Manic Street Preachers have released a short film to accompany their recently released single ‘Orwellian’. The track gets a new visual accompaniment from the archive as well as improvised footage, beautifully constructed and directed by frequent band collaborator Kieran Evans. The band will be touring in the autumn/winter following the release of their 14th studio album, ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’, on 3rd September 2021 and have recently announced new rescheduled dates for 2 shows they are playing for the NHS this year
Pre-order;’The Ultra Vivid Lament’ from the official store (https://manicstreetpreachers.lnk.to/store) to get early access to tickets for the tour, with a pre-sale starting on Weds 19th May at 10am. Tickets go on general sale on Friday 21st May at 10am –
‘Pentirch Rising’ isthe first single from the forthcoming new album ‘The Hope’, which is released on 15th October, on Graphite Records. On the anniversary of the last English revolution; 1817’s Pentirch Rising, Ferocious Dog proudly release the single of the same name. The new album “The Hope” can be ordered Here
From The Blips self titled album. Out on Cornelius Chapel Records
The purveyors of all things awesome and loud on plague island have only gone and made a smoking-hot video for their brand new single ‘No Stranger To Failure’. The band has a huge back catalogue of releases with this being the 30th single of their illustrious career and as good a time as any to fall in love with their unwavering sounds.
From the looks of it, the band has spent lockdown working out and writing more top tunes – Hit em up Here
Right seeing as were struggling midway through 2021 what with no live shows still and with opening up being on hold how about we introduce you to some fantastic bands we love and think you would love? OK, First up in this series we’ve got Donnie from The Satanic Overlords Of Rock ‘n’ Roll to fill in a few blanks about who they are and why you should investigate them further. make yourself comfortable and lend us your ear…
Firstly introduce yourself who are you and what is your role in the band?
I’m Donnie Stokes and I’m the vocalist for the band.
Where did you get the band name from? Were any others in contention?
One of our guitarists and main songwriter Bill Fool was getting divorced at the time we started playing together. While in court his ex-wife stood and pointed at him and said he was some sort of devil worshiper thinking it would somehow help her case. Needless to say, it came across as ridiculous as it sounds. So that night the band was out drinking and having a good laugh about it and came up with the name as a jab at her and her ridiculous accusation. The name stuck and here we are. I can’t speak for all of us but most don’t even believe in the devil haha. I know we threw around some other names at the time but I don’t remember much with all the debauchery going on at the time. I did throw in a name that I will still use eventually. I’ve always wanted to use Righteous Motherfuckers.
How long has the band been together?
We’ve been a band now for about six years.
Did it take long to get the sound you wanted?
Everything kinda fell right into place right from the get-go. Every song is all over the place with us. We have so many influences in common and not in this band.
What about songwriting? how do you get to complete a song? What’s the process that works for you guys?
Bill will usually come in with a song that’s pretty well complete musically, he plays it for the band and we start jamming, some things change and we have a tune. I usually come up with a melody first and write lyrics later. We have songs that Bill has written music, lyrics, and all for as well. I typically will not finish all lyrics until we’re about to record. There are videos from our first gigs and the lyrics aren’t even close to what ended up on the record.
I loved the debut album but it’s so expensive to import from the States will the next one have European distribution? Will the debut ever get a repress? maybe for a European tour?
We definitely want to make our records more available to the masses especially with the next record. At the moment we’re writing and concentrating on the new record and a Euro tour is always in the works. Covid took its toll on everyone and set everything back a bit but we have a good following in Europe and many friends spread throughout. You will definitely see us in the future.
You recently contributed to the Heavy Medication tribute album for New Bomb Turks. How did that come about? Any other covers you’ve recorded?
I’m not quite sure how it all started or who contacted who. Bill typically handles all that business but we’re huge fans of the band and the label rules. We hadn’t all been in the same room together in quite a while when we recorded that tune and I had some troubles having not sung in so long but we pushed through and got to be a part of a great record with many other awesome bands. As far as other covers, we recorded an Adam Ant tune for a split that didn’t happen but we’re now working on using it for a split with The Chuck Norris Experiment.
I love a good 7″ split and you guys recorded one always seems like a great idea to me for like-minded bands to do an EP together. Johny Manic is a great band but who else would you love to record a split with and what song of theirs would you do?
Personally, I would love to do a split with The Hookers out of my home state of Kentucky or The Dwarves. I’d love to do “Back Alley trash” I’m sure there are many artists between all of us that we’d love to do a split with.
How have you occupied your time as a band during lockdown?
We really didn’t as a band but Bill and Cheech kept busy with Night Cobra and Gil kept busy with Killer Hearts.
Any plans nailed down for post lockdown?
Looking forward to getting the next record written and getting our asses back out there.
Looking at your own role in the band what made you want to be in a band?
I’ve wanted to do this for as long as I can remember. When I first started, I was deathly shy and scared shitless but once the music started it was the best feeling I’ve ever had. I still have tons of anxiety before I play all the way up to the moment before that first guitar hits. The moment the music starts, it all goes away and I’m where I belong.
What instruments do you play and is there any musical role you’d like to master?
I honestly have owned guitars for thirty-plus years and have never mastered the instrument. I’ll stick to vocals haha.
What about in the studio, is it something you enjoy recording?
I’m the only one in the band that hates the studio. I’ve never been able to find that sweet spot, that natural feeling that you get while on stage. If I can find a way to channel all that attitude that I have on stage on this next record, look the fuck out. I plan on making it happen somehow some way this time. We have some great tunes for this next record that we’ve been playing live and they’ll stand up next to anything out there.
As for live – you’ve shared the stage with some great bands. What has impressed you individually about a particular band and what have you learned from others? Are there any bands you’d like to hit the road with?
We’ve played with so many of our favorites and have had nothing but great experiences with all of them. I learned to keep my shirt on from Eddie Spaghetti haha. I remember the first time we played with them he told someone in the band that “It was great until your singer took his shirt off” Hahaha.
I’d like to tour with The Dwarves or Electric Frankenstein. There are too many to name.
Finally, anything I’ve forgotten or should have asked you?
We don’t write love songs, we write songs about fucking, getting fucked, getting fucked up, and fucked up people. Very deep stuff. Haha.
SAMI YAFFA, best known for his work with New York Dolls, Michael Monroe Band and Hanoi Rocks has released “The Last Time”, it’s the first single taken from his first solo album “The Innermost Journey to Your Outermost Mind”, out on September 22nd, 2021 via Livewire/Cargo Records. ‘The Last Time‘ can be streamed on Spotify
“The Last Time is one of the first songs I wrote for this album when still living in Brooklyn NY back in 2015. It’s a story about two people whose communication is stuck. How hard it is to change one’s habits, no matter how much one wants it. It’s about the frustration and distress of addiction” – Sami Yaffa
Line Up:
Sami Yaffa – Vocals, Bass Guitar (Hanoi Rocks, Michael Monroe, New York Dolls)
Rich Jones – Guitars (Michael Monroe Band)
Christian Martucci – Guitars (Stone Sour)
Rane Raitsikka – Guitars (Smack)
Timo Kaltio – Guitars (Izzy Stradlin, Cheap And Nasty)
Janne Haavisto – Drums
Produced by Sam Yaffa. Mixed by Erno Laitinen. Mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen At Finnvox Studios. Recorded by Erno Laitinen / Sam Yaffa / Janne Haavisto / Jose “Puter” Puigserve.
Sami Yaffa has had a unique career as a musician. He joined the punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy at the tender age of 16 and played on the bands now legendary album Moottoritie On Kuuma. Pelle Miljoona Oy was Finland’s number one band at the time, but Yaffa and his future cohorts were aiming higher: as an original member of the band Hanoi Rocks, he spent the first half of the 80’s as an international rock musician with all its ups, downs and trappings. The band influenced many of the acts that would later become huge in the world of Rock n’ Roll – including Guns n` Roses.
After the break-up of Hanoi Rocks, Yaffa was asked to join some of the most notable artists in R’n’R history such as Joan Jett and The Blackhearts 2002-04, as well as one of Hanoi Rocks’ major influences, the New York Dolls 2004-10. In 2009 he started a band with the Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe. This collaboration continues to this day, but now Yaffa is also releasing music under his own name.
“The idea for the solo album started to take shape a few years back. Previously I had written music for the New York Dolls and the Michael Monroe Band, but now some of the songs that I was writing and had written, started to sound more and more like my own stuff instead of what I would write for those bands.”
What kind of music does Yaffa release under his own name then? Versatile. “I’ve always loved bands like The Clash and Rolling Stones. They could write country, funk, reggae, rock`n`roll or jazz without fear and make it their own. I wanted to have that same kind of versatility and freedom for my own record.”
The album has wide influences, but that is hardly surprising to those who have followed Yaffa’s career: in addition to his own musical career, he has been getting to know the musical traditions from different parts of the world as the host and co-creator for the Sami Yaffa: Sound Tracker TV series. “However, my roots are deeply in punk and rock`n`roll. I don’t shy away from that.”
Even though it’s a solo record, Sami has always been a member of bands and because of that, a team player. Yaffa mentions a couple of names without whom the record would not have come to completion – at least the way it finally became. The first to mention is a childhood friend, drummer Janne Haavisto with whom Sami made his first forays into the world of music. Sami and Janne created the basic tracks together and invited valued friends and musicians to collaborate on the album. Rich Jones, the guitarist from the Michael Monroe band helped pull together a lot of the songs lyrically, Christian Martucci from the band Stone Sour played guitar on half of the album, the other half was played by another old friend Rane from the cult band Smack and Sami’s old bro from the Hanoi days, Timo Kaltio.
Life on the road isn’t all glamour and rock’n’roll excess and Motörhead’s punishing tour schedule in 1981 took them all over the globe as they rode high on the success of Ace Of Spades. One integral part of the daily grind on the road is the sound check, although very little of it is ever seen or documented in the public domain.
Fortunately during the Short Sharp Pain In The Neck tour of March 1981, Motörhead had a mobile recording studio in tow as they recorded their thunderous, number 1 live album, No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith now celebrating its 40th year. This rare recording of them performing ‘Stay Clean’ as they warmed up for the night at Newcastle on 30th March is accompanied by a video containing behind the scenes montages of the backbone of the Motörhead live show; the legendary road crew!
Ryan Hamilton shoots to thrill at the halfway point in his 1221 Project
How can it be June already?
Back in January 2021, Texan singer/songwriter announced his 1221 project, his intent to release a new song a month for the duration of the year. This month’s track, ‘Shots Fired’ sees us reaching the halfway point with a floor-stomping rocker.
What was the inspiration behind this latest track?
This song is about getting used. I’ve had some TOXIC relationships in my life… as lots of people have. So I got a feeling this song is gonna resonate with lots of folks. When you stay in a poisonous relationship, simply because there’s a singular good thing… whether it’s sex, or not feeling alone… whatever it may be. We ignore the abundance of reasons we should GET OUT, and stick around anyway. Why do we do that? This song is about that.
With half of 1221 already done, are you able to share anything about the remaining six months of releases yet to come?
From here on in, everything is rock n roll. I can’t wait to share the rest.
On the cover image for ‘Shots Fired’, you appear to be the victim of said shots – what’s happening there?
I wanted an image that portrayed a man being used. I’ll let you decide just HOW he might have been used 😉
Hamilton was recently heralded by Spin magazine as one of the ‘Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years’.
RYAN HAMILTON RELEASES “Shots Fired” 12 JUNE 2021, VIA WICKED COOL
See Bumblefoot, Earl Slick and others in “Band of Thieves,” new video by The Compulsions
Only a fool would underestimate Compulsions founder and frontman, Rob Carlyle. Armed with merely a shoestring budget and a crazy dream, the underground New York rocker remains an undeniable force to be reckoned with.
Even with somewhat limited activity, The Compulsions’ creative output never fails to hit like a nuclear bomb. For most artists in today’s frivolous and forgettable music world, this would be laughable hyperbole. However, there’s simply no denying the mountain of critical acclaim that’s been heaped upon Rob Carlyle & The Compulsions since Day One.
The Compulsions’ newest release, Ferocious, adds to a 17-year long rap sheet of wildly positive press. For example, “What Rock Was Like When It Was Considered Real” (Underground Press), “Think Early ‘70s Rolling Stones Transported To Present Day” (Fear & Loathing), “The Rock & Roll Record We Were Expecting And Craving” (RPM Online), and even “I Prefer Compulsions Versions Of Guns N’ Roses, Rolling Stones Songs” (Get Ready To Rock). Combined with ratings such as “10 Out Of 10” (Powerplay Magazine) and “9 Out Of 10” (Vive Le Rock), and it’s hard to describe Ferocious as anything less than a rock ’n’ roll masterpiece.
Ferocious was released on November 13, 2020 via Compulsions Records and now, seven months later, an accompanying video has suddenly been unleashed on the unsuspecting public. Here’s what Rob had to say about the vid for “Band Of Thieves,” which features many of the heavies who performed on Ferocious, including ex-Gunner, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and David Bowie guitarist, Earl Slick.
“The studio footage you’re about to see has been on my phone for the last four or five years. Good thing I didn’t drop it in the toilet, because now the video that’s been playing in my head can finally become a reality – and thanks to my editor friend, Anthony Marinelli, it’s even better than I imagined.”
The track, “Band Of Thieves,” and the video were both influenced by the Road Warrior films, as Rob explained to Australia’s The Rockpit in his track-by-track breakdown of Ferocious:
“For ‘Band Of Thieves,’ I deliberately kept the lyrics kinda vague, so you can’t tell if I’m singing about a marauding motorcycle gang or a rock ‘n’ roll band. ‘Band Of Thieves’ is inspired by the soundtrack to Mad Max: Fury Road by Junkie XL. It’s funny because there’s the monster double-neck guitar player in Fury Road and this song features Bumblefoot on monster double-neck guitar!”
Also appearing in the video are local luminaries and frequent Compulsions collaborators: drummer Brian Delaney (ex-New York Dolls), bassist Alec Morton (ex-Raging Slab), guitarist Hugh Pool (New York Blues Hall Of Fame), keyboardist Andrew Sherman (Butter Music + Sound), and producer Ken Rich (Grand Street Recording).
“I remember when Ken played me the first mix of ‘Band Thieves.’ It felt like my teeth had been kicked in,” recalls Carlyle. “Which is exactly what we were going for. I hope that everyone who plays the song and the video experiences the same kind of musical beatdown.”
For regular updates on Rob Carlyle & The Compulsions, follow the band on Instagram and YouTube, and keep your eyes on thecompulsionsnyc.com. Ferocious is available at Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify and more. If you don’t check it out right now, you’re a fool.
Manic Street Preachers have moved their previously announced shows in July at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena to Sunday 19th and Monday 20th September 2021. This is due to the recently announced capacity restrictions and continued uncertainty over if the shows can be played in full in July.The first night is a free show for NHS staff, the second had tickets available to the public with all profits going to NHS Wales charities.
All tickets remain valid for the rescheduled dates. For anybody who is unable to make the free show for NHS staff should contact Ticketmaster so they can be offered to another member of NHS staff. For anybody who is unable to make the rescheduled date for the fundraising NHS charities show, refunds will be available at point of purchase.
Tickets for Free Concert for NHS staff originally scheduled for Friday 16th July 2021 will only be valid for NEW date of Sunday 19th September 2021.
Tickets for fundraising show for NHS charities originally scheduled for Saturday 17th July 2021 will only be valid for NEW date of Monday 20th September 2021.
Here we have ‘seven year itch’ a perfectly titled follow up to the 2014 debut by this goth tinged supergroup 69 Cats. Ghoul’d up to max, showing more tricks and treats than Elvira on October 31st.
Like a lot of our readers I have a great love of all things rockabilly, psychobilly and goth. And this ensemble certainly tick all of the boxes on paper, but I cannot shake the feeling that this record is ambling across well trodden ground to an obvious degree. Don’t get me wrong, the group’s core sound is quite unique, but like Eddie Spaghetti once said “you say cliché, I say classic”. I definitely do not speak for everyone.
The record starts off really promising with an interesting vibe, but four songs in without deviation from this formula….. It can get very grating to say the least. Opening track ‘she’s hot’ kicks off with a promising pace and has some killer guitar licks, but particularly vocal wise, never hits the next gear. The following track ‘Hollywood’s bleeding’ continues this stop-start approach, giving the listener some hooks but never really developing them further making the songs come across as a bit pedestrian as well as the fact that this second track and third track ‘you’re the kind of girl I need’ are pretty interchangeable to an almost boring degree.
As I say, I normally am a fan of the genres touched on this record, and possibly the band knows what is best for their bread and butter audience. But for this listener, everything, even down to the song titles seems a little too obvious eg: ‘graveyard blues’, ‘vampire shuffle’. Don’t get me wrong, having song themes like this is not a problem, it’s what the fundamentals of rock ‘n’ roll are all about. It’s just you have to have the excitement and the drive to back it up and this record is severely lacking.
Overall to a lot 69 Cats’ audience, this will be meat and potatoes rock ‘n’ roll, but to those casual visitors to this genre, this record may, unfortunately, be a one listen affair.
When we all found out on the weekend via social media of the sad passing of Lord Zion I’ve thought about his passing and how we could pay tribute to a beautiful soul that touched several of us at RPM Online back in the early days of Uber Rock so I approached Gaz to put his feelings into words and pay a fitting tribute to Lord Zion. I hope these words bring even a small amount of comfort to his partner Vikki and show how well respected he was and how his positive attitude had an effect on us all. Rest in peace Zion.
“When news broke over the weekend that Lord Zion had passed away I, like every one of you I suspect, recoiled in both shock and horror. Then the sadness kicked in. Known to most as the frontman of SPiT LiKE THiS, and to many as one half of gloriously offensive T-shirt company, Smell Your Mum, Zion was once a member of a gang that we called the Uber Rock Massive; a group of clued-in music outsiders trying to change the business one chord, one paragraph at a time. Whether it was via an autobiographical article or a typically OTT video rounding up the latest rock news alongside his partner-in-crime, Vikki, Zion totally captured the spirit of what we were trying to achieve with the Uber Rock website and its spin-offs. Uber Rock still exists in another form in another corner of the Internet, but that original, aforementioned UR spirit is now strong in RPM via its editor and scribes, hence the need for acknowledgment of Zion’s passing here: he is a part of the fabric as much as any other person who made the jump to this site.
The first time I met Zion he greeted and spoke to me as if I were an old friend and, as he dipped regularly into a Tupperware container full of cold meats, I smiled a smile that never left any time that I was fortunate to be in his company. His quirks were brilliant – “I never carry cash… or a phone” – and his stories even more so. Our paths had similar trajectories – Star Wars toys and Region One DVDs. Zion sold both on the then-fledgling Internet and, after setting up a Star Wars toy website that cheekily featured the name of the first prequel, The Phantom Menace, but with a strategically-placed hyphen, he actually received a cease and desist letter from Lucasfilm. How did he react to this threat from an entertainment giant? He replied telling them that their movies had taught him that the little guy should always stand up to the big bully… and that was that. He heard nothing in return. Typical confidence from one of life’s genuinely great people.
I saw Zion and Vikki at many a ComicCon around the country as they sold their T-shirts and hilariously blunt greeting cards on their Smell Your Mum stall, and they were always available for a much-needed and very entertaining catch-up even when the shirts (typical design: “I’m only fat because every time I fucked your mum she gave me a biscuit”) were flying out thick and fast. Vikki would produce the first four Uber Rock shirt designs, all of which sold out quickly. It was the band, though, that was my introduction to one of the coolest couples I ever had the pleasure to meet.
I saw SPiT LiKE THiS play small clubs, and I saw them play massive stages. They treated every performance exactly the same; as if they were on the cusp of being the biggest band on the planet and everyone else needed to do a lot of catching up… fast! I took photos of the band when they played the main stage at Hard Rock Hell (still, in my eyes, the biggest and best I’d ever seen them) and was thrilled when one of my pics appeared in the CD booklet of their second album, 2012’s Chris Tsangarides-produced ‘Normalityville Horror’. Even then, with proper stardom appearing closer than ever to their collective grasp, Zion wore his Uber Rock colours front and centre in a number of the band’s music videos. He was, and always will be, one of us.
Zion and Vikki sold the T-shirt company, dissolved the band, and moved from one end of the country to the other to start a new life together. I’m sure you’re all with me on this, but isn’t it weird when something ends yet due to social media we can frequently be involved in the lives of people that we may never see again? Well now, due to tragic circumstances, we will never see Zion again. And that stings the eyes. It breaks the heart. The World was a brighter place having Lord Zion in it and even though right now it feels like a light has gone out, there is a shadow over all of us who ever fell under the spell of this massive personality… and that shadow is the shape of a statuesque rock star who took on the Galactic Empire… and won.
Listen to SPiT LiKE THiS, watch the YouTube videos, read his book, and Zion will never really leave us. It might not feel like it now, but he left a mark on us all that won’t fade easily. Rest easy, Z-man.”
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