Suzi Moon seems to have been around for ages and has achieved some mightily impressive releases thus far. From Civet through Turbulent Hearts and into her solo career, Suzi has achieved a lot for a fiercely independent artist. From those aforementioned bands to the split with Billy from Black Halos, it was about time that her spell with Turbulent Hearts got the treatment it thoroughly deserved. ‘All Out’ sets out to achieve just that and maybe balance the scales by putting together a pretty comprehensive collection spread over two lovely slabs of vinyl.
the journey shes been on has been followed by RPM having reviewed Civet and Turbulent Hearts live and on CD as well as her recent escapadeses as a solo artist shes matured into a very impressive songwriter and awesome performer leaving nothing on the stage her performances were always captivating but the music was also the thing that drives her. Turbulent Hearts deserves this double LPand it’s an essential chapter in the journey to where we are now.
After starting off as a young teenager, Suzi spent years touring in the Long Beach punk band Civet (alongside her older sister Liza Graves) before stepping up to the center stage mic with Turbulent Hearts in 2014. She’d been writing her own songs since the age of 13, and she was ready.
The band made their mark in the mid- to late-2010s, and after they parted ways, Suzi moved on to the garage psych combo LA Machina and ultimately, recording under her own name. Across the four sides of All Out, the band’s entire recorded output – 4 EPs and change over the course of 7 years – is collected in one place for the first time for fans old and new to enjoy.
Aided by the rhythm section of bassist Mark Johnson and drummer Jay Skowronek, Turbulent Hearts had the chops in the studio and on stage, letting Suzi take centre stage was right, and she shone brightest there, delivering the songs. Suzi admits it was a prolific period, and the quality of the output will stand the test of time, no question about it. Something of a rite of passage, if you like, to get to where she is now.
From the rampant gallop of ‘Panic’ through the measured groove of ‘Never Getting Over You’, Suzi can rage with the best of em but also has an eye on crafting pop melodies that have mass appeal. Choruses and hooks a plenty take ‘Cryin’ or ‘Redwood Nights’ for contrast, but a songwriter who knows what it takes.
Hell, punks can cut loose on ‘On My Own’ and ‘Hangin Around’ but it’s not all crash, bang wallop of course. ‘Notice Me’ coulda, shoulda and all that. To be fair, the spread of material is excellent and an album I highly recommend, not just for completists but for people who love Rock n roll with sweat, snot and a heap of cool. Get yourself the complete Turbulent Hearts in one fell swoop; you won’t regret it. Buy It!
After the departure of Cronos I sort of lost interest in one of my favourite punk metal band the mighty Venom. See I loved the trashy reckless noise the original trio made they always made me laugh with their interviews and their ott videos and the fact they were from the North East of England was the icing on the cake because obviously that was the entrance to the firey depths of Hell and to this day I stand by at war with satan as a masterclass in pure filthy metal punk noise. When they fell out and Cronos rode off into the depths of bealzibubs fold on his black station I turned my back on Mantas and what he was trying to do with the name and couldn’t bring myself to tune in and give them a chance but here we are many years later and a lot of water under the bridge and I ready myself for a deep dive into the depths of hades to experience and play catch up with this very nice Tony ‘The Demolition Man’ Dolan box set.
CD 1 features their 1989 full length recording ‘Prime Evil’, (including bonus tracks in the form of the ‘Tear Your Soul Apart’ EP) originally hailed as a triumphant return to form, while CD 2 features the follow up ‘Temples Of Ice’, originally released in 1991, whichincluded a Deep Purple cover. I know I balked at that one as well fellow metalhead and The final disc, CD 3, features the band’s 1992 full-length ‘The Waste Lands’.
True legends and trail blazers Venom were unique at a time when music was crying out fo ra twist on NWOBHM and Venom were it The media laughed at them and mocked whilst their core true believers loved the new Speed metal mixed with the harsher edges of punk that was venom.
‘Welcome To Hell’ (1981), ‘Black Metal’(1982) and ‘At War With Satan’ (1984). was a formidable trio before they began to run out of steam before the inevitable split in 1986.
Enter Atomkrafts Tony Dolan alongside drummer Abaddon and the mighty Mantas and new second guitarist Al Barnes. The four-piece signed with Music for Nations imprint Under One Flag and unleashed the ‘ Prime Evil’ record, which included a Black Sabbath cover. That album is bolstered here with the addition of six tracks from 1990s ‘Tear Your Soul Apart’ EP, including a Judas Priest cover .This release is complemented with the addition of liner notes from writer Darren Sadler, who conducted brand new interviews with Tony Dolan and Al Barnes. Barnes also contributed photos from his personal archive. Dolan, Abaddon and Mantas formed Venom Inc. in 2015 and have released two albums to date. The band continues to tour globally, although Mantas recently left the lineup. Cronos, meanwhile, tours under the Venom name with an alternative lineup (Confused? you will be), the two acts co-existing uneasily, but both keeping the Venom name alive and active and this catch all snapshot of the bands four piece line up is a fitting legacy of what they did next and to be fair I wish I’d given these records a go back in the day because to be fair they’re pretty decent even with all these years passing Dolan did a decent job to be fair whilst of course he was no Cronos replacement nobody could fill those Cherry red 96 hole doc martins but The Demolition Man was his own man and songs like ‘Parasite’ and ‘Skelital Dance’ are more than decent. He even holds his own on the bonus cuts of ‘Burstin Out’ and ‘Angel Dust’. Hell, ‘Temples Of Ice’ is decent enough as well, sure I can without all the keys n ambience, but when they get down to it, Venom 2.0 four-piece are a phat combo of rage, even on the final offering of ‘The Waste Lands’ they kicked up a stink, sure its not version Venom original nor is it as good as the disc one but they had fire in their bellies and if like me you never delved into these depths of Hell now is your chance and horns up, long live Venom whoever sails the good ship its been a hell of a ride and now my collection is complete, Hail santas, sorry typo, Satan!
The mighty Saxon continues their journey as one of the UK’s most well-known metal bands. Their output still comes thick and fast, but never compromising on quality. They know what their rabid fan base wants and deliver every time. They are still a formidable live act even though original member Paul Quinn decided to step down recently. Never fear, though; Diamond Head founder Brian Tatler stepped up and is a fantastic addition.
Eagles Over Hellfest is an epic documentation of Saxon’s blistering performance at Hellfest in France last year. The band smash out a set of classics and material from their latest LP Hell, Fire and Damnation. With a career as long as Saxon has enjoyed, picking a set of material must be a task. Everything you would expect to hear at a Saxon show is here: ‘Motorcycle Man’, ‘Power and the Glory’, ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, ‘Dallas 1PM’, ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ all sound incredible. The new tracks sound great too, we have the title track from Hell, Fire and Damnation and Madame Guillotine.
The band are on fire as always, but Biff Byford sounds better than ever; he’s constantly whipping up the crowd to a frenzy and has them in the palm of his hand. He’s singing better than people half his age.
A special shout out must go to drummer Nigel Glockler too. His playing is exemplary, a showcase in heavy metal drumming. Simply brilliant. Doug Scarratt plays his arse of too and even though I can’t see bass player Nibs Carter while listening to the album, I can picture him going crazy and constantly banging his head in my minds eye!
The album blasts through blistering versions of And the Bands Played On, Denim and Leather, Wheels of Steel, 747 (Strangers in the Night), Crusader, and finishes off with the legendary ‘Princess of the Night’. Crystal clear production from Biff makes you feel like you were there at Hellfest, singing along.
Saxon shows us yet again why they are a constant in the lives of metal fans all over the world and have influenced so many.
Note to self and anyone listening: PLAY LOUD! It’s been described as sonic warfare, and that’s exactly what it is. Formed in 1985, The Young Gods are a Swiss electronic rock band whose influence reigns over such heavyweights as Bowie and Mike Patton. What they do is electronic guitar-driven heavy load dropped on the listener in pulsating heavy doses endlessly shifting from genre to genre, thus making them difficult to pigeonhole and defying labelling.
The album kicks off with the title track, with a sense of cool, calm and collected aggression with the riff overriding as it punches through. Sure, there are moments of stylistic similarities to bands like NiN, but it reaches further. Industrial textures, post punk edges, and softly spoken verses, it’s the air of confidence that really draws you in.
I hope you’re sitting comfortably as the stunning ‘Blue Me Away’, I’m also going to cite U2 around the time of the big Lemon as well, it certainly got elements of that majestic period about this, albeit a darker edge. ‘Hey Amour’ is a slow burner that has sharp guitar breaks with crackling overdriven solos, a twitching and pulsating bassline.
The first half of the album is drawn to a conclusion with the twitching thumping hum of ‘Blackwater’, an impressive track that is widescreen post punk spreading its wings over almost six minutes.
Opening the second half of the album, ‘Tu En Ami Du Temps’ finds me in a style I’m not familiar with, something of a trip hop vib,e reminding me of a few bands I came across in the early 90s like Tricky. Odd noises and underpinned by static and sampling, again the best way to describe the territory we’re in is a widescreen soundscape.
In contrast, ‘Intertidal’ finds me in Portishead or Massive Attack meets a softer Trent Reznor territory electronic ambience with shimmering soundscapes and loose guitars chopping away in the distance.
Penultimate track ‘Shine That Drone’ has a pulsating droning synth line before heading off into some heavy alt-rock territory, the guitars slash along to the metronomic percussion. With the album brought to its end, ‘the band have one last dark message to impart in the form of ‘Off The Radar’ seems very much in the latter day Bowie territory. The production is excellent and draws you in, but it’s an album that demands you give it your full attention and preferably in the dark and played loudly.
Anyone who knows the modern metal scene probably already recognises that Cleveland’s Midnight are the closest thing we have today to the classic punk metal blitzkrieg of Motorhead, Venom, Tank and Warfare. That main man Athenar should follow up the band’s incendiary 2024 ‘Hellish Expectations’ album with an album chock full of covers, and it does not feature a single track by any of those bands, though, had all of us at RPM towers scratching our heads. I mean, maybe we’d got Midnight’s influences all wrong after all. Then, I got to do some (grave) digging….
Originally conceived as ‘Throw Ups’, in homage to David Bowie’s very own album of covers ‘Pin Ups’, before then being retitled as ‘Steel Rust And Disgust’ to fit in with the band’s previously named six syllable back catalogue. This is a twelve-track album that brings together ten covers of songs written by bands who shared the same sights, sounds, and sewage as Athenar’s region of birth so hence why there are no British bands, adding in a couple of new Midnight cuts.
The first of these newbies is ‘Cleveland Metal’ a track that hammers home not only the record’s purpose but also proves why no one betters Midnight when it comes to writing three-minute blasts of pure punk metal…no one, and that’s a fucking fact.
The other new cut on offer is the album’s title track, ‘Steel Rust And Disgust’ and this beast is more of a pounding red hot slab of molten black rock ‘n’ roll. It’s classic Midnight, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
It’s when we get to the cover versions that things get really interesting though as whilst (like me) you may be aware of the likes of ‘Final Solution’ (originally by Rocket From The Tombs), ‘3rd Generation Nation’ (originally by The Dead Boys) and ‘Frenzy’ (originally by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins) what you have yet to hear is the total pummelling these tunes get in the hands of Athenar, the later in particular being delivered with the type of frenzied reverence that Lemmy used to have for the old classics.
Of the less familiar tunes on offer, take your pick from ‘Child Eaters’ (originally by Rubber City Rebels), ‘Iron Beast’ (originally by Kratos) or ‘Rock N Roll Fever’ (originally by David Allan Coe) with which to start your journey into a whole new world of great rock music. Of course, they are all given the compulsory Midnight mauling, but nonetheless, they are all made to sound like songs Athenar himself could have written, and that for me is the art of doing a great cover version, making it your own.
Which just leaves me with ‘I’m Insane’ (originally by Synastryche) where I must admit I really was hoping for a cover of the Ratt classic of the same name (if only they were from Cleveland), the VoiVod-esque ‘Carrions Keep’ (originally by False Hope) plus the short sharp shocks of ‘Black Leather Rock’ and ‘Agitated’ (originally by Electric Eels) to round things off in truly chaotic fashion.
At times, cover albums can be something of a hit or miss affair (I mean, just look at ‘Pin Ups’), but ‘Steel Rust And Disgust’ is 100% underground hit after muthafuckin’ hit. BUY IT!!!!!
Following on from last year’s acclaimed ‘R.O.I.’ album, Manchester’s favourite sons Aerial Salad are set to return to the fray with a brand new 5-track EP titled ‘Roi de l’herbe’, to be released June 27th on 12” vinyl and digital via Venn Records.
No longer in the same line of spirit destroying day job work, with some seriously exciting gigs on the horizon, Aerial Salad wanted to kick off the next era of the band with a short, fast and hard EP and have served up five absolute bangers that sit somewhere between 2020’s ‘Dirt Mall’ album and ‘R.O.I.’
Today, the band have previewed another cut from the forthcoming EP with new single ‘Wires’, which is, as singer and guitarist Jamie Munro explains, “an aggressive dismantling of modern work/life culture. As we head ever deeper into the digital abyss. I’d rather be on fire than have to spend my life looking at spreadsheets.
“’Wires’ is an outcry to anyone following something in life, he continues. “The most ‘punk’ movement of my youth was the grime movement. It was ALL DIY, and it absolutely dominated British culture – there’s a lot of similarities between grime / punk/ hardcore. From the fashion to the beats. So, we thought we’d do a 50-pound music video ‘on a nostalgic backdrop’. ‘Wires’ picks up from where ‘Telekon 5’ left – you can’t keep drifting from what you believe in, and you can’t be tied by matters beyond what’s really important in life.”
“The EP is like the teaser for what’s next,” summarises Jamie. “The overall hook for this EP is one of hope, that by sticking to what you believe in you can do anything.”
Catch Aerial Salad live at the following dates in 2025:
16/05/25 PERIGUEUX – LE MOULIN DE ROUSSEAU 17/05/25 MONTAIGU – FURY DANCE 18/05/25 RENNES – TY ANNA
UK TOUR 21/06/25 NEWCASTLE – ZEROX 22/06/25 GLASGOW – THE GARAGE (ATTIC) 24/06/25 BIRMINGHAM – SUNFLOWER LOUNGE 25/06/25 LONDON – THE SOCIAL 27/06/25 MANCHESTER – SOUP 28/06/25 SHEFFIELD – CORPORATION
Blacklist Union continue to create their own irresistible & shamanistic blend of Stone Temple Pilots, Guns N’ Roses, Malfunkshun, The Cult & Mother Love Bone. Following the 2024 singles ‘Horns & Halos’ & ‘Hey Mr Superstar’, new single ‘Mississippi Moonhound’, a swampy, swaggering anthem that captures the feeling of being haunted by your past while howling into the night for something more.. The debut single from the forthcoming LP ‘Slay the Dragon’, the band’s 6th studio album. Produced by Christopher Johnson (Evanescence, Hans Zimmer, Scott Weiland, Josh Todd, Bryan Adams, Phoebe Bridgers) Previous album ‘Letters from the Psych Ward’, racked up over two million streams.
Blacklist Union main man Tony West was raised in the Bronx on Ramones, Bad Brains, & the New York hardcore scene. ‘Go West young man’..Tony made his way to Los Angeles as a 19 years old, initially collaborating with guitarist Todd Youth (Murphy’s Law/Danzig) & Malfunkshun, who had been kept active by Andy Wood’s (Malfunkshun/Mother Love Bone singer) brother Kevin Wood. In 2006 Tony decided to pursue his own musical direction, and Blacklist Union were formed, the band’s debut album, ‘After the Mourning’ was released the same year. The band is currently managed by veteran industry pro Paul Crosby from the Grammy nominated, multi-platinum band Saliva. West also recorded with Saliva, and Jon E. Love (Love/Hate) back in 2014.
Blacklist Union has earned a reputation for their explosive live shows. Last November, they stormed the West Coast with punk legends Dead Boys, followed by a December tour with former Saliva frontman Josey Scott, hitting Tennessee, Colorado, & California with their trademark intensity. West says, ‘Our music will transport you from the gritty streets of the Bronx to the wild energy of Los Angeles..’
Welcome to the Wild Wild West…
Blacklist Union LIVE – Cruefest Hollywood @ the Whisky A Go-Go – 8901 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood Los Angeles – July 12th, 2025 Bar Sinister -1652 N Cherokee Ave, Los Angeles – September 13th, 2025 Social Media/Online
Seattle rockers The Drowns’ debut album ‘View From the Bottom’ gets the proper reissue it deeply deserves. In case you missed this first time round, Pirates Press have done the decent thing and given it a new lease of life and energy, and hopefully taken it further round this spinning rock than previously.
There is a gritty attitude in these songs that’s bursting with energy coming across like a youthful Handsome Dick meets Mike Ness on the vocals with a working class rock n roll feel bursting out of your speakers. The album sounds better than ever, thanks to the expert re-mastering job courtesy of legendary Seattle producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Murder City Devils…just to name a few)!
The Drowns have spent the last 7 years doing it their way, with a sound that’s part Rancid in places with the same kinda energy that they have with a dream in your heart and determination in your feet to carry you around the globe and back hoping that something resonates with an audience and within these tracks there is easily enough great songs bursting with passion and honesty Like ‘Time Slips’ which has that x factor in its melody that collides with those rough distorted guitars and they all marry with a gang vocal chorus that is made to endure.
This new version features all new art, with a minimalist, black on black spot-matte jacket with a metallic red foil-stamped pitchfork paying homage to the original album cover photo, this looks a little classier if I’m honest. Following the original album closer “Darkness” is an encore of a bonus track: a cover of ‘Satyagraha’ by 7Seconds. always good to mix up these re-releases and a new lick of paint and bonus tracks, it’s for everyone, old and new. Oh, and I hope Bobby’s doing ok after going back on the gear. I got on board with their excellent ‘Lunatics’, so this is great to see with a new makeover for 2025. Get on punk rockers, you won’t regret it.
View From the Bottom by The Drowns is available for pre-order via the Pirates Press Records
Right here’s the deal, Kirk Brandon has revisited Spear Of Destiny albums before with very favourable results, so why not continue that trend with a couple more and retitle them ‘Janus’ and re-record them with choice B Sides and left off the originals. What 2025 delivers is a modern sounding bells and whistles full bodied audio assault on plenty of Staple Spear Of Destiny classics and if you’d never heard of the band and their music with ‘Janus’ as your only reference you’d be fuckin delighted with a sonic modern sounding all killer no filler double album. To be fair, the lineup helps when they’re this bloody good, as well as adding their feel and take on these tracks.
There you go in a nutshell, if you are new to Brandon and his music, then work your way backwards with this bastard. Cast your mind back to the late 80s and ‘Outland’ in 87 followed by ‘The Price You Pay’ in 88 throw the running list in the air and start again in 2025, sure the songs have stood the test of time well and aged like affine wine as has Brandons vocals to be fair. The Distinctive style is intact, but a mature well well-rounded delivery is harnessed, and the sound of the band and production is excellent, and whilst a project of this nature could potentially fall flat, this most certainly doesn’t.
Two years in the making Brandon has alluded to the reasons why and why now. He went on to explain now was the time to deliver what he’d originally imagined the records to sound like and hes justifiably proud of how the project has turned out and so he sould be.
Not being a stranger to revisiting old music, this one has some proper bangers given a facelift and the sound is full blooded and much richer, take ‘Soldier Soldier’ for example, which has had the missing last verse put back in but to be fair hearing these songs like this for the first time in a long time has been a real pleasure.
Also, the CD version includes 6 bonus tracks. So raise a glass to Kirk and a special mention for Steve Allen Jones, Phil Martini, Craig Adams and Adrian Portas, and Clive Osborne deserve credit for their part in bringing these songs back to life. Quite simply, buy it!
A 28 date UK tour will commence on Wednesday 28th April 2025 and conclude on Sunday 1st June 2025 to support the release, including the now infamous Westworld Weekend in Wolverhampton UK, Kirk Brandon’s fan club weekender now in it’s 21st year!
So you’re prepared to stand in line this April for a copy of Bluey or the Dead Or Alive seven-inch single you never owned, or maybe some obscure soundtrack or Elvis compilation, it’s a broad church. Maybe RSD has lost its gloss and you won’t touch it with a barge pole. Me, I’m torn because there’s always something I’m after, but a lot of the 2024 list made it onto the mailorder lists and with a few exceptions, most were available at decent prices. This year is more of the same with a few eyebrow-raising listed costs thrown in just to upset us all. Heres a few in the mixed bag that I’ve come across and some I’ve been lucky enough to have got hold of to review. Sure there are hundreds more released this April 12th and you might not agree with my selections but good luck in whichever way you choose to spend your money and I can only apologise on some of the prices this year they are truly crazy and maybe the independent retailer has managed to begin canabalising itself and who knows where the cost of a new record in 2025 is heading but until the dust settles these are a few solid choices with the previously reviewed “utter Filth” choice of The Dwarves who won this years RSD 2025 release of the day challenge hands down.
The Adicts – Rockers Into Orbit (Jungle/Fallout Records) ‘Viva Le Revolution’ sounding like it’s old school bootleg meets brand new shiny tech for a close your eyes and let the music wash over you moment. Like it or loath it, RSD does throw up some curious releases, and this year is no exception with this one on clear vinyl, it’s The Adicts live and in the raw, where they’ve always worked best. Slamming from one into the next, it’s a great showcase for just how bloody good The Adicts are live. Sure, the theatrics from frontman and Ipswich Town fan Monkey the Adicts have some proper bangers in their repertoire from the opener and one of their most well-known song through the rapid ‘Lets Go’ to ‘Joker In The Pack’ ‘Chinese Takeaway’ and ‘Bad Boy’ they’re all here to be fair and a whole lot more besides. If you’re looking for VFM this RSD then this is a good bet with a whopping thirteen bonus tracks and a much improved jacket to house this splendid double album in. Pick one up, it’s excellent and has not been pressed for thirty-five years! My God, how time flies.
UK Subs – Japan Today (Jungle/ Fallout Records) The Subs in the 80s was a curious thing, and post Gibbs, Roberts, Harper and Garrett line up it was always going to be tough. The last few RSD have seen plenty of Subs action with comps n stuff and they are constantly havign a boost of the back catalogue with coloured pressings or different formats to keep the fans interested and maybe outside of the general consensus of “classic” subs albums I do like to revisit them from time to time so I have no problem with reissues on RSD because we do need to champion bands as good as the UK Subs. In fact the last reissue was the really good ‘Flood Of Lies’, so I’m not shocked that ‘Japan Today’ is next, although I do vaguely remember there being a gatefold version I purchased a few years ago of this album. The LP starts off with the excellent ‘Another Cuba’. I’ve always been a fan of Darrell Bath’s guitar work. The guy was so underrated. ‘Punk Rap’ always made me giggle and as the kids would say, WTF. Anyway, moving on, ‘Streets On Fire’ is Subs by numbers and something Charlie could write in his sleep and the likes of ‘Captain Scarlet’ might not be remembered as fondly as a ‘Warhead’ or ‘Limo Life’, but hey, it is what it is. Side two might be a little duller, but it does have ‘Hey Santa’ and that’s always welcome for an April released album, there’s always ‘Surf Bastard’ and the excellent ‘Street Legal’, something of a tip of the hat to Johnny Thunders, I always thought with its very Dolls like groove. It is remastered, so to be fair, it’s never sounded as good as this, and being RSD it’s pressed on Orange vinyl, so get in line Subs fans, this one’s for you.
Fields Of The Nephilim – Fallen (Jungle Records) Ah The Fields Of The Nephilim and their 2002 album ‘Fallen’ the bait on this particular hook is simple, its not been available for ages (over a decade to be exact) this gatefold double album contains an essay from Mick Mercer its on yellow vinyl (should have been smokey colour – missed a trick there) and the bonus disc is ‘Live In Roskilde’ from 2000. Always an album that took an eternity to get going with the intro and then the epic ‘From The Fire’, it’s an album that took a while to create an impact with me as well. It wasn’t until ‘Subsanity’ hit the speakers did I take notice, and it never had the impact of the very early days of the band, but this version is well worth picking u,p considering the bonus disc is so bloody good. The final two tracks being ‘Dawnrazor’ and the mighty ‘Psychonaut’ turning this maybe purchase into a must own.
With a few years between this albums release and the live show to now – this record and it’s dark offerings has been fermenting and a few things stood out such as the sonic scapes on this remastered version or maybe my equipment is just better now as I’m older but the depth of ‘Hollow Doll’ and the title track in particular sounded much better than I anticipated whoever did the job did it very well. As mentioned, the real gold here has to be the inclusion of the live material live at Roskilde. It’s sadly not the full ten track set but highlights of six of the best: ‘Preacher Man’, ‘Moonchild’, ‘For Her Light’, ‘Love Under Will’, ‘Dawnrazor’ and ‘Psychonaut’, which will justify about £30 of any self-respecting Goth’s money.
Neurotic Outsiders – ‘Self Titled’ (Rhino Records) Double LP that originally came out on Madonna’s label featured a superstar lineup of Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, Steve Jones, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum. An album of its time in the 90s that should have been huge and a base point for all budding rockers to check in on and learn how to hone their craft. Jones’ guitar tone and croon is the album’s high point – ‘Nasty Ho’ is what a rock album should open with. It sets the tone and lays down a marker for others to follow, and what a meaty riff it is too.
It never got the love it deserved and sort of crept out of the RSD 25 list rather than with a fanfare announcing its arrival. This is, for me, exactly what RSD is about. A record having its due respect paid and put on vinyl (finally) with the second disc being the Japanese-only bonus disc. Beautiful, now get the band back together and let’s get some proper touring done. It’s a great blend of covers and original songs penned by the individuals and interpreted by what is and was a real super group no doubt about it. Possibly my pick of the RSD class of 25.
The Dictators – D.F.F.D. (Mainman Records) Another of this year’s gems. Dictators Forever Forever Dictators was the last Studio album the band recorded with Handsome Dick Manitoba and what a fantastic set of songs it is. From the anthemic ‘Who Will Save Rock N Roll’ to the intimidating ‘Avenue A’ possibly the best two songs the band ever wrote.
‘I Am Right’ is a swift punch to the nose and ‘Pussy And Money’ is pure NYC. If you can find a copy out in the wild, then don’t hesitate. They might be in the throes of an irreparable feud of words between the band, but they can be proud of this awesome album – Buy It!
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