Sister Morphine – ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’ (Big Egg Records)

Sister Morphine – ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’ (Big Egg Records)

Back in the mists of time, sometime around 1994, I was gifted a second-hand t shirt (sleeves cut off, obviously). On the front was a cartoon dog and a cat with a baseball bat, in neon pink writing the band logo of some obscure, local glam band who had long since split up. That band were called Sister Morphine and on the back of that very same t shirt was the immortal phrase ‘SUCK MY JUBE!’. To this day I still have no idea what that means, and until recently what Sister Morphine actually sounded like, but I loved that t shirt and wore it to death. Turns out the singer of that very same band would be my boss/editor/sender of cool music during my time as a reviewer for the legendary Uber Rock website.

South Wales based Sister Morphine were regulars on the club circuit back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, supporting the likes of Last Of The Teenage Idols and Gunfire Dance. But sadly, the stars didn’t align and the band went their separate ways. Who would’ve guessed that Gaz Tidey, guitarists Jamesy & Jonesy, bassist Mike DeSouza and drummer Denley Slade would get the band back together during lockdown and record the debut album that they threatened to make back in those halcyon days of hairspray, fags and thunderbird wine.

So, while you and I were baking banana bread, drinking beer at 10am and watching Tiger King on Netflix, Sister Morphine were scouring their lofts for lost rehearsal tapes, to find the best versions of their beloved songs from a lifetime ago, to see if they really could resurrect Sister Morphine from the graveyard of empty bottles and claim their rightful place as the kings of Glunk Rock 2023!

But why should you care about lost songs recorded by a bunch of 50-somethings, written a lifetime ago? Well, it turns out Sister Morphine can knock out a few tunes, and bloody good ones at that! I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the first single and title track ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’. Who knew Mr. Tidey had such a sleazy vocal delivery that would stand up after all these years. With a voice that sits somewhere between Ricky Warwick and Zodiac Mindwarp, he takes the catchy melody by the scruff of the neck, over a tune that could be an AI generated mash up of The Dogs D’amour and The Quireboys. It’s a 70’s glam rock boogie of a tune and the perfect introduction to the party going on down at Heartbreak City!

Recorded at RedRock studios in Blackwood and produced by Lyndon Price of Welsh metal legends Wild Pussy, ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’ is a 15-song blast of high-octane rock n’ roll that features regulars from their live sets, lost tracks from the archives and four brand new songs for you to devour.

Opener ‘Holy City Zoo’ has already been likened to Motorhead by those in the know, and references Bowie, Duran and Roxy Music. It’s a 2 minute & 22 second statement of intent, job done.

You want punky, low slung rock n’ roll with more attitude than Rocky on steroids? Then look no further than second track ‘Do You Wanna Get Wasted?’. Now that’s a song title any angst-filled youth of today can get on board with, right?  Good job it sounds like Zodiac Mindwarp jamming with Backyard Babies and Johnny Thunders then, innit!

The Scandinavian punk rock vibes continue on the likes of second single ‘Nothing Dirty In The Truth’ where the rousing verses and killer chorus showcase a band who really mean it. Elsewhere, ‘Black Hearts & Bruised Egos’ channels Circus Of Power and early Alice Cooper garage rock vibes to great effect.

What’s not to like here? I’m loving this album. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe I’m biased, but I’ll tell you one thing for certain, Sister Morphine have some killer tunes going on.

Lifting a page out of Tyla’s songbook, ‘Cry The Rain’ is a big tune about love gone bad, set to a Faces-lite rock n’ roll boogie, with some rousing backing vocals. Sava a place in your heart for this one. The hook-laden ‘8 Tracks & Zodiacs’ is another of the new songs, and a potential single for sure. A song about a girl, it has catchy 90’s brit rock vibes that sit well and is a serious earworm.

The strengths of this album lie in the songwriting, the diversity and the production. It’s all pretty high-octane stuff, but they do throw in a curve ball towards the end with the countrified blues of ‘Living With Snakes’. Acoustics, slide guitar and harmonica go a long way to show Sister Morphine ain’t one trick ponies. 

While ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’ has one foot planted firmly in the past, it brings a classic sound smack up to date for 2023 with a great production. Full of rock n’ roll nostalgia and clever tongue-in-cheek lyricism, we get sleazy punk rock, 70’s boogie rock and countrified goodness all wrapped up in one cool little package.

If Sister Morphine’s only ambition was to realize their dream of releasing a debut album that could stand tall with the artists of their era, then they have easily succeeded. But I feel they have surpassed those ambitions by taking the music to places their teenage selves could never imagine. ‘Ghosts Of Heartbreak City’ is a pretty unique album, in that it has been recorded by a bunch of 50 somethings, yet it has the energy and sonics of a band half their age. And you know what? I’ll be happy to file that shiny new CD in the rack, somewhere between Shotgun Messiah and Skid Row, where it should have sat for the last 30 years.

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Author: Ben Hughes

David Ryder Prangley interview

David Ryder Prangley interview

After releasing two albums in two years, 2023 promises to be another busy year for David Ryder Prangley. “The man who put the glam in Mid-Glamorgan” (as said Simon Price) will be releasing his third solo album this spring, alongside a reissue of Rachel Stamp’s debut ‘Hymns For Strange Children’. Just after this interview took place, Rachel Stamp announced a date to coincide with the album release on 14th April at Islington Academy. For all the details and more, read on…

‘Vampire Deluxe’ was my favourite album of 2021. There seems to be a strong lyrical link between it and ‘Black Magic And True Love’; were they written at the same time, or did you already have the idea to release two albums in quick succession?


Thank you Martin! I had most of the songs written for both albums before I recorded ‘Black Magic &
True Love’ and I always had in my mind to release two albums in very quick succession, that sounded
like companion albums. Kind of like The Police’s first two LPs where they sound the same and have a
running lyrical theme. It was just a case of picking which songs went together and making two albums out of that. I did write ‘Sweet Heartbreaker’ and ‘Hey Stargazer’ after the first album was recorded. I actually had the guitar riff to ‘Sweet Heartbreaker’ kicking around for a few years and finally put lyrics to it. In general, over the two albums, and in fact on my next album too, I wanted the lyrics to all have a similar stylistic tone and I was conscious to not veer too far from the central themes of magic and space and other stuff that I’m too polite to talk about, but if you’ve heard the albums then you’ll know what I’m saying… The songs can be interpreted differently by different people and I did that on purpose. There’s no one meaning behind any of the songs and that’s why I didn’t print the lyrics on the albums. I want people to hear whatever they hear, even if it’s not what I actually sang.

pic by Rowan Spray


Tell us about your songwriting process. Do you demo songs at home once you have a solid idea, in
order to choose which ones to put on an album? Does the finished song differ much from the
demo? I noticed that old Ants demos were practically identical to the finished song, which I
thought showed how strong Adam’s vision was for his songs. You seem to be similar, in having an
image that is as important as the music.


I don’t have one process for writing, though I often make the songs up in my head and then have to
work them out on guitar or piano. The songs on ‘Black Magic & True Love’ and ‘Vampire Deluxe’ are
very simple in terms of structure, and I arrange all the basic parts for the different instruments but
leave room for the players to bring their own personalities to the songs. The solos are left up to
whoever plays them. It’s really important for me to work with people whose playing I like and it’s
important that the band have a connection to the music. I’ve been really lucky to have great musicians with me on these albums – Rob Emms and Belle Star on drums, Laurie Black and Grog Lisee on piano, Anna-Christina on bass guitar, Liza Bec on recorder and saxophone and Drew Richards on guitar, who also co-produced ‘Vampire Deluxe’ with me. Adie Hardy co-produced ‘Black Magic & True Love’ with Marc Olivier co-producing the song ‘They Came From The Stars To Capture Our Hearts’. I started producing other bands whilst I was still in my band Rachel Stamp and I really enjoy it. A lot of what makes a good producer is being organised – which sounds a bit dull, but it’s vital to have a plan and rehearse stuff before you get to the studio so you know what you’re doing when you get there and don’t get freaked out when the red light turns on!


In terms of the connection between the image and the music – that’s vital for me. I want people to
look at the cover of the record and when they play it, the songs fit perfectly with the cover image.
It’s funny that you mention Adam Ant because I played bass with him for a short while. He’s a
brilliant musician and a great arranger, especially with vocals. He’s certainly a musical and visual
inspiration for me.

Pic by Ben Ga


What can you tell us about your upcoming solo album and the Rachel Stamp reissue? Any gigs
lined up?
My next album is on the way! I have the title and cover image already and I’ve demo’d three songs and have about four more written and I have some songs leftover from the first two albums. This album will continue the themes of the first two but have a few twists. I’ve been singing in a lower register lately so I’m going to explore that side of my voice as well as what people know me for already. I’m hoping to release the first track from the next album in April, around the time of the Rachel Stamp re-issue. That came about when we were approached by the label Easy Action to contribute the Rachel Stamp cover of T Rex’s ‘Calling All Destroyers’ to a compilation LP they’re putting out. We got on well with the label and they suggested re-issuing ‘Hymns For Strange Children’ so here we are, and the release is set for Friday 14th April and we’re playing a show at the O2 Academy Islington in London to celebrate the release on the same day.


To be honest, it was quite odd going back and working on ‘Hymns For Strange Children’ again. I never
listen to that album, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. I had to go back and tweak some
of the songs for the vinyl version so ended up spending several hours with headphones on immersed
in Stampworld! I think when we originally made that album I wasn’t thrilled with the sonics but in retrospect I love it. It’s a really unusual album that doesn’t sound at all dated and doesn’t sound like
anything else. I always described Rachel Stamp as ‘Prince meets Black Sabbath’ with the heavy riffs,
tri-tones and then the synths on top of it all. We never used programming or sequencers – it was all
played live and has a very different feel to, say, the industrial bands or indie guitar bands of the time.
Everyone in Rachel Stamp has very eclectic tastes and generally were into more off the wall bands
like Devo, The Nymphs, Big Star, Parliament, Sabbath, Bodycount… bands that were doing their own
thing. It was important for us to do our own thing too and people had a weird reaction to us because
they couldn’t easily catagorise us. The press tried to dismiss us some kind of glam revival which we
never were. I mean, we loved Marc Bolan and David Bowie and Sweet, and me and Robin were certainly into some of the 80s LA glam metal bands like Ratt and Poison but we weren’t trying to revive anything, we were all about the moment. I would say that visually we were more influenced by English punk and by bands like We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It and Prince and by movies like Blade Runner, Near Dark and The Abominable Dr Phibes.


The fans totally got it, but other bands were kind of scared of us. They couldn’t understand how we
could walk around the streets looking like we did and then get on stage and play super loud high
energy heavy music. So many musicians jump on trends and it blows their minds to see someone
just using their imagination. It’s actually not that hard.


Are there any more plans for Sister Witch? I was so pleased to see them play once!
I love the Sister Witch album and I love writing and working with Lux Lyall. We still write together
and we co-wrote a lot of her first solo album and I played guitar on it too. In fact, we just wrote a
song for my next album called ‘Let’s Fall Apart Together Tonight’.


I don’t think there will be another Sister Witch album as such but there will definitely be more
DRP/Lux Lyall music out there.


As an amateur musician, currently swapping between guitar and bass, I’ve been learning a lot of
your bass lines. Nerdy question; what’s your favourite guitar and bass, live and in the studio?

My favourite bass guitar is my BC Rich Eagle and Anna-Christina actually played that bass on the
‘Black Magic & True Love’ and ‘Vampire Deluxe’ albums and at my live shows. It has a really great
mid-range and doesn’t just take over the low frequencies like a Fender Precision might do. I bought
that guitar way back when Rachel Stamp got signed to WEA and I used it on the ‘Bring Me The Head
Of Rachel Stamp’ EP but it got stolen a couple of years later. Fast forward about 17 years and I was
looking on ebay and someone had it for sale! I recognised it because there was big chunk out of the
headstock where I’d thrown it across the stage at a gig, so I knew it was mine. The seller was a young
guitar dealer in Bristol who had no idea of its history – he’d just innocently bought it from a company
that had found it in a skip! I told him the story and sent him some photos of me playing it and I
luckily still had a copy of the police report from when it was originally stolen, and he was really cool
about it all and we made an arrangement for me to get it back. I was so grateful. Since then, I’ve had
the headstock repaired and I wrote ‘Suzi Q’ on the back in gold in tribute to Suzi Quatro who was the
first musician I ever wanted to be when I was a kid. She played BC Rich basses in the late 70s.

pic by Rowan Spray


As far as six string guitar goes, my favourite for recording is my old 1972 Gibson SG Special with mini
humbuckers that I bought about ten years ago. It has a very unique sound, kind of halfway between
a Gibson and a Fender tone. The previous owner had refinished it in Cardinal Red, a non-regulation
colour for that guitar so I got it for not much money at all because it wasn’t ‘vintage correct’. I don’t
really care about ‘vintage’ or ‘all-original’, I just play something and if I like how it sounds and feels
then I’m happy to use it. That guitar was all I used on ‘Black Magic & True Love’, plugged into a
Marshall JCM 900 through a 4×12 speaker cabinet. I had the amp quite overdriven and I’d turn the
volume knob of the guitar up or down depending on how much overdrive I wanted. On ‘Forever In
Starlight’ I might have plugged it into a Roland Jazz Chorus or a Fender combo, I can’t remember
exactly, but something with a cleaner sound than the Marshall. I did the solo on that song through a
Mesa Boogie Mark 3 to get a kind of Santana sound. If you listen to that album my guitar is panned
to the left and the guitar panned to the right is Drew Richards playing a Washburn Idol Goldtop. We
did the same for 95% of ‘Vampire Deluxe’, except I also used a couple of different guitars to overdub
some solos on that album, and there’s the acoustic guitars too which were my old Encore plastic
back Ovation copy and Drew’s Washburn acoustic. Those two albums were, for the most part,
recorded live in the studio with the band playing all at once. We then overdubbed percussion, vocals
and a few solos. It’s a very simple approach but it’s amazing how effective and fast it is. I wish I had
recorded all the Rachel Stamp albums this way. I plan to do the same for my next album.


When I play gigs, I use a different set up which is my Fender Stratocaster through a Marshall combo
and I use a Suhr Riot distortion pedal that I leave on all the time. With that set up I can go from clean
to fully distorted just using the volume control on the Stratocaster. Some people find that an odd set
up but it’s pretty old school actually. It’s kind of how Brian may does it, except he uses a wall of Vox
AC30s all on full volume!


How was it to play again with Adam Ant recently? You and Will obviously played with him some
years ago. I’m guessing you fitted in pretty easily. Was he an influence on Rachel Stamp?


That recent chance to play with Adam again came out of the blue when Joe Holweger, Adam’s bass
player, got covid and Adam was due to headline a big festival. I got a call from Will asking if I could
step in and I was more than happy to. I knew most of the songs to play because, as you mention, I
had played with him previously. I had to learn a few more songs and we did one rehearsal and then
it was the gig in front of 10,000 people so no pressure, right?! A funny thing happened at that show
– people probably don’t realise but when bands do those festival shows with so many other bands
on the bill, you don’t get a soundcheck, you just go on and during the first song the band is usually
frantically signalling the monitor engineer to turn things up or down so they can get their sound
balance on the stage. The audience is hearing something else entirely that’s mixed by another
engineer who is in the sound booth in the middle of the field. Well, at that show we walked on and
kicked into ‘Dog Eat Dog’ which has a very prominent bass line and I just couldn’t hear my bass at all.
I turned around and went to the bass amp and turned it up and still couldn’t hear it and then
realised the amp wasn’t working! Luckily the bass guitar is fed directly to the front of house PA
system as well as the amp so the audience could hear my bass fine, but I couldn’t hear it on stage. I
had to rely on just knowing I was putting my fingers in the right place, but it was pretty nerve
wracking. We got it all fixed after that though… Then during ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’ the entire
stage power cut out and all the amps and guitars and everything just went silent! The audience
started singing the song and it became this quite magical moment of us standing on the stage
waiting for the power to come back on whilst the crowd serenaded us.


Adam was definitely a huge influence on Rachel Stamp. I even stole some of the lyrics from ‘Vive le
Rock’ in our song ‘Ladies & Gents’ and we named a song ‘Pink Skab’ because when Will came up with
that riff I thought he was playing an Ants b-side! We used to cover ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ and ‘Fall In’
too. Will had been a huge fan as a kid but I got into Adam a bit later, when a friend at school played
me the b-sides to the singles. That’s what really got me, songs like ‘Christian Dior’ and ‘Physical’.
When we first played with Adam, I think he was impressed that we knew all the ‘obscure’ songs and
we could play most of them already. There’s a great video of us playing at the Scala and we open
with ‘Plastic Surgery’ and go straight into ‘Lady’ and then segue into ‘The Day I Met God’ and the
audience goes fucking nuts. They never expected in a million years to hear those songs and all that
was basically Will’s idea. Adam would just say ‘what do you want to play?’ and we would play it and
he would sing it. It was a pretty incredible thing to be a part of.


Would you consider playing in Europe, or post-B****t is it just too complicated/ expensive? It’s a
selfish question, as I’m based in France now.


I would love to play in Europe! I’m doing more shows now with just an acoustic guitar and I really
enjoy playing that way. My solo music lends itself to being performed in a stripped-down way. I’m
not sure if that answers your question? I guess what I’m saying is that I’m very open to offers if
someone wants to book me!


Interviewer: Martin Chamarette

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UFO – ‘Walk On Water’ & ‘Werewolves Of London’ (Cleopatra Records)

UFO – ‘Walk On Water’ & ‘Werewolves Of London’ (Cleopatra Records)

Originally released via Zero Records in Japan back in 1995 ‘Walk On Water’ marked the reunification of what many fans refer to as the “classic” UFO line up of singer Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way, drummer Andy Parker, keyboardist/guitarist Paul Raymond along with the mercurial talents of guitarist Michael Schenker.

Bringing back producer Ron Nevison to the fold (he had worked with the line up on their influential ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Obsession’ albums) to help re-capture the magic of the band is perhaps the secret behind why ‘Walk On Water’ worked so well and the two Mike Varney produced albums that followed it perhaps didn’t. 

There’s a real vibrancy to Schenker’s playing throughout ‘Walk On Water’s’ eight new studio tracks the guitarist dishing out some fine crunchy riffage over which Mogg’s vocals truly soar, especially on songs like ‘Venus’ and ‘Pushed To the Limit’ both of which would figure in the resulting tour in support of the record (sadly though not the splendid Way/Mogg penned rocker ‘Knock Knock’).

A tour which is captured on ‘Werewolves Of London’, a semi-official 2CD set originally released via Zoom Club Records in 2008, and according to the original sleeve notes, sourced via Pete Way, probably for a couple of Special Brews and a curry, knowing the man. Recorded at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on February 10th 1996 (jeez I was 31 the day before) whilst the band at this point had replaced Andy Parker with Simon Wright (as the former found it impossible to tour due to family commitments) they still sound bang on the button across the 15 track set list. A set list that would feature the usual crowd pleasers such as ‘Natural Thing’, ‘Love To Love’, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ and ‘Rock Bottom’ alongside three ‘Walk On Water’ tunes (‘A Self Made Man’ in addition to the two I’ve already mentioned), whilst for the UFO purists out there there’s a sublime ‘Electric Phase’ along with a stunning ‘One More For The Rodeo’ to really get excited about.

For what is essentially a straight from the mixing desk recording (something Paul Raymond confirmed within the original CD’s sleeve notes) this a fantastic (albeit slightly flawed) live recording, in fact it’s one that I would rank up there alongside ‘Strangers In The Night’ just because it isn’t as perfect as that record. Once again Schenker sounds absolutely spellbinding in his six string delivery with the finely tuned Mogg as always as cryptic/succinct with his between song banter. Then again, we surely wouldn’t want it any other way, would we?

Listening to both releases once again all these years on, and whilst its great to hear the guys back together and writing some cracking new material on ‘Walk On Water’, I can’t help but think there’s a little something missing from the record when compared to those  aforementioned late 70s UFO albums, and the fact the original CD came with two bonus re-recorded versions of ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Lights Out’ (along with a spoken word track ‘Message For Japan’ not included in this reissue), probably spoke volumes for what would happen over the next couple of years as the band once again struggled to function as a working unit. Something you can just sense is already happening within the grooves of ‘Werewolves of London’.

With both title’s having been out of print for some years it’s now Cleopatra’s turn to give both titles an all-new audience both on CD, and now for the first time ever on glorious looking (and eye wateringly expensive) coloured vinyl pressings. ‘Walk On Water’s’ eight track album complemented by the re-recorded bonus tracks as an additional 7” EP, complete with all new cover art, whilst ‘Werewolves Of London’ gets a kind of ‘Strangers In The Night’ cover art makeover and comes complete with a 17″ x 22″ poster of the band!

The flame of the ’Walk On Water’ era of UFO certainly burned brightly, and yeah, oh so briefly it looked like the five guys might finally attain the levels of success they so justly deserved for all their hard work and stellar back catalogue, but UFO being UFO it just wasn’t to be, as once again the band started to slowly unravel, in some cases in truly spectacular fashion. Relive the magic (and not the misadventures) of those years via these quality reissues.

http://www.ufo-music.info/

https://www.facebook.com/UFOofficial/

https://ufoofficial.bandcamp.com/album/walk-on-water

Author: Johnny Werewolf Of Newport’ Hayward

Grade 2 – ‘Grade 2’ (Hellcat Records)

Grade 2 – ‘Grade 2’ (Hellcat Records)

There was one album in particular that got me through the first Covid lockdown here in the UK, and that was ‘Graveyard Island’ the superb third album from Isle of Wight punk rocking skinheads Grade 2. Released at the tail end of 2019, it was a record that had initially passed me by, but once I discovered it (via a good friend who also resides on Graveyard Island) it was like a true beacon of punk rock hope shining through those darkest of days.

Fast forward to Rebellion 2022 and playing to a packed Pavilion audience Grade 2 then went and delivered one of the performances of the weekend, giving us an immediate sneak peak of the new album they already had up their sleeves (more of which in a second) to help kickstart a blistering set of older tunes that instantly had the audience in singalong punk rock heaven. They then turn up on the “hush hush” Pirates Press released Cock Sparrer tribute album, that snook out around Christmas time, and here the lads managed to take a Sparrer deep cut and truly make it sound like one of their own, which is no mean feat I’m sure you’ll agree. Reviewing that album for RPM (something you can read here)  I declared that 2023 really could be Grade 2’s year, so with their fourth album now cued up on my system and ready to play, what would the next 35 minutes have in store for me, and would the album actually live up to my high expectations?

Just like during their aforementioned Rebellion slot ‘Judgement Day’ gets things off and running in fast and furious style, the bass of Sid Ryan rattling the speakers with its punchy bottom end and drummer Jacob Hull attacks his kit like the IOW’s very own Joey Castillo whilst it’s the almost Dick Dale like guitar work of Jack Chatfield that truly propels this 1 minute 32 second ball of sonic fury, and before you know it we’re into one of the album’s (many) highlights, the cowbell (yup punk rockers use cowbells too) tonking beauty that is ‘Fast Pace’. It’s on tunes like this where Grade 2 really stand out from the punk rock pack, ditching the speed for a more intense melody packed approach, in many ways they remind me of Newport’s very own 60 Foot Dolls. This is music meant to be danced to, and there’s even a Hammond organ solo that crops up mid song to seal the deal. Fantastic stuff!

Up next, ‘Under The Streetlight’ takes us back to ‘Murder Town’ complete with a doff of a cap to the band’s label masters Rancid, whilst ‘Doesn’t Matter Much Now’ is another bootboy terrace anthem in the making, very much like latter day Argy Bargy. Then there’s the early days Jam anger of ‘Midnight Ferry’ which switches the perils of missing the last tube home for the last boat home, and oh the delights of living on an island eh!  I must give a special mention here to the band’s ear for a melody, as this tune could very easily have been a contender back in the days when singles sold, instead of TikTok views, actually lead to artists becoming household names.

Having been one of the lead videos from the album ‘Brassic’ is the song that initially got me truly excited about this record, its jagged riff and instantly memorable chorus (complete with female backing vocals) knocking the tune well and truly out the park.

As the album reaches its midway point the tracks that fall either side, the Matt Freeman like 58 second blast of ‘Gaslight’ and the anthemic ‘Don’t Stand Alone’ complete with its (once again) glorious backing vocals, really are the perfect example of the two sides of the Grade 2 songwriting coin, and it’s at this almost perfect point I’m going to dip out and let you discover the rest of the album for yourselves, because you really do have to hear it.

I said it at the top of the review that I thought 2023 could very well be Grade 2’s year, and with a proper multi-date UK tour kicking off in just a few weeks’ time, along with dates with Rancid and The Bronx (now that is a one hell of line up) later in the year, it very well could be, it just needs you to get off your arses, buy those gig tickets and most importantly snap up copies of this 15-track Grade-A punk rock record. It’ll never be off your turntable, or out your CD player (you might even be constantly streaming this) come its February 17th release date.

What the hell are you waiting for?

Hit the links below to make it all happen!!!!

Buy Here

https://www.facebook.com/grade2iow

https://grade2official.co.uk/

Author: Johnny Hayward

The Gathering – Venue Cymru, Llandudno 27-28/01/23

The Gathering – Venue Cymru, Llandudno 27-28/01/23

Friday 27/01/23

It’s been a long time coming but it’s good to be back. Some fella used to sing that every night from a stage, somewhere back in time…oh yeah, Mike Peters of The Alarm.

It’s been a tough six months for Mr Peters and his family, after playing the final night of a rigorous and full UK tour back in mid ’22 he became seriously ill and has had the toughest battle with his health in a long line of tough battles, but Mike Peters being Mike Peters he soldiers on with the most incredible PMA you could imagine. Tonight (Friday acoustic in the round) began with a serious personal (Maybe a little too personal) video shown on the big screens of a bedside, fly on the wall, half an hour of the most uncomfortable footage of one of your heroes you could imagine. The most awful cough, tears, lung drains you name it. Not what I was expecting to be played on the big screen before a live show. It was tough for everyone present I’d imagine, watching the very private and personal fight to save Peters’s life. I’m not sure I was ready for the 21st-century – film everything – gets it online tiktokin’ or instagrammin’ – maybe I’m stuck in the old school and not down enough to appreciate this is how it is these days, who knows? it was what it was. The upshot is Mike looks fighting fit and the picture of health as he strides to the stage to an emotional performance that many thought would never take place, but here we were, gathered around the camoed out round stage to witness the return of one of rock musics most battle scared warriors, Don’t say team MPO aren’t inclusive and go the extra mile to let you in to their inner circle because that was it. Sharp intake of breath give your loved one a knowing squeeze and lets go!

I do know it came close to the wire if this weekend would be possible what with Covid putting the kibosh on the last few years and last year’s return to Rhyl acoustic Gathering. playing live is where Mikey boy is most comfortable and the place that makes him feel so alive it was emotional and massively appreciated as the audience sang ‘Walk Forever By My Side’ and a emotional Peters gathers his composure for the next few hours of Gathering 30.

It was a joy and a pleasure to see him in his natural environment looking healthy and raring to go for the next two hours or so as he blitzed through an incredible set of deep cuts from an unbelievably rich back catalogue.

Decked out in his now familiar fighting green Peters gets straight down to business as he whips out sizable chunks of songs from his repertoire playing songs like his life depends on it (it quite possibly does) as he veers from ‘Breed Apart’ and ‘Neutral’ from his more recent past through deep cuts such as the fantastic ‘Heroine’ thru the snotty (even acoustically) ‘Under Control’.

By the time he reached the majestic ‘Rise’ he seemed comfortable with proceedings and whilst there were scuffed chords and rearranged lyrics Peters was winning and the audience was on its best behaviour as you could have heard a surgical needle drop it was so respectfully quiet whilst the songs were being chased out of the speakers like a superhero gaining strength from the music pouring out of the man’s guitar and voice.

Possibly my fondest memories of previous Gatherings came around the time of ‘Rise’ and ‘Feel Free’ of aftershow parties in the Hydro Hotel at 2 AM where we got Clash songs from the ragged house band Peters could assemble but memories come flooding back as ‘Feel Free’ cracks to life leading to a run through ‘All Is Forgiven’ incredible, emotional and as fresh as the first time I heard these songs. It was then thoughts entered my head of that Brixton night as ‘Raw’ followed by ‘Sold Me Down The River’ its been some journey. I’ve been to every Gathering from Rhyl Town Hall to Pontins and its spiritual home o here in Llandudno and whilst I might not intake all they offer on Saturday and Sunday I wouldn’t miss it for the world and some people ask me how can you enjoy one man playing one guitar year after year after year but I would say that its one of the most enjoyable two nights I look forward to year after year and during the pandemic years it was miserable knowing that for a weekend in January, I wouldn’t be freezing my backside off walking down the seafront going to another night of Gathering entertainment if you’ve ever been you’ll know how good a weekend it is and what effort Peters puts into ever show he does under some challenging circumstances, to say the least.

Anyway, back on track, we marched on through some old-school Alarm classics, climaxing with the quite brilliant ‘Howling Wind’ followed by ‘We Are The Light’. As we entered the final furlong the old Alarm cover of ‘Bound For Glory’ was knocked out as Peters explained that during the staycations people would throw cover song challenges at him from the obvious ones to more obscure and quite frankly bizarre choices which lightened the mood and gave many present a raised eyebrow as a minimum. if all I Need Is The Air I Breathe wasn’t left of field enough how about George Michaels ‘Faith’ complete with a wiggle? no, you would have guessed that one well how about a flawless take on ‘Time Warp’! No, I didn’t think I’d hear an encore of covers like that, but hell, people were loving it, and it was another Gathering first. The night was drawn to a close as Peters’s two teenage sons were brought on stage to accompany him on an emotional run through ‘Wonderwall’ and a rousing finale of ‘One Guitar’ before everyone filed out of the venue with the thoughts running through their heads that everything was going to be alright, ok for the Saturday night main course of some more Rock and Roll but with drums and louder guitars – Bring It On!

Saturday 28/01/23

Tonight’s electric performance kicked off with a brand new track ‘Forwards’ more easing in than punching you square on the nose. To most established bands starting your set with a brand new track is terrifying and a big no-no but to Mike Peters its what he does and the fans who’ve been on the journey with him over the last few decades pretty much demand new material anywhere in the set because the history of Saturday nights at the Gathering have been some marathon performances and this one seems rather poignant considering the man’s health issues people (me included) are just glad to see him back on stage in any capacity and for any length.

It is the same stage set up as previous Gatherings pre-pandemic and the tour last year with his wife on keys tucked up on stage right next to Smileys drum kit with James Stevenson on Stage left whilst Peters patrols the main stage between four mics.

His voice sounds strong and the band sound locked in. as recent tunes ‘Fail’ skank in before the hard rock of the epic ‘Superchannel’ fills the either. With such a vast catalogue it’s always a tough call what he plays and what he leaves out. Sure there are staple Alarm songs he would find hard to leave out that pepper the set as it ebbs and flows from recent to vintage. there isn’t much time for talking and the band lets the music yap yap yap its way to another brand new song as ‘Are You Ready?’ hits the spot with its punchy mod rhythm as Peters puts his vocal cords to the test and they sound fine from my spot which must have been a relief not knowing if the punishment they would take over two nights after such a lay off would hold up. They did and some.

After a few more old and new with ‘Warriors’ being the pick of the newer songs blasted out with energy and verve Peters vanished from the main stage to take up his familiar position at the back of the venue to run through acoustic versions of ‘Its Alright’, the poignant ‘Without A Fight’ before ‘Breathe’ lit up the room. Peters then weaved his way through the audience to join the band back on the main stage for a rocked-up version of ‘Walk Forever By My Side’. The band then proceeded to run down memory lane with a superb bunch of picks from the earlier days of the band ‘Declaration’ heavy period of the set with ‘Shout At The Devil’, ‘The Deceiver’ and ‘Third Light’ pouring memories over me as my mind sped through sets from a time I’d almost forgotten where the band had the energy of a small army dropping sound bombs on the New Ocean Club to the Orange Box and every old school concert venue between. Good times then and good times now.

Proceedings were halted during ‘Majority’ as someone needed medical attention minutes later the show was resumed and momentum was regained swiftly. We were now twenty songs plus into the set and it was showing no signs of stopping Peters looked fitter and stronger than I’d seen him for quite some time. The man is a machine and considering what he’s been through to want to get right back into the eye of the hurricane seems like madness but like many, I’m delighted he wants to go on – after all, what else is he supposed to do?

Back to the beginning and ‘Unsafe Building’ kicks off the final furlong and its heads down and go! ‘Knifedge’, ’68 Guns’, ‘Spirit Of 76′, Rescue Me’ all get a good seeing and it’s a swift encore before returning to beat out another five songs before the curtain finally gets dropped on what has been an emotional Gathering 30. With all the trials and tribulations that the Peters have been through over the last few decades let alone the last few years is nothing short of breathtaking and the fact they perform for almost five hours spread over two days and do it with a bazillion selfies, and questions with beaming smiles are heartwarming. When people tell you not to meet your heroes I roll my eyes and tell me bollocks. Mike Peters is a legend and once again turned in a memorable Gathering with a little help from his friends and some. An announcement about next year’s festivities is on hold but you can guarantee if I’m fit and healthy and if he’s fit and healthy then we’ll be doing this all again same time same place. Bring it on!

Website

Love Hope And Strength

Author: Dom Daley

The Hip Priests are chasing death

The Hip Priests are chasing death

‘Chasing Death’ from their forthcoming album ‘Roden House Blues’ – which will be released May 5th, 2023, via The Sign Records.

The song is, say the band “about self-destruction and self-sabotage. A story stuffed with vice and excess. A tale about one person’s journey, after buying a one-way ticket on the train wreck to end all train wrecks. The age-old colourful topics of sex, drugs and rock n roll. Is it autobiographical? Is it celebration or commiseration? Hero or Rock N Roll failure? Chasing death or embracing life? Crank it loud and make your own mind up.”

Since their inception in 2006, The Hip Priests have released a mighty thirty 7” singles, four albums, two compilations and three EPs by various independent labels from all over Europe & the USA. Fiercely independent and tirelessly driven, the ‘Priests have preached their high energy sermon of misanthropy, hate and contempt across numerous tours of the UK, Europe and USA and made countless rapturously received festival appearances.

picture credit is Ralph Barklam

Gaining a richly deserved reputation as a white-hot live band, the last few years have seen the band’s popularity increasing further with them regularly playing alongside kindred spirits such as The Hellacopters, Gluecifer, The Good the Bad and the Zugly, New Bomb Turks, Dwarves and Zeke at both festivals and in clubs. Rave reviews pour in for every release, ranging from ‘a band on top of their game & steps ahead of any of their UK contemporaries’ to ‘if you’re in any doubt about how good these bad boys are then you need locking up’. After 16 years some bands would be taking it easy but in spite of a global pandemic, there was no let-up in their determination and activity. Their fifth, and by far their best full-length album – ‘Roden House Blues’ – was written, rehearsed, and recorded during this period and will be released May 5th, 2023, via The Sign Records.

Today, The Hip Priests blast out a second offering ahead of the album’s release with new single ‘Chasing Death’, a song that is, say the band “about self-destruction and self-sabotage. A story stuffed with vice and excess. A tale about one person’s journey, after buying a one-way ticket on the train wreck to end all train wrecks. The age-old colourful topics of sex, drugs and rock n roll. Is it autobiographical? Is it celebration or commiseration? Hero or Rock N Roll failure? Chasing death or embracing life? Crank it loud and make your own mind up.”

The Hip Priests. Zero fucks n’ less success since 2006. The most prolific band you haven’t heard of. High energy sweaty sermons of misanthropy, disillusion (self) loathing and despair. Get ready to have your ears torn clean off.

FIND THE HIP PRIESTS ONLINE AT:

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

BANDCAMP

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

CATCH THE HIP PRIESTS LIVE AT THE FOLLOWING DATES:

February

Monday 27th Dragonfly Rock Cafe, Almeria

Tuesday 28th Sala Plant Baja, Granada

March

Wednesday 1st Fun House, Madrid

Thursday 2nd Salason, Cangas De Morazzo

Saturday 4th Hell Dorado, Vitoria

Sunday 5th El Sotana Rock Pub, Teruel

(With The Dangerfields)

Wednesday 22nd Bennigans, Derry

Thursday 23rd Áras Na Ngael, Galway

Friday 24th Fred Zeppelin’s, Cork

Saturday 25th Venue Tbc, Limerick

Sunday 26th Wild Duck, Dublin

Germany

(With Lucifer Star Machine)

April

Thursday 27th Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

Friday 28th Freakshow, Essen

Saturday 29th Zollkantine, Bremen

Sunday 30th Indra Musikclub, Hamburg

UK (With Bitch Queens)

May

Thursday 25th The Pipeline, Brighton

Friday 26th Hope And Anchor, London

Saturday 27th Nice And Sleazy, Morecambe

Slade reissue two more limited editions

Slade reissue two more limited editions

official limited edition splatter vinyl and deluxe  CD reissues ‘Nobody’s Fools’ & ‘The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome’ released 3rd March.

Pre Order Here

BMG Records continue their new series of limited edition vinyl reissues and deluxe CDs from Slade, with the release ofNobody’s Fools,and The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome on 3rd March. 

These beautifully presented reissues will see Nobody’s Foolsreleased on limited edition transparent clear & red vinyl and The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome released on limited edition orange and yellow splatter vinyl. While both CDs are housed in deluxe mediabooks with bonus tracks and each includes an original extended essay.

Prior to the original release of Nobody’s Fools, Slade relocated to New York in 1975 and toured there constantly with the likes of Aerosmith, Black Sabbath and ZZ Top before writing the album. 

Nobody’s Fools,  which when released in March 1976 reached No.14 in the UK, and features the singles; In For A Penny, Let’s Call It Quits and Nobody’s Fool.

The new expanded CD version now includes 16 songs, including 5 additional bonus tracks.

The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome Slade’s eleventh studio album includes two UK Top 10 singles; My Oh My, which reached No.2 and Run Runaway which made No.7. First released on 3rd  December 1983 The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome led Kerrrang! to write  “Slade have lost none of their old wicked touch.”, while Sounds commented “Slade are still capable of rocking harder and catchier than most bands half their age.”

This new CD features 8 bonus songs,  including two tracks never before available on CD; Run Runaway (7” Version ) and Slam The Hammer Down (Hot Mix).

Slade are without doubt one of the most exciting bands to come out of Great Britain. With their unique blend of perfect pop-rock’n’roll, outrageous flamboyance and pure fun, and no less than 23 Top-20 singles of which 6 were No.1 smash hits…plus multiple hit albums. 

With a chart career that has spanned 3 decades Slade have become a firm favourite in the hearts of pop fans all over the world.

To pre-order  Nobody’s Fools  and The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome  Hit this link

To order other releases in this series of limited edition vinyl reissues and deluxe CDs, including ‘Sladest’, ‘Slayed?’, ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’‘Slade In Flame’ and‘Slade Alive!’ , head Here

Also, available the ‘All The World Is A Stage’ 5 live CD box: https://slade.lnk.to/alltheworldPR

The Stranglers release 40th Anniverary ‘Feline’

The Stranglers release 40th Anniverary ‘Feline’

FELINE

40th ANNIVERSARY EDITON

 REMASTERED LIMITED EDITION GATEFOLD DOUBLE VINYL & DELUXE CD EACH FORMAT FEATURES NINE BONUS TRACKS – Released on BMG – Pre Order Here

On 3rd MarchBMG release The STRANGLERS’ 40th Anniversary Edition of FELINE.

FELINE will be available as a limited double album on remastered 180g Heavyweight transparent pink and red vinyl, housed in a newly created inner bags. The 2CD digipackfeatures exclusive booklet artwork and a new appreciation by the band’s biographer and journalist, Chris Twomey.

Originally released in January 1983, FELINE is The STRANGLERS’ seventh studio LP and was their first for then-new label, Epic.

1982 had proved to be a very good year for the band. The last three singles released for former label EMI had been more gentle and of a mellower-nature than anything their audience had been previously accustomed to. So when FELINE landed, it perhaps shouldn’t have been such a surprise to both fans and critics alike that there was such a perceived musical shift. Hugh & JJ’s acquisition of acoustic guitars from a now world-renowned guitar maker in Bristol helped shape FELINE into becoming possibly the nearest thing to an “unplugged” studio album the band have yet made. Gone were the powerful, sinister, throbbing melodies of their New Wave sound and in came an extraordinary and, at that time, hitherto-unheard mix of acoustic and electronic delights. Having said that, from the black panther on the sleeve to the underlying melodies of the record, underpinned by that unmistakable growling bass, the band still managed to convey their dark, menacing, moody, slightly unsettling and quietly threatening no-nonsense persona.

Much of FELINE was written at Jet’s house – a disused railway station in Gloucestershire – and as soon as the band were free from the shackles of EMI, Epic arranged for them to decamp to ICP Studios in Brussels for all of September, 1982 to record it. It was produced there by the band with Steve Churchyard (Big Country, INXS, Taylor Swift) and mixed by Tony Visconti (Bowie, T-Rex).

The album was preceded by the gloriously-beautiful and breathy JJ-sung EUROPEAN FEMALE, which immediately fired the band back into the UK’s Top 10 Singles Chart.  As the single peaked, the album crashed into the UK charts at number 4 and neither they nor the suits at Epic could have imagined a much better start to life at their new label. In fact it got better, as this new mellow sound struck a chord with European audiences, particularly in France, where FELINE effectively broke them to a much bigger audience; one they still enjoy to this day.

Two further singles were released from FELINE. The mighty album opener, MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM, a melody of JJ’s with intoned dead-pan lyrics from Hugh, following a grand symphonic opening from Dave, was released in late February 1983. Both the 7” Edit and the magnificent 10½ minute Special 12” Mix feature amongst the tracks on the bonus LP/CD that comes with this 40th Anniversary release. At the end of July ‘83, PARADISE was released. Again sung by JJ, he wrote it after an uncomfortable holiday he’d hated in the Seychelles because of his discomfort with the poverty that surrounded the luxury in which he was staying. Fact fans: it is the only STRANGLERS’ single that features voices from beyond the band, as backing vocals were provided by JJ’s then-girlfriend Anna von Stern and France L’Hermitte (of Belgian band Polyphonic Size). The 7” Edit that appears on Side 3 is surprisingly scarce and has only once previously appeared on vinyl. It has only otherwise been commercially available on The Hit Men 2CD compilation from 1996.

Both the bonus LP and bonus CD on this 40th Anniversary release feature the same tracks; a mix of B-sides and rarities.

The bonus tracks start by gathering the three 7” single edits and a couple of B-sides from the period. The EUROPEAN FEMALE Radio Edit was a surprising find, in as much as it was only re-discovered in 2018. Other than providing the 7” radio promo serviced from late 1982, the tape had lain gathering dust in Sony’s vaults, overlooked by all previous compilers, until then. PÃWSHĒR and PERMISSION were, respectively, the B-side and the 12” bonus track for the PARADISE single. They are the two tracks within this collection that were recorded outside of the main sessions. The former, a mysterious single-word-repeated song, was recorded in New York in April, 1983; the latter, in London, two months later.  Typically Strangler-esque, it sounds bright and summery, yet in fact chronicles the dark antics of the notorious French CRS riot police…

On Side 4 of the LP and continuing on the bonus CD is SAVAGE BREAST. Originally intended as an album track, it was left off at the last minute only to re-surface before the album’s release as the B-side of EUROPEAN FEMALE. Hugh’s career-long love of film and theatre combined with his twisting of well-established names and phrases ran overboard on FELINE, with SAVAGE BREAST, MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM and LET’S TANGO IN PARIS completing his trio of word-play titles for 1983. In fact, so many of the song titles on FELINE are familiar phrases – IT’S A SMALL WORLD; SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT; ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME; NEVER SAY GOODBYE – that there was clearly an unconscious pattern developing during the song writing.  Rounding off this collection are a couple of tongue-in-cheek curios that well support the band’s sense of fun. VLADIMIR & OLGA is akin to a modern-day Russian folk song based on a fictional couple in (then) Soviet-era Ukraine. It is the first in what became a quirky and much-loved series of adventures that were to recur over the next decade. The initial pressings of the original LP of FELINE included a free bonus one-sided 7” called AURAL SCULPTURE. It also featured on initial copies of the original FELINE cassette. It was a sarcastic rant against the death of music in general and song-writing in particular. If you got it, it was both barbed and hilarious. Subsequently, the theme was carried on, with the title becoming that of the band’s next album, so the track was from there-on re-titled AURAL SCULPTURE MANIFESTO.

Whilst The STRANGLERS have suffered the recent dreadful losses of both the uniquely-talented Dave GREENFIELD (May 2020) and their founder and driving force, Jet BLACK (December, 2022), they continue to tour. From 3rd to 18th March 2023, they are playing three dates in SPAIN, followed by nine in FRANCE, including PARIS L’Olympia on 11th. Then in April they head Down Under between the 13th and 23rd for three dates in NEW ZEALAND and five in AUSTRALIA.

The line-up is JJ BURNEL (bass and vocals); Baz WARNE (guitar and vocals); Jim MACAULAY (drums, percussion and backing vocals) and Toby HOUNSHAM (keyboards and backing vocals).

To pre-order the 40th Anniversary Edition of FELINE on BMG go to:  https://the-stranglers.lnk.to/feline

LIMITED EDITION GATEFOLD DOUBLE ALBUM on REMASTERED 180g HEAVYWEIGHT  

TRANSPARENT PINK and RED VINYL

ORIGINAL LP

SIDE 1: 1. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM  2. IT’S A SMALL WORLD 3. SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT

4. THE EUROPEAN FEMALE (IN CELEBRATION OF)

SIDE 2: 1. LET’S TANGO IN PARIS  2. PARADISE  3. ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME  4. BLUE SISTER  5. NEVER SAY GOODBYE

BONUS VINYL LP:

SIDE 3: 1. EUROPEAN FEMALE (RADIO EDIT)  2. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM (SPECIAL SINGLE MIX)  3. PARADISE (RADIO EDIT)  4. PÃWSHĒR  5. PERMISSION

SIDE 4: 1. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM (SPECIAL 12” MIX)  2. SAVAGE BREAST  3. VLADIMIR & OLGA  4. AURAL SCULPTURE

LIMITED EDITION 2CD DIGIPACK

ORIGINAL ALBUM 

CD 1:1. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM  2. IT’S A SMALL WORLD 3. SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT 4. THE EUROPEAN FEMALE (IN CELEBRATION OF)  5. LET’S TANGO IN PARIS  6. PARADISE  7. ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME  8. BLUE SISTER  9. NEVER SAY GOODBYE

BONUS 

CD 2: 1. EUROPEAN FEMALE (RADIO EDIT)  2. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM (SPECIAL SINGLE MIX)  3. PARADISE (RADIO EDIT) 4. PÃWSHĒR  5. PERMISSION6. MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM (SPECIAL 12” MIX)  7. SAVAGE BREAST  8. VLADIMIR & OLGA  9. AURAL SCULPTURE

EACH FORMAT FEATURES NINE BONUS TRACKS

Holocaust – ‘Heavy Metal Mania’ (H.N.E. Recordings Ltd/Cherry Red Records)

Holocaust – ‘Heavy Metal Mania’ (H.N.E. Recordings Ltd/Cherry Red Records)

“I’ve got Heavy Metal music in my blood, And I’d like to give it to you if I could.”

So reads the mission statement of Edinburgh’s finest (and perhaps only) exponents of the NWOBHM scene, Holocaust.

Initially getting together to make music in the late ’70s, the band finally inked a deal with independent label Phoenix Record And Filmworks, who in turn released not only the legendary 1980 single from which the lyrics above were taken but also the rest of the records that come together to form this extensive 6 CD set from Cherry Red imprint H.N.E Recordings

It’s the band’s 1981 debut album ‘The Nightcomers’ that is without doubt their most renowned release (for reasons I’ll come to in a minute), featuring vocalist Gary Lettice, guitarists John Mortimer and Ed Dudley, bassist Robin Begg, along with drummer Nicky Arkles. This 9 track album is a bonafide long lost classic from the NWOBHM age, seamlessly blending the slightly more punky edged vocal delivery of Lettice with the riff and roll metal of his bandmates. It’s no surprise that the soon to be members of some band called Metallica were huge fans, in fact if you listen to the likes of ‘Death or Glory’ or the six minute plus album title track, things almost play out like an early blueprint for ‘Kill ‘Em All’, albeit played at a much less frantic tempo. Yup, those four kookie Californian doods did more than cover Holocaust’s ‘The Small Hours’ for their ‘$5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited’ EP that’s for sure.  

What is surprising reading the excellent, and highly informative, 20 page John Tucker penned booklet that is included within this clamshell box set, is just how widely criticised Holocaust were by the UK music media. You can count the number of positive reviews within the booklet on two fingers, and even then, one of them is for one song, a track on the band’s 1984 released ‘No Man’s Land’ album. This is something I really do struggle to understand, given the fact that ‘Smokin’ Valves’ the opening track from the band’s debut (and their second single) is an absolute cracker of a tune and one that should have seen early 80s Friday youth club discos up and down the country packed full of spotty lads throwing their dandruff into the night air over.

As it was with such apathy to their debut album via the mainstream media, I think I only ever got to hear the album a couple of times through an old mate of mine who bought pretty much anything released under the NWOBHM banner. I certainly recall him having the 1981 released ‘Live From The Raw Loud N’ Live Tour’ EP that featured 4 tracks taken from the band’s long form VHS release that was available through ads in Sounds magazine for the hefty tag of £29.99. Obviously at that price point back in 1981 you’d have to be a very rich (or lucky) teenager to afford a copy, so its great to hear the full 80 minute soundtrack to that video included here as CD 2. Recorded at the Nite Club, Edinburgh on 10th September 1981, it’s a warts ‘n’ all kind of recording, but given that fact that some of their peers (yeah, I’m looking at you Diamond Head and Motorhead) were also releasing supposed live videos that actually saw them miming to album tracks, I doff my hat to the lads for having the stones to release such a raw loud n’ live document.  In fact, it’s a recording the band (or maybe it was their record label) must have had a lot of faith in as it’s included again here in part via the 1983 released ‘Live (Hot Curry & Wine) album.

1983 also saw ex-Holocaust guitarist Ed Dudley emerge with a new band under the Hologram banner (the LP coming complete with a sticker that bore the legend “Holocaust are now Hologram”) for their one and only release, the ‘Steal The Stars’ album. Totally at odds with the backs to the wall rifferama he’d constructed with his former bandmates, ‘Steal The Stars’ ploughs out a more melodic rock furrow. It’s an album that kind of reminds me of Diamond Head’s ‘Canterbury’ album, perhaps being a step too far ahead of the time for its own good, and when he stays away from using the top end of his dog scaring vocal range Gordon Band puts in a top bluesy vocal shift here too.     

It’s the aforementioned 1984 released ‘No Mans Land’ album that not only saw Holocaust finally return, but also get one and a bit positive reviews from the mainstream media. This time around the band was reduced to guitarist John Mortimer playing pretty much everything along with session drummer Steve Cowen, and to be honest it’s a bit of a let-down when played alongside the band’s debut record. It’s okay in places but Howard Johnson was indeed right when he said ‘Satellite City’ is without doubt the best song on the album and the second side of the album is way better than the first. As such it’ll probably be the CD I return to least in this set.

Which is something you won’t find me saying about the sixth and final CD in this set. This 13 track disc brings together the band’s singles from their ‘Heavy Metal Mania’ debut from 1980 through to their 1982 12” ‘Comin Through’ which features the last Lettice fronted new music the band would release.  Every track contained on this disc is designed to give you a dose of headbanger’s neck just like when you were a teenager, so go dig out your junkie juice soaked cut off, clip up your bullet belt (albeit with a fair few additional bullets these days no doubt) and buckle up your studded gauntlets to fully complete the listening experience. 

All together now.

“I love to rock, I love to get down low. I love to rock…rock ‘n’ roll.”

Buy Here

Author: Johnny ‘Heavy Metal’ Hayward

Grade 2 – New single and huge tour

Grade 2 – New single and huge tour

GRADE 2 SHARE NEW MELODIC PUNK SONG “MIDNIGHT FERRY” SELF-TITLED ALBUM OUT FEBRUARY 17th VIA HELLCAT RECORDS

EXTENSIVELY TOURING IN EU AND UK THIS SPRING

Famed for blistering live performances and exceptional musicianship, UK band Grade 2 bring no-frills classic punk to the modern era. Their self-titled album due on February 17th is a bone-crunching 35-minutes that agitates, intoxicates and liberates in equal measure.  Ahead of its release they share their new single “Midnight Ferry” out today, featuring slick guitar riffs and lively shout-along verses that lead into crisp vocal harmonies.

“This song is our story, a tale of a night out and the truth of growing up in a rural town,” the band explains. “Capturing the adventurous spirit, trying to escape any mundane responsibilities, if just for a night. Just know you’ll be brought straight back down to earth on that journey home.”

Listen to Midnight Ferry here.

50 years after the genre turned the music world upside-down, UK based Grade 2 are bringing the raw power of old school punk to a new generation. United by a love of old-school punk, ska and oi, childhood friends Sid Ryan (vocals, bass), Jacob Hull (drums) and Jack Chatfield (guitar, vocals) formed the band at fourteen years old, honing their craft playing Clash and Jam covers before refining their own sound. Melding the near-mythical musical heritage of their native Isle of Wight with the humdrum reality of growing up in a tired seaside town, Grade 2 spit out blistering punk music laced with passion, angst, humor and despair.

After signing to Hellcat Records in 2018 – helmed by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong – they put out their second album ‘Graveyard Island’ in 2019. With the release of ‘Grade 2’ comes their most representative work yet; a thumping fifteen track tour-de-force melding the uncompromising ethos of punk with the howl of contemporary injustice, personal identity, and frustrations of Gen-Z youth, authentically told by three lads with punk coursing through their veins.

Grade 2 will be touring extensively this Spring, starting with a UK & Ireland headlining tour in March, directly followed by headlining European Tour with Death by Stereo and a support tour with Rancid this summer. Please find the full list of dates below.

UK & Ireland Headlining Tour

March 3, 2023 -Wakefield, Vortex Bar and Nightclub     

March 4, 2023 – Newport, The Cab         

March 5, 2023 – Stamford, Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge

March 6, 2023 – Norwich, The Waterfront Studio

March 7, 2023 – London, The Lexington

March 8, 2023 – Southampton, The Joiners        

March 9, 2023 – Exeter, Cavern

March 10, 2023 – Bristol, The Louisiana

March 12, 2023 – Derby, The Hairy Dog

March 13, 2023 – Stafford, Redrum        

March 14, 2023 – Newcastle, The Lubber Fiend

March 16, 2023 – Dublin, The Grand Social          

March 17, 2023 – Belfast, Voodoo           

March 18, 2023 – Glasgow’ Classic Grand            

March 19, 2023 – Manchester, Star & Garter     

EU Headlining Tour w/ Death by Stereo

March 23, 2023 – Antwerp, Kavka (Belgium)

March 24, 2023 – Tilburg, Little Devil (The Netherlands)

March 25, 2023 – Vechta, Gulfhaus (Germany)

March 26, 2023 – Drachten, Iduna (The Netherlands)

March 27, 2023 – Hamburg, Hafenklang (Germany)

March 28, 2023 – Berlin, Cassiopea (Germany)

March 29, 2023 – Regensburg, Tiki Beat (Germany)

March 30, 2023 – Dresden, Chemiefabrik (Germany)

March 31, 2023 – Posnan, Pod Minogą (Poland)

April 1, 2023 – Warsaw, VooDoo (Poland)

April 2, 2023 – Budapest, Instant (Hungary)

April 3, 2023 – Vienna, Arena (Austria)

April 4, 2023 – Milan, Barrio’s (Italy)

April 5, 2023 – Lucerne, Sedel (Switzerland)

April 6, 2023 – Dijon, Les Tanneries (France)

April 7, 2023 – Montreuil (Paris), La Pêche (France)

April 8, 2023 – Fontenay-le-compte, Espace Rene Casino (France)

EU/UK Tour Supporting Rancid

June 3, 2023 – Ljubljana, Media Center Cvetlicarna (Slovenia)

June 6, 2023 – Warsaw, Letnia Scena Progresji (Poland)

June 10, 2023 – Stockholm, Annexet (Sweden)

June 12, 2023 – Berlin, Columbiahalle (Germany)

June 13, 2023 – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof  (Germany)

June 20, 2023 – London, Brixton O2 Academy (UK)

June 21, 2023 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (UK)

Tickets available via band’s WEBSITE.