Now anyone who knpws me, knows how all over the place my music tastes are, a legacy from working in my Our Price days with Johnny Hayward and the influence of a deputy manager, who while owning every single release ever put out by alternative tentacles had a real soft spot for the Beverley Sisters, you never knew walking in on a morning whether you’d have S.O.D- Speak English or Die, Julie London or Spiritualized greeting you. It blew my mind and I think showed me that when it comes to Music, there are no boundaries listen to what you want if you like it you like it if not don’t worry try something else, just don’t become fixed within a genre.
Where am I going with this pre-amble? I recently got sent through an artists LP (Keeley) with a could you give this LP a listen?
Reading the blurb proved interesting “Keeley’s songwriting is unique in that all of her songs are about the same subject matter — the murder of German backpacker Inga-Maria Hauser in 1988 in Northern Ireland. Inga Maria was 18 years old and backpacking around Europe, she was due to get the train to Dublin from Belfast on April 6, 1988 but sometime between landing at Larne on the ferry from Scotland to trying to get the Belfast train she was abducted and driven to a forest and brutally murdered. Despite many leads pointing to the culprits, the case has never been solved. Keeley’s homemade video explores the ‘travel and loss’ narrative.
Keeley’s involvement in this case since 2016 has been the subject of a BBC Northern Ireland Documentary “Murder In The Badlands” and a film about the case (featuring interviews and music by Keeley) is being produced for release sometime in the near future.
So here we go opening with “Seeing Everything” your immediately taken back to the days of Lush and Curve very definitely hitting that Indie pop vein. Next up “Arriving alive” again hit those gorgeous indie pop links, check out bands like the Sea Urchins, the Orchids, the Sweetest Ache all released on Sarah Records to get a feel of where these influences appear to be grounded, this is seriously good stuff, the pop hooks slightly at odds with the subject matter.
There’s almost a Buzzcock’s feel to “The Glitter and the Glue” before we’re into the title track “Floating above everything else” again that almost steel guitar sound, of those jangling Indie pop riffs really hold you. “To a London sunrise” follows that classic dream pop vibe, as does “echo everywhere”, in fairness this is a superb LP if you like a bit of shoe gazing/dream pop stand-out tracks for me “Forevers where you are” the overlapping guitar work is superb and LP closer “Shine a light” is a bit special, no wonder Spiritualized Jason Pierce is such a fan!!!
Ash will be playing a week-long run of instore / outstore live shows as Race The Night is released. The shows will combine Q&As, acoustic sets and signings, as well as a special show at Pryzm Kingston, at which the band will play tracks from the new album fully electric for the first time. Full details are below and tickets are available here.
Ash – Race The Night album instore / outstore tour 2023
Fri 15th Sept | HMV @ Oh Yeah Music Centre Belfast (8pm) Sat 16th Sept | Assai Glasgow (2pm) Sat 16th Sept | Assai Edinburgh (7pm) Sun 17th Sept | Jumbo Records Leeds (2pm) Sun 17th | Jacaranda Records @ Cavern Club Liverpool (9pm) – NEW SHOW ADDED Mon 18th Sept | Banquet Records Kingston @ Pryzm (7pm) Tue 19th Sept | Rough Trade Bristol (6.30pm) Wed 20th Sept | Rough Trade East London (7pm) – SOLD OUT Thu 21st Sept | Tower Records Dublin (7pm)
Ash are revealing another glimpse into what their forthcoming album ‘Race The Night’ holds. New single ‘Usual Places’ received its airplay debut from Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music.
‘Usual Places’ arrives on the heels of recent new album cuts ‘Race The Night’ and ‘Like A God’, stoking anticipation for a record that promises to be super-charged, widescreen and with melodies to spare. Already winning consistent support across BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and Absolute Radio, these new songs bring with them what lead singer and guitarist Tim Wheeler describes as “the sound of the band reveling in the sheer joy of being a band after being separated by time and distance through the insanity of the early 2020s.”
‘Usual Places’ was written as testimony to lives forever changed during the time before they were able to reunite and work on new music. Three and a half minutes of brisk power pop set a buoyant backdrop to its longing for all that was lost.
Wheeler comments: “Originally written as a tribute to long forgotten bars and faces as I was leaving New York, ‘Usual Places’ took on extra significance as the first thing we worked on together post-lockdown. Below the surface of the joy of writing and playing together again, there’s a subconscious grief to all that was lost in those years. Friends and family, pubs and venues. This is our eulogy to them all. No coincidence the video was shot in the Marquis of Lorne, just a walk from Brixton Academy.”
New album Race The Night will be released on 15th September 2023 via one of their earliest label homes Fierce Panda. UK pre-orders are live now here. Race The Night is available across gatefold vinyl, CD, cassette and ltd edition vinyl formats. A limited-edition Amazon exclusive CD with an extended version of recent single ‘Like A God’, packaged with alternative artwork, can be pre-ordered here.
Ash will also be taking Race The Night on tour through the UK and Europe before the year is out, on a co-headline run with The Subways. Tickets are on sale now here.
Ash x The Subways UK / EU tour dates 2023
Sat 30 Sept – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, UK Sun 01 Oct – Marble Factory, Bristol, UK Tue 03 Oct – Rock City, Nottingham, UK Wed 04 Oct – Barrowland, Glasgow, UK Thu 05 Oct – Leeds Beckett SU, Leeds, UK Sat 07 Oct – NX, Newcastle, UK Mon 09 Oct – The Academy, Dublin, IE Tue 10 Oct – O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK Wed 11 Oct – O2 Kentish Town Forum, London, UK Sun 19 Nov – De Helling, Utrecht, NL Mon 20 Nov – Das Bett, Frankfurt, DE Tue 21 Nov – Bürgerhaus Stollwerck, Cologne, DE Thu 23 Nov – Faust, Hannover, DE Fri 24 Nov – Plan B, Malmo, SE Sat 25 Nov – Beta, Copenhagen, DK Mon 27 Nov – Rockefeller, Oslo, NO Tue 28 Nov – Debaser, Stockholm, SE Thu 30 Nov – Kesselhaus, Berlin, DE Fri 01 Dec – Beatpol, Dresden, DE Sat 02 Dec – Lucerna Music Bar, Prague, CZ Mon 04 Dec – PPC, Graz, AT Wed 06 Dec – Plaza Klub, Zurich, CH Thu 07 Dec – Technikum, Munich, DE Fri 08 Dec – Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, DE Sun 10 Dec – Botanique, Brussels, BE Mon 11 Dec – Le Petit Bain, Paris, FR
Twenty years in, and top of their game, West Yorkshire, Keighley-bred ska punk icons Random Hand are coming in hot with their fifth album! Their bodies may be creaking with grey hairs beginning to show, but the vitality and relevance of their music isn’t changing one bit. Refined and confident, the band’s new album, due September 29th via Bomber Music, is set to redefine their place as one of the UK’s most significant and dependable punk bands.
Today, the band release new single ‘The Cycle’; a joyous, high-energy three-minutes-and-forty seconds of rampant ska vigour that masks a deeper meaning…
“Lyrically, ‘The Cycle’ is inspired by the instability of the world we live in,” explains singer Robin Leitch. “There seems to be something of an epidemic in recent years in regard to how secure we feel our environment is. One minute everyone seems to be getting on, and the idea of empathy is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and then at the drop of the hat we revert to dog eat dog, just like that.”
Random Hand made the music video for ‘The Cycle’ themselves, at their practice room in Keighley.
“Embracing the true DIY punk ethos,” Leitch recalls, “And struggling to find a suitable video location, we decided to get the tools out and modify a section of our own rehearsal space. You may enjoy the thrash of a double-speed guitar, but there is no music like that of a hammer on a nail. We stayed up late the night before, drilling, sawing, and listening to disco. I even nicked a couple of lights from the theatre I work in. We pooled our resources to create a blank canvas to perform against, and hoped the music would speak for itself.”
20 years ago, as the seemingly unstoppable third wave of ska punk came crashing down on the world of popular music, only to leave a misunderstood scene in its wake, Random Hand worked tirelessly on keeping the spirit of the bands that inspired them alive and kicking. Having taken a brief pause from touring to pursue solo projects after the release of 2015’s ‘Hit Reset’ album, the band are raring to return to the fray with gigs confirmed for September and October, and the highly anticipated release of their fifth album.
“We pushed ourselves to breaking, then further still,” explains bassist Joe Tilston. “We stopped to recover and then came back with a passion and energy we didn’t think possible. Random Hand have now played over 2000 shows and we are currently curating a series of our own HandFests across the UK this year, the first in Leeds in February sold out two days in less than 45 minutes.”
This September 30th, the day after the albums release, Random Hand headline the London HandFest at The Dome, Tufnell Park where they will join friends Popes Of Chilitown, The JB Conspiracy, Crazy Arm, Call Me Malcolm, Darko, Tree House Fire, Hell’s Ditch, Mr Shiraz, Roshambo, Traits and Till I’m Bones for a day of essential punk rock and ska.
“Bringing our 20th anniversary celebration to an end, we descend upon London with another incredible two stage lineup,” says Joe. “Welcoming some incredible friends we’ve made along the way, and some bands we are desperate to see. The huge variety of bands is testament to the diverse and inspiring scene Random Hand has been a big part of, over the last two decades.”
That mysterious masked man, HeWhoCannotBeNamed, is still riding his high from being named “Coolest Song In The World” in Sirius XM’s“ LIttle Steven’s Underground Garage. But between the non-stop touring and autograph sessions he has found time to make the first video from his latest rock and roll opus “Impostor”.
For those not familiar with HeWhoCannotBeNamed, very little is known about He Who Cannot Be Named’s actual identity. Some say he is a high ranking corrupt GOP politician, or an undercover agent for a foreign government. He has been banned from venues all over the world and Interpol reportedly has an ongoing warrant out for his immediate arrest on undisclosed charges. He rarely appears in public and very few have seen him without a mask. There have been numerous reports of Hewho impersonators spotted all over the world, especially when The Dwarves play live shows. It has even been suggested that HeWhoCannotBeNamed is in fact merely a rock legend. Perhaps Hewho himself is an imposter. We will probably never know for sure.
His latest album “Impostor” features a caravan of guest stars including Milo Aukerman, Nick Olivieri, Chris Barrows, Reese Chism and more!
“Impostor” is currently available on all major streaming and download outlets. The vinyl is available in the US from Spaghetty Town Records, in Europe from Beluga Records(SWE) and Ghost Highway Recordings (ES).
“Trippy psychedelia that recalls such ’60s freak icons as Syd Barrett and 13th Floor Elevators” Rolling Stone Magazine
Kevin Westerberg pic
Formed by Monster Magnet’s John McBain and Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron & Ben Shepherd in 1993 during some downtime from their day jobs and side project Hater (who released a self-titled album in 1993), Wellwater Conspiracy set about immersing themselves in the dayglo world of sixties psychedelia, channelling the vibrations of Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd and the 13th Floor Elevators to produce the garage lo-fi-lysergic assault on the senses that is their debut album ‘Declaration of Conformity’. Originally issued on Mudhoney’s Steve Turners Super Electro label in 1997, the album was met with critical acclaim upon its release and Rolling Stone magazine said, “Declaration’s tinny, fuzzed-out sonics decidedly evoke the Summer of Love.”
God Unknown Records are proud to be welcoming the album back into print and on all digital platforms, and this coming September 22nd will see the release of a remastered vinyl pressing with extra tracks and new artwork taking influence from Blue Note Records fabled artwork.
From start to finish, ‘Declaration Of Conformity’ is a loving homage to the true beginnings of psychedelic rock, long before the music got harder and heavier. Songs like ‘Green Undertow’ and ‘Sleeveless’ hark back to the time when The Beatles were spinning the world on its axis with ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, Syd Barrett was the piper at the gates of dawn and Roky Erickson was introducing the world to his Texan psychedelic sounds. Wellwater Conspiracy’s music exists in that moment when pop music started to fracture and go far further out. It was still pop music, but the edges were starting to blur and the sounds were starting to fracture. This is where ‘Declaration of Conformity’ sits; at the dawn of one of the biggest cultural shifts in musical history.
GOD101 – Wellwater Conspiracy – Declaration of Conformity LP track-listing.
Sleeveless
You Do You
Trowerchord
Green Undertow
I Love You Everyday
Nati Bati Yi
Far Side of Your Moon
The Ending
Space Travel in the Blink Of An Eye
6-6-5-4-3-2-1
Shel Talmy
Lucy Leave
Declaration of Conformity
Palomar Observatory
The Bandcamp link will also feature two bonus download only tracks, a cover of ‘Akka Ragga’ by Shocking Blue and ‘Late Night’ by Syd Barrett. Both tracks feature Josh Homme on guitar and bass.
“I’ve got no fucks left to give” screams Kitty A. Austin on ‘I Mean Nothing To You’, the third track on the sophomore album from East London noise merchants Saint Agnes. That one statement sums up the pent-up aggression and raw power that the band have as she rages with utter conviction.
Written and recorded in the weeks and months following the sudden death of the singer’s mother, ‘Bloodsuckers’ is the sound of a band on the edge, fighting with everything they have to survive, whilst holding a middle finger firmly in defiance.
Saint Agnes have come a long way since their debut album ‘Welcome To Silvertown’ was released back in 2019. The covid years saw the band veer away from the White Stripes/The Kills bluesy guitar/drums sound with the release of the critically acclaimed ‘The Family Strange’ and ‘Vampire’ EPs, where they attack their music with a touch more venom and a whole lotta conviction.
The opening title track of ‘Bloodsuckers’ follows in the same vein with an angry burst of industrial-tinged noise. It’s an expletive-ridden diatribe with intense beats and razor wire guitar riffage. I think I may be in love! The following single ‘Animal’ rides in on a No Doubt style melody over a cool skulking bassline, but there’s where the comparisons firmly end. “I’m a motherfuckin animal” she screams over detuned guitars and a barrage of beats. It’s more ferocious and honest than anything she has put her vocals chords to in the past. “Motherfucker try to fight me?” she challenges, as her partner in grime Jon James Tufnell reels off another jarring riff over industrial noise. Dark, pissed off and as powerful as a juggernaut crashing through your speakers.
‘Outsider’ is the standout, and dare I say it, most commercial song on offer. It is the perfect anthem for the disenchanted youth, the kids who don’t belong, it’s a song for society’s rejects to rejoice in and take as their own. The killer chorus refrain, the sultry vocal delivery and the chugging, Nu-Metal guitar riffs. It’s a monster of a song, make no mistake.
How do you follow such a song? How about ending side one of the record with a piano-led ballad that questions life, the universe and the absurd futility of it all? Grief can be the most powerful of emotions and can fuel the creative juices of a songwriter like nothing else. Heartfelt, emotive and delicate, ‘This Is Not The End’ will tug at the heartstrings.
‘Bloodsuckers’ straddles genres through its 42-minute journey. A punky and metallic smack upside the head that refuses to back down. The relentless pummeling of the senses and the furious, schizophrenic delivery of the singer is just what is needed in these dreary musical climes of beige, mainstream music.
The dark and brooding ‘At War With Myself’ with almost tribal beats, swathes of electronica and chugging guitars brings to mind turn of the century greats from the likes of NIN, Marilyn Manson and even Korn. Elsewhere the addition of Mimi Barks to the jarring and ferocious ‘Body Bag’ adds raw punk power into the mix.
One way to deal with loss is to scream as loud as you can to exorcise the emotions, and Kitty A. Austin is certainly doing it her way in the wake of a shit storm to find beauty in all that is dark. Saint Agnes have created a monster that cannot be ignored, ‘Bloodsuckers’ is the sound of a band on the edge, a band on fire and a band who are at the top of their game. If they have even half of the energy live that they exude on this album, then be afraid, be very afraid.
I’d normally have been at Rebellion in Blackpool this weekend, but for a multitude of reasons I won’t bore you with here, I decided to take a year out. What this did mean though was I was not only able to pop over the bridge to catch an awesome TSOL/MDC gig at The Exchange the other night but also drop into The Cab in Newport for yet another one of their recession busting hardcore bills. Five bands for £16, what’s not to love about that eh?
Well, the early doors did throw me slightly, but I still make it in time to see about half of masked madmen Cruel Prank playing their own peculiar brand of fast and loose skate punk. Knowing very little about them beforehand, the Newport band’s songs seem largely centred about drinking and getting fucked up on skateboards, the former something the singer and bass player totally hammer home by chugging celebratory beers from a pair of bumpers at the climax of their set. Thank fuck there weren’t any quarter pipes in here, otherwise it would have been total carnage.
Carnage being something that Bridgend’s Positive Reaction pretty much dedicates themselves to, well at least sonically anyway. The four-piece’s brutal hardcore attack is pretty much summed up in guitarist Ioan’s Cryptic Slaughter t-shirt and if you hung a guitar around singer Mike’s neck, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d actually just walked in on ‘Feel The Darkness’ era Poison Idea albeit with Jerry A doubling for Pig Champion (thank you Darrel Sutton for that one).
Next up Bristol’s Split Dogs, and my second time of seeing the outfit everyone seems to be talking about in just three days, and after playing their album almost non-stop after picking it up at the aforementioned TSOL gig you might have thought I’d have been be a little bit sick of hearing ‘Big Fred’ etc, but no, Harry and crew once again totally destroy The Cab with thirty minutes of incendiary punk rock, and it’s worth noting that I’m not the only one singing along too. With tonight also being bassist Jono’s last show with the band it all gets a little emotional when ‘Tear Down The House’ does exactly what it says on the tin, and everyone seemingly needs to take a minute outside to not only cool down but remove whatever it is they have in stuck their eyes.
Keeping things very much West Country flavoured Overpower are a thrash/hardcore crossover five piece who not only also do exactly what their name says but also have a singer who wears chainmail on stage, and a guitarist within their ranks who so wants to be Kerry King circa their ‘Hell Awaits’ that if you close your eyes you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re back in 1985. I’ve caught quite a few really quality new school thrash bands recently and alongside Grove Street and Devastator, it fills my heart with total joy to see the next generation like Overpower fully embracing the total insanity of what we older fuckers got to experience first time around.
Speaking of which, there was a time back in the mid ‘80s when my mulleted teenage self would make my weekly pilgrimage to Roxcene Records (just up the road from The Cab) never quite knowing what I’d pick up next. That emporium introduced me to bands like Crumbsuckers, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front and indeed tonight’s headliners, Murphy’s Law, as I searched for the fastest, most aggressive music I could find to impress my mates. I never actually saw the New York Hardcore legends back in the day though, and it’s two decades plus since they last played in the town’s also legendary TJ’s music venue, which meant that when they announced this very intimate Rebellion warm up show you had to be quick on the old virtual ticket front to ensure you were one of the lucky few through the door.
Vocalist Jimmy Gestapo is the only one remaining from those days and despite him being 58 years young later this month, he’s still the beer slugging crowd baiting maniac I’d always thought he would be live, venues like The Cab are where he feels most at home, and tonight playing their fifteenth show straight, he and his band mates are truly on fire.
Bodies and beers are flying all over the place straight from the off as the likes of ‘Crucial Bar-B-Q’, ‘Beer’ and ‘Care Bear’ take us back to the band’s classic debut album and they help turn The Cab into that scene at the end of Society where everyone seems to meld into one another. Its only when they unleash their cover of ‘Skinhead Girl’ about halfway in that the pace drops anywhere below frenzied, and it’s another cover in the shape of ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get their Head Kicked in Tonight’ that ultimately brings the night to a close, but not before we also get to witness Jimmy and gang corrupting the third perhaps even fourth generation of fan with the likes of ‘Panty Raid’, ‘What Will The Neighbors Think?’ and ‘Woke Up Tied Up’.
Tonight was everything a great punk rock show should be all about, great bands and great community spirit, and it was hotter than the Empress ballroom in here tonight, so for four hours at least I was happy in my own mini Rebellion not envious at all of those up North enjoying the real deal. There’s always next year…
Ex-Humpers Scott Drake & Jeff Fieldhouse lead this group along with Saul Koll, guitarist also from Lovesores, 8-Foot Tender & The World’s Strongest Men bands with bassist Anna Andersen & drummer Tim Connolly. Vinyl and CD are coming down the track so until such a time we’ll have to go down the digital route. Now stop monkeying around and pay attention this is serious. What we have for you is ten whoppers bristling with energy, enthusiasm, and above all quality. Of course, when it carries that seal of quality that is Scott ‘Guerrilla Deluxe’ Drake you know it’s going to be good at the very least.
We’ve spent the last few years being drip-fed tunes from this beat combo but no full-length album and wondering with the changing times and pandemics maybe our expectations were too high but then it just dropped ‘Under The Dagger’ is a bit of a slow-burning beast. Ten slices of that wonderful garage Rock n Roll burning the punk rock at one end and the Rock solid timeless Rock n Roll the other, meeting in the middle for an explosive blaze of glory.
Guerrilla Teens are: Deaf Jeff (guitar – vocals) Teenage Tim (drums – vocals) Guerrilla Deluxe (vocals) Anna Bananas (bass – vocals) Saul Teen (guitar)
After giving this years Rebellion a miss we decided that the opportunity to see T.S.O.L. and M.D.C. in the confines of Bristols Sweat box otherwise known as The Exchange was an opportunity we simply couldn’t turn down so across the border we headed. Let Johnny take you through The Split Dogs set –
In the five months since I first caught Split Dogs live, they’ve been making something of a name for themselves bombing up, down, and side to side along the South West’s motorway destroying pretty much everything in their path. They’s also gone and released a stonking ten track debut CD in conjunction with local promotors Death or Glory, so as you might expect, the (kind of hometown) crowd that greets the four-piece tonight is very handsome indeed, and I’m talking numbers here, not the fact that myself, and Nev are in attendance. Dom being his usually fashionably late self.
I’d been very impressed with Split Dogs when I’d seen them supporting Grade 2 back in March, even though it was me who was late that night, arriving just in time to catch around half of their set. Tonight, I made sure I was in early doors to guarantee I experience the full punch-drunk effect of Split Dogs live, as the song by the same name immediately lands a couple of knockout blows to my ears and brain and I’m down in round one.
Elsewhere its songs like ‘Big Fred’, ‘Feeder’, ‘Prison Bitch’ and set closer ‘Tear Down The House’ that I still clearly remember from that debut live encounter and that’s got to be a measure of just how good these tunes are, right? It’s also impossible to take your eyes off a band like Split Dogs when they have a singer as engaging as Harry delivering their missives. She’s equal parts Texas Terri, Wendy O Williams, and Hazel O’Connor and I’ll be fucked if I’d argue with her.
I wouldn’t ever want to upset man mountain bassist Jono either, however for all his tough appearance he’s just about to step away from the band to look after some serious family health matters, a decision that the rest of the Dogs have not only respected but also donated all the profits from their merch sales to, to help support their comrade in his time of need.
Look, if Amyl and the Sniffers can get to where they are today, then with a new bass player on board Split Dogs have every chance of following that path to success, because they are twice the band make no mistake. I predict a very busy 2024 for Split Dogs.
M.D.C. amble on stage and Dave Dictor takes the mic as the band continue to set up around him. Now for the uninitiated M.D.C stands for Millions Of Dead Cops and they play hardcore punk with a left wing message and have spent their entire career rallying against the far right nutjobs and easy targets with their message of love and respect for all others oh and cop bating mustn’t forget they do like to dis Governments and cops seeing as there is sooooo much material to dig into on the wrong doings of the American Governments since they formed back in 81.
Dave has fronted the band and they’ve often headed over the pond to play with the good and the greats from this side of the Atlantic but tongiht they are warming us up for T.S.O.L. and they waste no time at all in getting down to business with the track ‘Millions Of Dead Cops’ and straight from the get go this band are a tight unit. Without skipping a beat or fudging a note the band are right on the money thrashing about and attacking the music like it was the first time they’d played any of it. As tight as the snare skin that is getting a proper work out to be fair.
Now with some funny banter from Dave Erica and Barry work really well together weaving the notes around the likes of the fantastic (Born To Die) / ‘No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA’ the pit that has erupted is really going for it as Dave is working them hard as M.D.C. contort their way through a brutal 40 minute set with songs old and new. We were treated to the ‘Chicken Squawk’ as the band offered up some Cow Punk at 100 miles per hour and we got the most excellent harcore of ‘Multi Death Corporation’, ‘Patriot Asshole’, ‘Greedy And Pathetic’ and a new song I didn’t catch the name of that Dave said (if I’m correct) is part of their new record set for release later this year.
Of course, as the set drew to a close ‘John Wayne Is A Nazi’ gave the now salivating pit exactly what they wanted, the temperature of The Exchange had reached boiling point almost to the point of it being advertised as the South West largest sauna. In their short but oh-so-sweet set M.D.C. had crammed in a mightily impressive set, executed with aplomb by a band who are showing no sign of slowing down nor capable of phoning in a performance, absolutely, most excellent my friends.
Onto T.S.O.L. and I have to admit are one of my all-time favourite American punk bands who’ve always delivered captivating performances and released albums that have been some of my favourite records and managed to carry and marry the sound of early Damned and Lords Of The New Church with your faster more hardcore American punk whilst totally mesmerising me. Frontman Jack Grisham is a formidable performer and has a sharp wit as he prowls the stage like a bear ready to cut loose and devour whatever is in his way tonight as he moves across the compact stage he’s beaming and playfully engaging with the audience with some great introductions and stories. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself here. No keyboards, no Ron no… wait a minute, this is Jack and a bunch of press-ganged individuals? Well no I guess that is the short answer as he explained about the band’s injury room list and backs deeming unable to fly to Europe to stay in a van and try not to kill each other as well as Ron’s shoulder needing surgery for their friendship and sanity it was best they didn’t travel so Jack not wanting to cancel recruited his youthful relative Brandon in to play Bass and at short notice his performance was flawless it has to be said and supplying the barbed guitar work was the most excellent Trevor Lucca who delivered the tone you’d associate with Ron and the likes of Brian James as he cut the chops on the likes of ‘Terrible People’ and ‘WWIII’ with consummate ease.
So where were we? Ah yes, T.S.O.L. in The Exchange. Opening the set with a Joykillers song is cool with me and the set was smattered with a few Joykillers songs that fitted in with the best of T.S.O.L. that spewed forth from the dripping Exchange PA. Jack did mention they’d been in Greece and Italy before crossing onto Shit Island for a few shows and nowhere on the planet was currently hotter than the Exchange. ‘Terrible People’, ‘Superficial Love’, and ‘Sound Of Laughter’ is a devastating trios by anyone’s standard and the pickup band sounded like they’d been playing these tunes since the band’s inception back in the early 80s! Something that wasn’t lost on Jack.
It seemed like only yesterday the band released ‘The Trigger Complex’ and it was fantastic to hear a couple had made it into the set especially when ‘I Wanted To See You’ was one of them. We needed a breather of sorts but it was only brief I can assure you. With the newer songs dispatched it go tme thinking how underrated ‘The Trigger Complex’ album is, an absolute beast of a record no argument needed it’s right up there.
‘The Triangle’, the truly epic ‘Fuck You Tough Guy’, it was during a rapid ‘Wash Away’ I caught myself daydreaming a moment where I pondered how I wish I’d been able to have seen them around the point of the debut and ‘Beneath The Shadows’ when they were fresh faced punks turning in some legendry performances but alas it wasn’t to be but I have had the pleasure of half a dozen or so performances and they’ve never failed to deliver the goods and tonight was no exception, even after my initial disappointment of no Ron Emery and his tone and style I was won over when D.I.s stand in hit the strings and Jack, well, what can you say that hasn’t already been said hes a legend and rightly so and I hope this isn’t the last time we get to see him on a stage in the UK which he alluded to. It was time to try and savour the final knockings as the band destroyed an epic ‘Dance With Me’ before slaying all with the brilliant ‘Code Blue’ and we were done. 45 minutes of brilliance in my humble opinion and it would be a shame to call time when you still have the chops and an armoury of superb tunes.
Value for money during some shocking times for both sides of the pond. Maybe give us at least one more opportunity to say goodbye properly, I’d even bake a cake and bring balloons but don’t leave us like this Jack. T.S.O.L. still rule I saw it and we all know it. Thank you.
Swedish rockers release the retro rama-lama-retro album of the year. Put on your high heels and dust off the old TOTP albums the party is about to kick off.
Velvet Insane were formed in 2013 as a four piece outfit but by the time of their self titled debut album they were billed as a duo.
The first album took them around the world touring Europe, Japan, USA & Australia.
Their critically acclaimed debut was a fresh mix between classic rock, pop, inches of folk influences and it also contained traces of early 70’s British glam rock. And the band kept walking that glam track and now they’re back as a trio and this time it’s glam glitter boogie all over.
They hired the cult glamrockers Diamond Dogs frontman Sulo as a producer and together they’ve created a bright shining monster. You can hear the Sulo influence for sure in the epic opener ”Bamalama Breakout’ with all its mid seventies Glam rock n hollerbaloo going on its loud and proud and leaving you in no doubt that Rock and Roll is in the house now crack open the bubbly.
‘High Heeled Monster’ is certainly well titled if you’re looking for a description as to what this sounds like. ‘Boogie Star’ has a cowbell and a hoof footed Rock solid beat and big chorus its Mott The Hoople for the 21st Century and I’m down with that.
Smooth pop harmonies pumped up by heavy drums and barbed wire guitars and singer that wear it well. It brings back memories of a time when Slade, TREX, Bowie & Mott we’re topping the charts.
From the catchy singalong choruses of the pop gems “Velvet Tongue”, “Riding the Skyways” & “Sound of Sirens” to the frantic boogie energy in barroom stompers “Driving down the mountain”, “Backstreet Liberace” & “Spaceage DJ”, it’s the real thing.
You also get a glimpse of Ziggy Stardust in the acoustic ballad “Midnight sunshine serenade”.
Velvet Insane are a band that plays with their hearts on their sleeves and it’s satisfaction guaranteed.
Dregen and Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters jumps in the backseat in “Backstreet Liberace” and just like Rolling Stones honored the tradition of Muddy Waters blues Velvet Insane takes on the job to keep rock ’n’ roll alive.
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