Brand new video for the track ‘Never Forget’, a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. One Thousand Motels – Rat Scabies & Chris Constantinou feat Sean Wheeler
Our favourite Norweigan Rockers Razorbats have their brand new album ready to go so why not get the brand new video
Another Suzi this time it’s Suzi Moon with her new video for “Special Place In Hell” which is coming out on Pirates Press Records!
I stumbled across the documentary ‘Suzi Q’ on TV back last year and I was amazed how much I didn’t know about the legendary Queen of rock, Suzi Quatro. Of course, I knew the classic songs from the 70s, ‘Devil Gate Drive’, ‘Can the Can’ and ‘48 Crash’, who doesn’t? The image of Quatro in a leather cat suit with a Fender bass that’s bigger than her slung low, is an image that’s ingrained into my mind (as well as many young, and not so young males). I also knew about the rasping voice and that scream that’s instantly recognisable. What I didn’t realise was how revered she is in the music world, with peers such as Debbie Harry, Joan Jett and Alice Cooper clambering over each other to sing her praises. As the Runaways Cherie Currie says, “If people have overlooked her, that’s their fault.”
She has inspired generations of her own gender to pick up an instrument as well as being completely aware of her sexuality and she has used that to her advantage in the best possible way over the years. It’s testament to her talent and determination that she’s still releasing material today and her latest effort ‘The Devil in Me’ hints back to her roots in Detroit, you can hear everything that makes the motor city such a great music town, from the Stooges, the MC5, the blues legend John Lee Hooker as well as the monstrous pop factory Tamla Motown in the twelve tracks that make up the album. While this isn’t as good as Alice Cooper’s own recently released homage to the motor city, ‘Detroit Stories’, there are some fine moments to be heard here.
This is Quatro’s seventeenth studio record and it’s been written and produced by Suzi and her son Richard Tuckey. There are nods to the glory days of the 70s with the title track, starting with some blaring feedback and a crunchy riff and plenty of those trademark screams, it’s a great opener with some fantastic honky tonk piano and harmonicas pushing the song along nicely. ‘Hey Queenie’ utilises my favourite drum, the cowbell to great effect with a funky feel and a fist pumping chorus to boot.
‘Betty Who?’ Grooves along nicely with more tasteful guitar licks and some soul style backing vocals. Another catchy chorus here with some great bass playing by Quatro. It’s not all great though, ‘You Can’t Dream It’ is a bit throw away with a lacklustre performance and Christmas song ‘My Heart and Soul’ won’t be popping up on one of those NOW That’s the Best Christmas Album in the World….Ever compilations any time soon. Things pick up again for Get Outta Jail with its chain gang vocals adding character to the song. ‘Do Ya Dance’ is another mid paced funky number with loads going on. Things quickly go downhill again; however, ‘Isolation Blues’ is very predictable and not really what we want to hear from Quatro.
‘I Sold My Soul Today’ is an up-tempo rocker that would sound great in a car chase scene in a Hollywood blockbuster, Love’s Gone Bad is another throw away track that doesn’t really go anywhere. ‘In the Dark’ is a sultry number with some nice saxophone playing (I love a sax solo). The album closes with some good old greasy rock ‘n’ roll with ‘Motor City Riders’, this is where Quatro sounds most comfortable, and the best tracks on the album all have this kind of feel. This is more like it! She can certainly kick out the jams with the best of them. Her chapter in rock ‘n’ roll is a very important one, and we all need to remember how tough it must have been for Suzi to carve out a career for herself back in the 70s. All hail Suzi Q!
Buy ‘The Devil In Me’ Here
Author: Kenny Kendrick
FUTURAMA – A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES
THE LEGENDARY 2-DAY POST-PUNK FESTIVAL RETURNS TO LIVERPOOL SEPTEMBER 11/12th 2021
MORE BANDS ANNOUNCED!
A CERTAIN RATIO, CLOCK DVA, POM POKO, SEX GANG CHILDREN ALL CONFRIMED!
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM SEE TICKETS HERE:
Futurama, the legendary post-punk and electronic music festival, is back after 40 years! Taking place in Liverpool over two days, 11th and 12th September, the festival is thrilled to be able to announce a further wave of electrifying bands confirmed to perform.
Among those are Manchester post-punk legends A Certain Ratio, who played the first Futurama in Leeds in 1979 and are confirmed to play the main stage this year on the Saturday. A hugely influential band who’s funked up post punk has mesmerized people for over 40 years, the line-up still revolves around the three core members Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson and Kez Kerr and they are currently enjoying a renaissance with their Loco album on Mute Records.
“We are really looking forward to playing the Futurama again! I remember playing the Futurama 1979, it was a great line up of post punk and weirdness,” remembers Martin Moscrop. “Gutted to have missed Hawkwind though. Can’t wait for September.”
They are also joined by Clock DVA, the electronic pioneers formed by Adi Newton. Clock DVA were one of the big three Sheffield electronic bands along with Human League and Cabaret Voltaire that influenced generations of bands that came afterwards, so Futurama are delighted to have such a trailblazing band play. Clock DVA played the second Futurama Festival in 1980 and they headline the Substation on the Sunday.
Another very special guest are Sex Gang Children. One of the most important positive punk and goth bands whose career has stretched over four decades. They’re back with a new album ‘Oligarch’ and they will be re-entering the abyss when they headline the Planet X stage on the 12th September. They played Futurama 4 in Deeside 1983
The Blue Orchids also join the bull on the Sunday. Christened by John Cooper Clarke, The Blue Orchids were formed in 1979 when Martin Bramah left The Fall. They have a new album out on May 25th, 2021 and are about to support The Nightingales on their up-and-coming dates.
Spear of Destiny have replaced Kirk Brandon’s other band Theatre of Hate. This is due to Kirk’s hectic touring schedule which meant Theatre of Hate were fine for April 2021 but not for September. Spear of Destiny were already booked in to play the postponed ‘World Service Tour’ celebrating 35 years since the release of their most successful album.
Pom Poko, Norway’s fast rising sugar-coated noise makers also join the bill where they’ll be joined by the likes of TVAM, Joe Oxby’s cut up electronics, the striking talent of Julia Bardo, the excitement of Loose Articles from Manchester, the gothic rock of Twisted Nerve and two of the UK’s best new punk bands Grandma’s House & The Meffs.
Many of Liverpool’s newest noiseniks and far from angelic upstarts play as well, including Zee Davine’s latest project, Zee Davine & The Unholies, SPQR, Eyesore and the Jinx, Piss Kitti, Spilt, Yammerer, Bite Back and Dry Retch.
FUTURAMA FULL LINE UP IS AS FOLLOWS WITH MORE TO BE ADDED:
SATURDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER
HEAVEN 17 / SPEAR OF DESTINY / A CERTAIN RATIO / WARMDUSCHER / BILLY NOMATES / BALAAM & THE ANGEL / SPIZZ ENERGI / SECTION 25 /SINK YA TEETH / TVAM
IST IST / GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS / HEAVY LUNGS / WE ARE NOT DEVO / THE DSM IV / TOKKY HORROR / POZI / WITCH FEVER /SPQR / LOOSE ARTICLES / PETE BENTHAM & THE DINNER LADIES / EXPELAIRES / FEATHER TRADE / LIBRALIBRA / SPILT / YAMMERER / DITZ / FRAUDS / GRANDMA’S HOUSE / THE GENTLE SCARS / THREE FROM ABOVE / BITE BACK / DEH-YEY / DRY RETCH
SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT / THE CHAMELEONS / THE BLINDERS / CLOCK DVA / THE LOVELY EGGS / SEX GANG CHILDREN /THE MEMBRANES / CHUBBY & THE GANG / JULIA BARDO BLUE ORCHIDS / POM POKO / SAINT AGNES / JOHN / BOB VYLAN / EVIL BLIZZARD / TVAM / ZEE DAVINE & THE UNHOLIES / CROWS / TV PRIEST / COURTING
DR DIABLO & THE DEVIANT SHOW / COURTING / LIINES / DREAM NAILS / EYESORE & THE JINX / CRAWLERS / GRAVVES / GENN / THE MEFFS / TWISTED NERVE / THE WEBB / KLAMP / THE PLEASURE DOME / COUGHIN’ VICARS
Main stages will be hosted by Vive Le Rock, the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll and punk magazine, and respected website Louder Than War.
Saturday and Sunday day tickets now available at £45 per day +bf! Weekend tickets still available £80 +bf for the weekend and there is a new deposit scheme that starts this week of 4 monthly instalments available HERE:
For more info head to: futuramafestival.com
‘Ten Easy Pieces’ due out on June 11th. ‘Don’t Keep Me Guessin’ is the first video from the album.
Stream “Don’t Keep Me Guessin” – Spotify
Pre-Order New Album “Ten Easy Pieces” Bandcamp
Sudbury rockers and preeminent road warriors – Dany Laj and the Looks – have released their brand new single and video for Don’t Keep Me Guessin’. From their upcoming third full length album Ten Easy Pieces, which is set for release on June 11 via We Are Busy Bodies.
Produced, recorded and mixed by Laj at La La Pop Shoppe in Sudbury, the new music speaks volumes to the focus and determination it took to bring together this addictive assortment of tracks. “It’s an interesting collection of songs for me,” says Laj “Don’t Keep Me Guessin’ was written in 2011 after I had met Jeanette Dowling (bass / vocals) and we started hanging out. Some of them represent some of the feelings that I wasn’t able to comfortably let out till recently.”
D I S C O V E R
Website: Website / Facebook: Facebook / Twitter: Twitter / Spotify: Spotify
Released from the vaults over twenty years since being laid down, this “lost” album from noise-tinged swamp rockers the Knoxville Girls. A supergroup if there ever was one, featuring a disparate bunch of players with backgrounds ranging from the Cramps, Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth and Boss Hog.
American rock and roll guitarist Deniz Tek, most famously known for founding Australian cult influencers Radio Birdman, returns this year with a vinyl re-issue of his 1992 album ‘Take It To The Vertical’, released through Wild Honey Records. This was his first solo release after his time with Radio Birdman.
The result was, and remains, a fine, lead-guitar driven record which delights in its garage roots, throwing up bluesy moments interspersed with rockabilly and more traditional rock sounds, still with that punk veneer that Radio Birdman had been harnessing from the mid-70s. Now, nearly 30 years after its original release, ‘Take It To The Vertical’ still beams with boundless energy, making it a joy to listen to.
Aside from the liveliness of the record, one other notable thing about this album is how smooth it sounds. From the numerous guitar hooks to the time changes, every song appears almost effortless. ‘Dead If Looks Could Kill’, for example, is full of clever changes – one minute sounding like a streetwise strut, the next being interspersed with delicate, flowing piano.
The album is bold and strong throughout. Driving rockers such as ‘Run Out Of Water’, ‘Don’t Axe Me’ and ‘Is It Good Enough’ keep the momentum going, whereas the rockabilly of ‘Where Dreams Go’, the blues of ‘Me & Gene’ and ‘Steel Beach’, and the pop hooks of ‘Those Times Are Gone’, demonstrate the range of Tek’s creativity and ability.
Having spent a long time out of print, many fans will be happy to get their hands on Tek’s first solo album, and now with added liner notes and never seen before photos. ‘Take It To The Vertical’ is one in a series of archival re-releases from Deniz Tek.
Buy Here
Author: Craggy Collyde
‘Down on Commonwealth’ is the first single off ‘Under The Neon Heat’, the upcoming full length from this group of Orange County veterans. Under The Neon Heat hits the streets July 16th 2021. Go to Road Dog Merch to pre-order Hot Pink Vinyl, CDs and apparel. Here
From first glance, these New York state natives look like the result of a lover’s tryst between the Dead Boys, Turbonegro and Judas Priest. And from the moment album opener ‘1982’ kicks in, the listener is never let down.
“Lose Control” is taken from the new Radio Days album “Rave On!” Out on Ammonia Records – 21st of May 2021 www.ammoniarecords.it
DARK HORSE RECORDS CELEBRATES THE RELEASE WITH A NEW OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ALBUM TRACK ‘I FOUGHT THE LAW’, RECORDED LIVE IN LONDON IN 2001 BY JOE WITH HIS BAND THE MESCALEROS
Southern California Punk Rock act INFAMOUS STIFFS have released a storming new single and all-star video ‘Freak Parade’, available now on all digital platforms via Die Laughing/Golden Robot Records.
Every now and then you get touched by a Rock and Roll record that’s unexplainable in as much as it makes you feel on top of the world but you have no idea how or why the songs touched you in such a way that you wanted to do nothing else other than listen to the record and play it, again and again, and again. Well, the Blips did that to me from the first time the opening song ‘Inside Out’ came hurtling out of my speakers.
Quite why they had this effect on me I don’t know. they’ve not even recorded anything groundbreakingly original or anything of the sort. What they have done is pen ten stonkingly good power-pop tunes that just ooze class from the melodies to the arrangments to the production it’s just such a great album. The verses are spot on as are the melodies and the solos are just right never over noodling and always to the betterment of the song. Take the break on ‘Throw Me Around’ it goes into a duel solo that just grinds out until it falls back into the most excellent chorus. I mean it’s not about anything in particular but it sounds like the most important song ever for three and a half minutes.
Maybe its the fact that five frontmen have formed a band? Probably should be a disaster where egos get in the way – but, no not at all – maybe the stars have aligned for this one album? The group formed after Will Stewart – an accomplished songwriter and guitar player who has released several acclaimed records under his own name and with the Birmingham-based group Timber – sent a few curious text messages inviting a group of friends and collaborators to convene and write some tunes together. That group included: Taylor Hollingsworth, Wes McDonald, Eric Wallace, and Chris McCauley.
For over 20 years, Hollingsworth has built a dedicated following by composing incomparable rock, blues, punk, and pop music under subtle variations of his name. He also writes and performs with Dead Fingers and Conor Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band (among many other projects and groups). He’s considered by many to be one of the nation’s most innovative and adventurous guitar players.
McDonald, who plays drums in The Blips, has been making records under one moniker or another — including Terry Ohms and Vulture Whale — since 2000. His studio, Ole’ Elegante, in Birmingham served as ground zero for The Blips as they wrote, practiced, and recorded their first 10 songs with Les Nuby engineering.
McCauley, the leader of seminal Birmingham band Holy Youth, and Wallace, a well-respected guitar ripper who’s toured the globe, were already collaborating on a one-and-done punk project called Bad Hops when The Blips formed.
McCauley’s sensibilities are informed by bratty punk music and simple, yet melodic, lead guitar riffs. Critics and friends have described his singing voice as “squirrely” – a criticism he cherishes. The Blips between late-2019, and, February 2020, had written and recorded ten tracks – two weeks prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shut down. Through persistent text messaging and emails, they found a way to mix and master the songs from a distance, resulting in their first full-length record. the very record I’m gushing over right here!
The Blips sharing lead vocals, guitar, and bass duties, this surprisingly cohesive and high-energy album ranges from straight-forward garage rock to hit-and-run rockers to pop ballads with massive lead parts and gang vocals. Imagine reinventing ‘Wild Thing’ and calling it ‘Wild Thing II’. yeah, they have and what are you going to do about it? All the genres within power pop are present from the punky ‘Yes, Yes No Yes Yes No’ to the more Costello meets Stranglers like strains of ‘Out To Sea’. ‘Gold Rush’ is more laid back like Neil Young meets Teenage Fanclub if you like with a smart chorus. Man, ‘Patty’s Patio’ is snotty 80s’ new wave-inspired goodness and the perfect aperitif for the closing song ‘One And Done’. Right, I can’t sit here typing all night I’ve got to listen to the Blips album again and again for good measure. I suggest you check it out – you might get bitten like I did or you just might not get it at all, that would be sad but hey music isn’t for everyone but if you don’t like this album then I feel sorry for you because it really is a belter.
cornelius chapel records / Bandcamp
Author: Dom Daley
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