector of Primal Scream.


Over the past three and a half decades, Primal Scream has embraced everything from psychedelic pop to degenerate rock’n’roll; euphoric rave to industrial gloom. They’ve survived drug oblivion, personal loss when their beloved guitarist Robert “Throb” Young passed and captured the mood of the nation several times over. Throughout it all, they have always sounded like Primal Scream.

Exclusive versions are being pressed for the annual Ten Bands One Cause charity initiative, launching around National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, and benefitting Red Door Community where no one faces cancer alone.

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Author: Dom Daley

Rainy Days & Mondays

Rainy Days & Mondays

If you were wondering if Mikkey Dee was keeping up his chops then worry no more because footage of one of our favourite Scandi rocking bands The Drippers teamed up with Mikkey to knock out a pretty impressive run through the epic ‘Iron Fist’

“Gently Towards The Light” is taken from Beechwoods latest album ‘Sleep Without Dreaming’ out on Alive Naturalsound and Sub Rosa Records and reviewed this week on rpm

Also coming this week is a review of the brand new MÄRVEL album “Graces Came With Malice”, released on The Sign Records

The Loveless – ‘Wild In The Streets’ (Cadiz Records)

The Loveless – ‘Wild In The Streets’ (Cadiz Records)

It’s been a long while getting here probably due to Covid and the shortage of raw vinyl but the wait is over. Marc Almond is the subversive pop star better known for fronting synth giants Soft Cell as well as being the tortured torch singer, and as of now, he’s the frontman for Britain’s best garage rock band. Ok, ok so they might be primarily a covers band, but it’s a bloody good one, featuring former Sigue Sigue Sputnik man Neal X on guitar and Iggy Pop’s rhythm section Ben Ellis and Mat Hector.

Almond never shied away from his punk rock and garage rock roots to be fair a lot of new romantics spilled out of the punk era and the Bowie/Pop/Reed fan clubs. X being Almond’s go-to foil for many a live tour and album and X having played with Stiv Bators before he passed away is some serious credit in the rock n roll bank account. After last year’s limited edition CD run featuring covers, it seems the band has spent lockdown honing their skills and crafting another bunch of seriously good covers of classic garage rock n roll.

Splashed onto 10″ of wax this time around they tackle some Alice Cooper with a sleazy ‘Is It My Body’ as well as taking on The Dolls ‘Pills’ and roping in the talent of Glen Matlock to help kick out the jams.

It would have been nice to maybe extend the release to include a vinyl version of that first CD-only album but all good things to those who wait or ask nicely – Pretty Please! The band are seriously rocking on these tunes and I’d love to hear what they could do with some more original stompers not that I’m complaining but one out of eight is a start. OF the covers obviously, Glam Rockers and Garage aficionados will nod their approval for the quality of the interpretations of these tunes and bravo for picking some lesser-known deep cuts rather than trotting out already popular well-known tunes.

‘Wild In The Streets’ is a suitably trashy rocker so they’ve proven they have the chemistry to do a full record of original and having shown their epic array of influences on these first two releases I’d be well up for hearing it. Let’s be fair they own ‘Is It My Body’ and their twist of The Kinks ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ is rather splendid.

It’s a no-brainer kids, The Loveless need some love from our turntables and with these Eight tracks we’ll be ‘Wild In The Streets’ as we wind back the clock and get seriously down with some loud garage Rock and Roll.

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Author: Dom Daley

Saxon – ‘Carpe Diem’ (Silver Lining Music)

Saxon – ‘Carpe Diem’ (Silver Lining Music)

Saxon have been a mainstay in my life since I was 13 years old. My school pal Tigger gave me a cassette of their Strong Arm Metal compilation, and my life changed the moment I pressed play on that TDK C90 and Strong Arm of the Law came chugging out of the speakers. They introduced me to the world of heavy metal, and I have been a fan ever since. The band have had their ups and downs, but despite this they have (mainly) stuck to their trademark traditional metal sound. Of course, their most successful period was in the 80s starting as a forerunner of the NWOBHM movement, but they were head and shoulders above many of the other bands that faded away, except for Iron Maiden and Motorhead (yes, I do consider Motorhead a NWOBHM band!). Saxon flew the flag of heavy metal all over the world and influenced many of the bands to come after them in the thrash movement. A band you may have heard of called Metallica played one of their earliest gigs supporting Saxon. (Don’t mention the fan incident!)

Saxon have had an amazingly prolific career and their latest effort Carpe Diem is unbelievably their 23rd studio album. The band have released a fantastic succession of albums in the last eleven years or so starting with Call to Arms in 2011, along with other highlights in Sacrifice, Battering Ram, and Thunderbolt. I would say this period is up there with their strongest material. Many would argue that a major aspect in the quality of their more recent material would be in no small part due to producer extraordinaire and part-time member of Judas Priest, Andy Sneap. (Fun fact: Andy produced an album called Sugarbuzz by the band Whatever in the 90s, and this scribe played drums in the band! He was also our live sound engineer and loves a Phall curry!).

The production on Carpe Diem is incredible as we have come to expect from Sneap, I must also comment on Biff Byford’s voice. He sounds as good (if not better) as he did back in the early days of Saxon, no small feat for a man who recently suffered a heart attack, not sure if that’s where the album’s title came from, but Seize the Day seems apt!  The opening of the album’s title track starts off with an atmospheric intro before a drum flourish gives way to a scream from Biff that could be something from Wheels of Steel! No sign of Biff retiring any time soon!

Carpe Diem gives us ten leather studded tracks of headbanging glory as only the Barnsley big teasers can deliver. This album does seem to be a bit more stripped down and lean compared to the other recent albums. This is no bad thing of course, big riffs courtesy of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt, pounding bass lines from the forever new kid Nibbs Carter, and the constantly outstanding Nigel Glockler in the engine room show the young un’s how to do this ‘eavy metal business. The title track is a head down, balls-out barnstormer with some glorious riffage and vocal gymnastics from Mr Byford, bloody marvelous!

Covid inspired track Remember the Fallen kicks off with another big chugging riff and kind of reminds me of another Saxon track about human disaster, Red Alert from their 1988 album Destiny, that song being about the Chernobyl incident. Saxon have always had great songs about historical events, The Eagle has Landed, Dallas 1 PM etc.. (I swear I learned so much more about history from metal bands that I ever did in school!) The track has a great video to go with it too with lots of news footage of the pandemic.

 The entire album embraces Saxon’s signature sound and like many other of the giants of metal still around, you know exactly who it is instantly. Age of Steam steams along (sorry!) nicely with Nibs and Nigel locking as tightly as the proverbial duck’s backside! The pace slows a little for the epic ‘The Pilgrimage’ but we are soon back in breakneck territory for the brilliant ‘Dambusters’ (I can’t believe Saxon haven’t had a song about the RAF bombers before!), Glockler again shows why he is one of metals most influential drummers here with his double bass barrage. The album continues to impress with more fantastic, blazing metal with tracks like ‘Super Nova’, ‘All For One’, and the brilliant ‘Lady in Gray’.

Saxon has proven yet again why their metal eagle continues to fly so high. As I write this, the band is playing to sold-out audiences in Manchester and London with Uriah Heep, Diamond Head, and Girlschool in support. Carpe Diem is another quality collection of songs to add to their legacy, Saxon has done it again, right, I’m off to Seize the Day!

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Author: Kenny Kendrick