Milwaukie glam punk rockers Indonesian Junk are back with their first studio album since 2019’s riotous ‘Spiderbites’. Once again released through the home of all things good, Rum Bar Records, ‘Living in a Nightmare’ follows on from where ‘Spiderbites’ left off, but this time bigger, bolder and fiercer.
Right from the first few notes, the Junk’s penchant for sugary, glam hooks is back on full display with the opener, ‘Type of a Girl’, a The Boys-style number full of power pop melodies. The band certainly know how to write a tune or ten, and they also know how to channel different rock ‘n’ roll vibes. While songs such the aforementioned opener, ‘Knew it All Along’ and ‘One More Try’ (featuring Kurt Baker) delight in their power pop sensibilities, the band also know how to brawl. As with the previous album, the songs ooze confidence, whether it’s the ballsy ‘Living in the USA’, the full-on rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Policeman’, or the swing of ‘I Don’t Mind’, somewhat reminiscent of the The Hellacopters.
The album is wonderfully catchy, demanding a second listen as soon as it ends after the final notes of the extensive sing-a-long ballad ‘Bawling My Eyes Out’. The whole record encapsulates a wide range of dynamic material. While some time can be spent talking about the influences they undeniably wear on their sleeve, Indonesian Junk are their own sharp and exciting entity, and ‘Living in a Nightmare’ is a colourful and enjoyable listening experience from start to finish.
Sea of Snakes are the latest signing to LA based Metal Assault Records and ‘World on Fire’ is their debut EP. The band consist of drummer Jeff Murray (Ex- the Shrine), guitarist Jim McCloskey (Ex – Motorsickle), bassist Mick Coffman and vocalist Tracy Steiger (Ex- Saul of Tarsus). Their aim is to “be loud, be heavy, and do what the fuck we want,”.
They certainly are loud and heavy, with a sound akin to classic Sabbath, Corrosion of Conformity, Down and Alice In Chains they have offered up an impressive debut that left me wanting to hear more. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands then you really should check out Sea of Snakes.
The band recorded the EP at the famous Total Access studio where such luminaries as St Vitus, Dio, Guns N Roses and Black Flag have recorded in the past. Studio owner Wyn Davis produced the EP and it has a great, thick, and sludgy sound. The cover art with skulls with snakes coming out of them is a good indication of what Sea of Snakes sound like. Opening track ‘Let the Fire Burn’ has the swagger and chug of Vol 4 era Black Sabbath, a real head banger. The rhythm section of Murray and Coffman really take the lead here with lots of swooshing crash cymbals and tom fills and thumping bass. McCloskey is no slouch in the guitar department either with plenty of wah pedal action. I really hope he was wearing bell bottoms whilst recording this! The accompanying animated video for the track is fantastic, full of snakes and winged demons. Of course!
‘Ride the Line’ is a more up-tempo affair with lyrics about lights in the sky and guns in hand. White Zombie comes to mind here with Steiger barking out the vocals with the rest of the band pounding away to their hearts content. ‘Son of Man’ is next up with more tasteful use of the wah pedal and vocalist Steiger sounds like Scott Weiland in parts here. That’s certainly no bad thing! The ‘take no bullshit’ lyrics fit the track perfectly and there’s more groove-laden drumming from Murray.
‘Fear Behind the Stare’ starts off innocently enough with some clean, almost pretty guitar work from McCloskey before another pulverising riff kicks in. The final track ‘Drink Your Teeth’ has a ‘Facelift’ era Alice In Chains feel to it with its solid backbeat and dream-like guitar tones. The track flows seamlessly into a thrashy crescendo with Steiger screaming like Cobain on ‘Territorial Pissings’
When the EP was finished, I really wanted to hear more and felt like I’d just got started with my Sea of Snakes journey. This is a solid effort from the band and I eagerly await to see what comes next from these guys.
From the opening guitar roll and just from the tone I knew Mom was a band I wanted to hear and as the song opened up with some nice riff-o-la and a happy-go-lucky hook on the melody things were looking up. It’s summer with the soft top down kinda Rock and Roll. The solo soars and another power pop drop of goodness is released into the ether. Mom nailed it. ‘Pleasure Island is the sound of a band who love their Rock and Roll and appreciates what it takes to pen a rounded slice of ear candy, take ‘Ordinary Girl’ for example. its got duelling guitar solos – handclaps – a chorus that sounds like it fell outta a US sitcom from the early 70s’ it would no doubt get the Fonz turning his collar up and putting another dime in the jukebox baby.
They could be close relatives of bands like The Speedways and what’s not to like about ‘Suzie (Use Me)’ as they tick off another power pop room 101 essential as that cowbell gets tapped in time with the beat as the couplets fall out of the speakers. ‘Don’t Leave With My Heart’ has the wonderfully named Annie Stesia playing the synthesizer and lending her vocals to proceedings adding another texture to the already dreamy power-pop on offer.
‘Waste My Time’ is Exploding Hearts territory whilst ‘Soda Pop’ is something you’d imagine Tuk Smith penning. ‘Pleasure Island’ is in that ballpark and the reference points I’ve made are the kind of bands Mom would go on a never-ending tour with and fans would lap it up. It’s eleven songs of high quality fairly similarly paced except for ‘Talk To Me’ which closes off the album with its acoustic-electric mood. Possibly more laid back but no step back in the quality of the songs on offer. Hell if I found more information about the band I’d help you out but Mom seem to be quite private and let the album do their talking and it doesn’t shut up. Power pop fans need to check these out asap.
Dead Dirty Dinosaurs – ‘Too Many Questions: The Abbey Road Masters’ (Riot Records) ‘Holding Back is a brooding beast of a track with the slow purposeful twelve-bar riff building into a cacophony of noise’. To be fair its bettered by track two which is another brooding number with a menacing verse followed by raising the volume for the chorus before falling back. A nice idea that works on ‘Revenge’.
A love of 90’s alt-rock, punk, post-punk and post-rock serves them well as ‘bad Timing’ rocks like a good un. Signing off this four-track EP with the excellent ‘Monica’ mixing up the likes of Therapy? with the Pixies is a fine way to introduce yourselves for this Brisbane trio. They’ve certainly got the chops on what is an excellent balanced EP.
Stream/buy ‘Too Many Questions: The Abbey Road Masters (Remastered)’HERE
The Dogs featuring Frank Meyer – ‘Under The Coast’ ( Chicanery Chick Records/Die Laughing Records) Underground punk legends THE DOGS have unleashed a new digital single ‘Under The Coast’ that was co-written with and features fellow rock ‘n’ roller Frank Meyer (The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, James Williamson & The Pink Hearts) on guest vocals and guitar. The socially conscious, topical song is available now on all digital formats and deals with the chaos and dissonance of modern times. None more Rock and Roll than Frank when he’s in full fight so it’s great to have him here belting out a really good song.
Now if they were to record a whole album as good as this then the pandemic would have had a good final outcome from a year of lockdowns and turmoil. Please make it happen.
Die Laughing Records will also issue ‘Under The Coast’ on vinyl later this year as the B-side to The Dogs’ previous digi-single ‘Welcome to the Revolution.’
Chuck Norris Experiment – ‘Dirtshot’ (Self Release) The Scandinavian Rockers channel their innermost DC with a huge riff that sees them continue with their pursuit of all things loud. It also confirms them as Swedens premier Action Rock and Rollers a position they’ve had hold of for as long as I can remember.
It’s as good as anything they’ve done for ages and the solo is an absolute blast. In fact I go so far as to say it could become one of their highlights live such is the energy of the song – great effort! Always a pleasure and never a chore to put on some CNE you should join me. Facebook / Bandcamp
Cheap Trick – ‘Boys And Girls And Rock and Roll’ (BMG) With a new album coming in April Cheap Trick release another new tune and what a ball of energy it is. Still Relevant – Still go tit and still going (Thank God) Hall of Famers are still cooking with this new record sounding lean and mean they certainly rock it up with this one. Its anthemic and pure unadulterated Cheap Trick – Awesome! CONNECT WITH CHEAP TRICK: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
The Erratix – ‘You Don’t Care’ (Beluga Records) Another new band releasing excellent music on Beluga Records. this time it’s a slice of power pop ear candy hailing from Minneapolis, USA, and what a stonking introduction it is too. Mixing old school Costello with some Exploding Hearts and a whole lot more besides. It’s only two songs but if this is an indication of what’s to come then bring it on this is a wonderful debut single. Be it the A-side of ‘We Don’t Care’ and its boundless energy or the other side ‘When Will It End’ which is infectious and boundless energy poured onto a side of a 7″ record. It’s outta the same handbook as bands like The Cry but with some added keyboard swirl or The Briefs, yeah you know and on this evidence so do The Erratix. Buy it Here The Erratix Facebook
Slander Tongue – ‘Ride’ (Slovenly Records) what I’d like to pigeonhole as a right toe-tapper. Slander Tongue are riffin’ it up on this one like early AC/DC but with more attitude! Yeah, thats right more attitude than Bon and the boys it’s got a house party of chorus going on here and the solo is on fire. Hell, flip it over and ‘Lockdown’ is platform shoed glam slammin’. IF there is a better single coming out then I’ve not heard it and it hasn’t found its way onto the RPM Jukebox but this bad boy has. Berlin is a lucky place to have these cats call it home and If you have a few coins going spare and want a band to chuck em at then this is all killer and no filler, Buy it! Bandcamp
Cousin Betty – ‘Left’ (Golden Robot Records) “Distorted and psychedelic influenced indie desert rock with some grungy garage infused overtones”. Quite a mouthful to introduce yourself but I think it does them a disservice as ‘Tape Hiss’ cracks open this EP in fine style and once it gets going it’s an infectious slab of loud rock! albeit with an abrupt end. ‘Drone’ is another slab of hard, loud, rawk!
Born out of the pandemic and boredom main architect Damien Stofka whos an old hand at this music business spent his lockdown collaborating with artists he liked from around the world and ‘Left’ Was Born. Instrumental ‘Lazy Bones’ wasn’t for me but the pop undertones of ‘Loan Sharks Of Love’ mashed up with noise and chaos my interest perked up. but they saved the best till last as ‘AWOL’ is a runaway train reminding me of something Josh Homme might put together.
DeeCRACKS – ‘Get out of My Head’ (Pirates Press) Austrian punks DeeCRACKS have released their video for “Get Out Of My Head,” the third single from the band’s new record ‘Serious Issues’. It is available now for purchase from the Pirates Press Records webstore and all you punks looking for a fix of gabba gabba Hey! can fill yer boots here because DeeCRACKS do it so well. It’s catchy and timeless. Now bop til you drop. Find DeeCRACKS online:
Diner Drugs – ‘Need Time’ ( ) A real blast of energy from Diner Drugs as the only band I know outta New Brunswick so must be the best the area has to offer releases ‘Need Time’ as it thunders around my speakers. Walking the path trodden by the likes of Bronx, Cancer Bats, and heart attack kids is always going to get a listen around these parts and it is with great pleasure that they did. Top tune! get on it kids it’s a banger! Bandcamp
Featuring members of Bong Jovi, The Human Comedy and Savage Young, collectively they’ve been playing music in Moncton since 2009 and ready to take on the next trip and my advice is jump on it you won’t be disappointed -noisy bastards! Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Tommy’s RockTrip – ‘Got To Play Some Rock ‘N Roll’ (Frontiers) OH baby it’s like a steam train rolling down the tracks. Retro Rockers Tommy’s Rocket Trip is on Fire! Flying V’s double bass drums its happening kids and Got To Play Some rock and Roll is running on down the track. Formed by drummer Tommy Clufetos and featuring lead vocalist Eric Dover (singer and/or guitarist with Jellyfish, Slash’s Snakepit and Alice Cooper), Eliot Lorengo (bass), Hank Schneekluth (lead guitar) and Nao Nakashima (rhythm guitar) so it’s obvious these cats can play and play they most certainly do they might not be reinventing the wheel but they are setting it ablaze!
Coming outta Helsinki Finland, Plastic Tears have been around for ages knocking out a glam-punk sound on their own terms. They’ve just recorded a brand new album and to be fair it’s taking them to the next level with some excellent songs and they have undoubtedly found their own sound and added some good time Rock and Roll into the mix. We thought it was about time we sent out the call and brought them in for questioning. So it’s with great pleasure frontman and mainstay of the band Miqu who joined us for a chat and talk about all things Plastic Tears…
The band has been through some changes since starting out – how do you look back on the band’s career so far? You claimed that break-ups, lineups changes, record company changes and drama enough for a soap opera. Talk us through some of those soap opera moments?
We’ve been around for long, so we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs. The dramas are mostly stuff that happened in the beginning of our career. But we’ve split up on stage, had fights on stage, been filmed completely wasted for national TV and so on. We were wild, young and cocky then, I guess we’re a bit more stable nowadays. We’ve had a lot of lineup changes back in the day, and Eco and I are the only ones that are left from the early days. But I’m not much for nostalgia myself, I prefer to focus on the present.
The lineup is settled now, right? who writes the tunes in the band? and why?
Yeah, we’ve had this lineup since the last album, ‘Angels With Attitude’, and the band has matured a lot I think. I guess that’s what happens when you find the right guys who stay together. If you look through the band catalogue I seem to have written most of the songs. But I guess that’s kind of natural as I’ve been in the band from the start. But everyone in the band is welcome to contribute to the songwriting, and on our new album Juha has also written a couple of tunes. And that’s good because it widens the band’s sound.
The new album ‘Anthems For Misfits’ is about to be released, tell us about who’s releasing it an Italian label I believe? Where it was recorded? Give us some of the background as to how it was recording under lockdown during a pandemic or had it already been tracked?
Wormholedeath Records is releasing it worldwide. We’re really excited to work with them as they seem to be doing good work and still leave us the freedom to do stuff ourselves. That’s important to us, as we’re used to being independent and doing a lot of promotion ourselves. We had a European tour at the end of 2019, and before that we had already recorded the base for the album, the drums and bass.
When we got back we continued recording, but soon after that the pandemic started showing signs of itself. We were still able to continue recording, even though it progressed slower than originally intended. Our original plan was to release this album in the summer of 2020. We had to look for a new keyboard player too, as the one that was lined up didn’t want to expose his family to the virus. That’s understandable, but luckily we found Ville who did a marvelous job in the studio. We recorded at East Sound Studios in Helsinki with Sammy Aaltonen who also did the previous album with us. It’s easy for us to work with him as he comes from similar musical backgrounds and we could well fit on the same bill as his band Private Line.
As somebody who has been lucky enough to hear it, it’s fair to say it’s your strongest album thus far. Is that fair? I think the songs are stronger and the songwriting is really good there have been a few risks taken would that be a fair assessment?
I agree, it’s our strongest album this far. ‘Angels With Attitude’ already got a great response, and people have doubted me when I’ve said the new album is even better. I guess that’s how bands always feel about their new release, but I honestly think this is true. The band, the songs, and the production is better. We gave a lot of thought to the arrangements and wanted it to be a diverse album. I guess there are some risks, but, it’s not like we’ve consciously calculated what risks to take, the songs just came out like this.
We’ve always mixed in a bit of this and that, like ‘Spanish Whispers’ (still one of my favorite songs) reggae vibe on the first album, ‘Beat Me Blue’ on the second and so on. But I guess this time the production makes these things stand out better, and overall the album is diverse in a good way I think.
The first video/single is ‘Riot Zone’ which has a good hook but is only a fraction of what’s on offer why choose this one as the first to go public off the new record?
We had a lot of choices so this was a hard decision to make. The label wanted to make an animated lyrics video to go with the single, so in the end we made the choice based on which song would fit that kind of video the best. It’s also a strong ‘bang your head and raise your fist’ style of song that shows our punkier side and is easy to sing along to. And it has a really funny midsection!
The album opens up with a real shot of energy with ‘Doomsday girls’ which is a real Rocker with some fantastic piano that really lifts the song – whos playing that? and how important is the running order of a record?
‘Doomsday Girls’ is a great opener, and it immediately gets you into a party mood. The piano was played by Ville Tolvanen, aka Doc Tolvanen. He also played all the other piano/organ/keyboard parts on the album. He’s a blues/roots guy, but he did fantastic work on all the different styles of the songs. He himself said he’s never used as many different sounds and styles in a studio session, that kind of sums up the album. A big thank you to Ville, his parts were the icing on the cake! The running order is really important. We’re old school in the way that an album is the crown of your work and want it to be strong and balanced from start to finish. So we spent a lot of time thinking of the running order, and I think it worked out pretty good.
Talk us through some of the highlights of the album in your opinion? I love the opener but in the first three songs, there is a wealth of rock and roll all different but all obviously by the same band. Has this lineup struck on its identity?
‘Doomsday’ is one of my favorites too. I also love the dark gothic feel of ‘Candlelight Hate Affair’, the pop sensibility of ‘Clash in the Night’, the New York Dolls meets Elvis of ‘Crybaby’ and Hallucinations is a really special song that I can’t really categorize. I think we have. We’ve never wanted to be a band that’s easy to define. There’s rock, punk, glam, power pop, hard rock and more blended into our own sound, and I think all the pieces fell together like they were meant now.
What’s the scene like in Helsinki? for fans of Rock and Roll, live music? places to go bands to see? I know you have support over here on plague island are there any plans to play any shows further afield?
Well, there used to be clubs and venues before the pandemic, let’s see what’s left once this is over. The scene is pretty good, there’s good rock bands of all kinds, and of course a lot of metal bands as we’re talking about Finland. What I’m missing here is the kind of small half-sleazy rock bars, like old Loose and Bäkkäri were. But as always, clubs and bars come and go. Still, good venues to go see bands here, like Tavastia, Semifinal, (new) Loose, On The Rocks, etc.
We had a UK tour scheduled for last year with Paradise Alley, but then came the virus. The plan was to reschedule them for this year, and we’re still on the lineup for HRH Sleaze in August, hopefully, it can be carried through. And if, then we’ll hopefully get some other gigs booked there too. We’re also looking forward to getting back to mainland Europe once that’s possible.
What formats will the new album be available on?
Italian label Wormholedeath Records is releasing it on CD and digital. There have been requests for vinyl too, but as our deal doesn’t include vinyl, we’re still trying to find a way to get that done.
With regards to the new record tell us how it comes together? How do you go about putting it together? Do you demo the songs as individuals? What works for Plastic Tears?
Usually, someone makes a rough demo at home which is then played to the other guys. We then start arranging it and everyone puts in their own parts before entering the studio. As we recorded over a quite long time frame with Sammy we still had the chance to make some changes at Sammy’s East Sound Studios. I think this a couple of days of recording every now and then works well for us, as it gives us time to do changes, as opposed to doing it on a tighter schedule.
Tell us a bit about yourself Miqu. Did you always want to front a band? Who were your influences growing up and what other artists still make music you relate to and get inspired by?
Me, I’m just a rock’n’roll singer, who writes a lot of songs of which only a fraction are completed. I guess since I fell in love with rock’n’roll at about the age of ten I knew I someday wanted to work with music in one way or another. Elvis was my first step into the world of rock. Shortly after that, I got hooked on punk and soon widened my musical taste with bands like Lords of the New Church, Cheap Trick, Hanoi Rocks, Slade, and many more. Of older artists that still make music I can relate to and get inspired by, I would say, Alice Cooper, Blondie, Social Distortion, John Fogerty, and Rolling Stones. Of the newer bands, I love The Interrupters, Tiger Army, The Sounds, and The Baboon Show. I’m a music fan so I listen to a lot of old and new music.
Thats always good to hear, someone still in love with music.
Congratulations on the album I think it’s your best to date and a big step up in production and songwriting and the whole package (that’s not to say the previous ones were bad, they weren’t but this is excellent)
Thank you Dom, happy to hear this and I agree completely!
Let me introduce you to ‘Blowers’ from Melbourne, Australia they play down and dirty unproduced punk rock – they won’t apologise for being un PC and sing about drugs and consumption – violence and all things most bands don’t sing about. Hell, Fat Mike would take a step back take ‘Cut Throat’ for example. It’s a grinding noisy mid-paced stomper about doing coke and smack and coming to a sticky mess. I guess that’s the MO here it’s not big or clever but I wouldn’t think Blower give two flying fucks what you or I think anyway.
What they do is make a lot of noise and thrash about playing old-school snotty punk with a mix of throbbing basslines grinding away against a nail down a blackboard guitar sound that’s pumping out the riffs thick and fast. They claim to be too old for this shit but you’re never too old, right? ‘Eat It Up’ is infectious even if the mantra is “You make me fuckin sick” but hey it’s got a hook and you’ll find yourself toe-tapping along with the bass line. From the sick minds of Kit Convict (Kit Convict & Thee Terrible Two/ The Kits/ The Spasms), Andrew Porter (The Bowers/ Cakefight/ Brat Farrar), Shannon Aswell (The Reprobettes/ Juliette Seizure & The Tremor-Dolls) and Pip McMullan (The Exotics/ Wrong Turn) it’s not hard to see where these peeps are coming from and obviously they would gravitate towards each other – birds of a feather and all that.
They do have pedigree though and live they must be doing something right seeing as they’ve snagged supports with the likes of fellow sickos The Cavemen and shared stages with Stiff Richards. Punk has always been anti-social and certain bands do that so well and you can add Blowers to that list It’s loud – obnoxious – fun – catchy and in the moment.
‘Hitman’ is a romp through the swamp and whilst barking out the lyrics it’s weirdly enjoyable and I wouldn’t want it any other way. ‘Chainsaw’ sounds like it was recorded in a shed using a 1980s Tascam 4 track and nothing else other than a steel bath to lay the vocals down (oh shit on research that’s exactly what they did) no studio finery just a band with their instruments and an attitude. Be it fast punk or the slower more calculated ‘No One Cares’ it’s bloody good. ‘Hate That Shit’ no it’s one of the finer tunes on offer it’s like a 60s pop song sped up churned over and spat out.
Don’t take my word for it click the link and pick this shit up you won’t regret it!
Hey! today is a good day. why? because today I get to review a new record from Pat Todd & The Rank Outsiders that’s why and those who know just know and those who don’t know…well, nows your chance to get involved and get excited. Patt Todd & the Rankoutsiders, the underground rock ‘n’ rollers from Los Angeles, California are back in top form with a new album. “…There’s Pretty Things In Palookaville…” Hell I never heard of Palookaville but if Todds saying so then I’m a believer, folks. This is one pandemic blues busting album that’s full of high energy that plays on the embryo of all that’s good and great with American rock ‘n’ roll, adding a twist and a turn with every fast and gritty chord.
As per usual from Patt Todd There are no studio sound tricks or autotune, it’s just the sound of a real Rock and Roll band working its ass off in some sweaty studio and knowing they’re capturing and bottling a little bit of that magic we call Rock and Roll.
“…There’s pretty things in Palookaville” shows no sign of writer’s block for Todd with its sixteen songs.
The album sparkles into life with the opening salvo of ‘All The Years #1’ with plenty of punch and a rasping guitar sound its drawing a line in the sand and is like a ray of sunshine through the dark storm clouds. Today is another day and this is how it starts with some positive Rockin attitude. It might be a song that was left off the last album but it’s great that it wasn’t disguarded and makes for the perfect battle cry on this one.
Time honoured boogie-woogie is the order of the day as some ‘Cheap Nostalgia’ just rocks. Nick Alexander and Kevin Keller both tear it up on guitars, with Steven Vigh on bass and Walter Phelan on drums keeping the engine room hot and rock solid showing great empathy for what they’re playing. Todd does the whole cowpunk thang so well and ‘The World Don’t Care & Neither Does She’ is a great example of that. With ‘Read Em And Weep’ the band kicks back and knocks out an acoustic countrified part ballad and with a wheeze on the old gob iron adding something else to the mix its a welcome change of pace and a terrific song. Simple yet so effective and most welcome. Sit on the porch with friends telling stories and sharing a beer – perfect.
Sixteen tracks is a lot to get through but with it being a Pat Todd album the ebb and flow is always a given and you get the ballsy rockers and the cowpunk but you also get the out and out hootenanny as ‘To Get The Monkey Off My Back’ is one slap of the thigh in that direction. What Todd does really well is when he does the power pop Stonesy vibe of ‘Turn Back The Hands OF Time’ with some lovely chord picking and a sixties shuffle it’s a real highlight.
You also get a delve deeper into the classic American songbook with some 50’s Rock and bop with ‘Little Jael’ followed by possibly my favourite on the album ‘True Romance’ with its sped up-tempo this one just soars with a great melody. Just a great song with loud guitars and great lyrics. ‘Theda #2′ is a little Keith and Mick from the mid-70s’ simple as that. Why fuck around when you happen across a cool riff and a backbeat then sprinkle some cool lyrics over the top its wise to just get it down on tape and tip the hat and move on. Pat Todd gets that and does it so well.
Yehaw! ‘Nothing But Excusses’ is another brush with that good ole cowpunk with more emphasis on the cow than the punk. The record finishes on an impressive and loud one-two with ‘Way Deep Down In Your Heart’ brimming with energy and riding a great hook before closing off the record with ‘They’re Wrong/ Dead Wrong’ a real steamroller of a song packing plenty of punch to close off what is a perfectly rounded record full to bursting with variety, charm and most of all bloody good songs. What more could you want from your records?
Pick it up without delay from Hound Gawd! Records Here
Well, this piqued my curiosity. An “all-star” tribute to Badfinger, one of the best UK bands ever, from a songwriting perspective. I will spare you their tragic story, if you’re unaware. Let’s just say they deserved so much more, both professionally and personally. And, with a few exceptions, they deserved better than what is on offer here. A few gems, but a missed opportunity to celebrate their talents with a melody.
Never mind. You can’t really mess up songs like ‘No Matter What’, though the lead vocal of Vanilla Fudge’s Mark Stein is somewhat perfunctory. The song shines through, even a favourite of the departed Wogan. He knew a good tune. ‘Come And Get It’, unmistakably McCartney, features Rick Wakeman tinkling the ivories here, and sounds almost exactly like the original.
I wasn’t aware of Carl Giammarese, but he does a creditable job of ‘I Don’t Mind’. However, the stand-out track is ‘Day After Day’ with the legendary Terry Reid on vocals and Ian Anderson on flute. Something in my eye, as they say. Quite beautiful.
Rick Springfield is a suitable singer for ‘Love Is Gonna Come At Last’, as it sounds much like his tunes, and is as professionally performed as you’d expect, while Matthew Sweet nails a lovely version of ‘Baby Blue’, another favourite of mine.
‘Midnight Caller’ wasn’t their strongest song, but the Legendary Pink Dots do it justice, and Sonny Landreth gets bluesy on ‘Suitcase’.
Another ‘lump in the throat’ moment comes courtesy of Albert Lee’s take on ‘Sweet Tuesday Morning’; a feather-light touch, he really pays tribute to the song. And even Todd Rundgren holds back to give a tasteful version of ‘Without You’ that I imagine would get a thumbs up from the band themselves.
Not a disaster, but it could have been so much more satisfying with perhaps some unexpected guests. The highlights are, however, a real treat.
Recorded at Brockfield Hall near York, UK, with a firm eye on the old school way using Marshall cabs, Marshall amps, real drums and produced by Biff Byford with Jacky Lehmann recording and mixing, Saxon approach the likes of Motörhead’s ‘Bomber’ (with added whistle!), Toto’s ‘Hold The Line’, Black Sabbath’s ‘Evil Woman’ and a raucous Deep Purple’s ‘Speed King’ with refreshingly warm, unfiltered, “vintage” sounding renditions.
Continues Byford: “We wanted to do an album based on our influences, the songs and bands that inspired us to write what we did and still do.”
Byford does, indeed, take on some new vocal challenges, which he duly smashes on the likes of Thin Lizzy’s ‘The Rocker’. The net result is that whether cranking up a heavyweight take on Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Immigrant Song’ or throwing down AC/DC’s ‘Problem Child’, Saxon does a supreme job of entertaining both themselves and their audience throughout Inspirations.
Back around a decade or so ago those trusted and true Sons Of The North, otherwise known as Black Spiders, really could do wrong. Seamlessly blending low slung Desert Rock riffs with effortlessly cool hooks all wrapped up in live shows packed full of punk rock energy, they were the band the website I wrote for at the time (Uber Rock) had been waiting for, and to top it all off they then went and released an absolute stonker of a debut album in 2011’s ‘Sons Of The North’. This folks really was a band that ate thunder and shit lightning.
Somewhere down the line though, after recording their Pledge funded second album ‘This Savage Land’ and taking that record out on the road, by the time I caught up with them again at Hellfest in France in the summer of 2013, something just didn’t feel right, and whilst the band still turned in an amazing live show if you’d asked me if they looked like they had enjoyed it…I’d probably have had to say “no!”
Black Spiders carried on for a further four years after that (releasing just the ‘Rat Mansion’ EP via digital platforms after the ‘Savage’ campaign ended) before they eventually called it a day in 2017 via a couple of emotionally and sonically charged farewell shows.
With frontman/guitarist Pete ‘Spider’ Spiby then going on to record and release his eclectic and expansive solo outing ‘Failed Magician’ (a double album no less) in 2018 and then undertake a well-received tour with MC50 to support it’s release, if you’d have told me then that Black Spiders would soon be back together and releasing album number three in the midst of a global pandemic, I’d probably have asked you for some of what you’d been smoking.
But that’s exactly what I’ve got here folks, thirteen brand new tracks from four of the original Spiders (Spiby being joined once again by guitarists Andrew ‘Ozzy’ Lister and Mark ‘Dark Shark’ Thomas plus bassist Adam ‘The Fox’ Irwin) complete with new drummer Wyatt Wendel (yup he of Planet Rock radio fame) making this (alongside the awesome debut album from The Limit) perhaps one of the most welcome surprises 2021 has yet to deliver.
With new boy Wendel immediately taking front of stage via his colossal drum sound on the intro to lead single ‘Fly In The Soup’ the thing that immediately knocks me off my feet is that Black Spiders have never sounded more like the Black Spiders of those early days, and any fears of the band writing disparately might make it something of a miss match of styles and ideas can immediately be thrown out the window.
Case in point is up next, with ‘Stabbed In The Back’, a proper three-minute banger if ever there was one and a tune that wouldn’t have been out of place on an early QOTSA album if the truth be told.
Likewise, ‘Give Em What They Want’ pays a similar kind of Hommage with Spiby delivering some of his finest and perhaps most understated vocals to date and is truly fabulous stuff, whilst for those of you who might like the idea of your Black Spiders being cut through with just a touch of Australian rock please do make sure to check out the band’s retelling of the Easybeats’ ‘Good Times’, which has much more in common with the INXS/Jimmy Barnes’ version included on the Lost Boys soundtrack than the ‘60s original. Yup it’s basically a cover of a cover but it actually fits in well with the overall tone of the album, no worries.
For those of you longing for some of the more straight-ahead Black Spiders doom-laden riffage, there’s plenty for you to get stuck into too with the likes of ‘Death Comes Creepin’, ‘Down To The River’ and ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’ all three delivering total low-end satisfaction whilst also allowing the band themselves breathing space to take in their total awesomeness.
For me though its when ‘Black Spiders’ throw me a slight curveball that I get really excited about them being back again, like on the slow-burning ‘Rock N Roll’ where Spiby once again shines, delivering a vocal that has me thinking I might not have been the only one listening to Vinnie Dombroski and Sponge back in the nineties. Meanwhile in album closer ‘Crooked Black Wings’ there’s enough old school metal on offer to have every available drinking horn raised worldwide once we can all get back to some sort of normality and go see live music once again.
So, if the prospect of listening to an album designed to make you smile from ear to ear sounds appealing, why not click on the link below and pre-order your copy of ‘Black Spiders’. You most certainly will not regret it!
Milwaukie glam punk rockers Indonesian Junk are back with their first studio album since 2019’s riotous ‘Spiderbites’. Once again released through the home of all things good, Rum Bar Records, ‘Living in a Nightmare’ follows on from where ‘Spiderbites’ left off, but this time bigger, bolder and fiercer.
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