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.

The Balladmongrels are looking for Trouble

The Balladmongrels are looking for Trouble

Following the rollicking and crashing guitar-driven ‘Ballad of the Knucklemen’, The Balladmongrels second single ‘Trouble’ is the title track from their forthcoming debut album. A towering anthem that will have you singing along from the start, it sets the standard for this eagerly anticipated record which is due for release 12th May 2023.

Listen – Spotify / Apple Music

You can pre-order the album now on CD, Black Vinyl and Ltd. Edition Signed Red Vinyl from balladmongrels.com

Follow The Balladmongrels

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Dealing with Damage- ‘Use the Daylight’ (Little Rocket Records)

Dealing with Damage- ‘Use the Daylight’ (Little Rocket Records)

Now I have to admit that I was looking forward to this baby hitting the virtual deck, especially after hearing and reviewing the debut, trouble was I thought I knew what to expect, how wrong could I be? As is often the case with Sophomore releases the music advances at such a rate as the band begins to Gel and more influences are brought to the fore and the players own taste changes and mutates giving you something very different.

Introduction to this baby “Sunrise” has a very 60’s garage rock/psychedelic feel and then “Walking Backwards into the Future” snarls its way out of the speaker, echoing Iggy and the stooges, real time garage rock/punk hybridisation. Next up “Instrument” introduces a very different slant, heavier more intense with almost an Industrial underpinning, maintaining the garage sound but bringing it bang up to date. Three tracks in and I’m bouncing around the room and then a pause hang on did I just have that almost psychedelic interlude? Must have been the drugs because then everything just ramps up a gear within Instrument! “Bigots Vs the mad professor” to me draws down that early Seattle garage sound introduced by bands like The Gits before its over way too Quickly. “Rinse Repeat Rinse” throws another curveball, hitting almost a post punk vibe before “Keep moving” has the perfectly sampled intro/interlude before sending you down another wormhole with almost a trip hop background, a great point to take a breath, this is seriously good stuff, right up my street its all over the place while holding on to the garage punk DIY Ethos.

“We make Bombs to Feel safe” has one of those riffs that build and build, the intensity being led from the lyrics, and again that curve ball kicks in leaving you smiling. There are some seriously good ideas here, at times reminiscent of Killing Joke.

FUck me what’s this!!! Before “Letter from Yootha” kicks in at 100mph, and then we’re into “First they ignore you” again this moves to a very different beat, swirling esoteric guitar work, but still that incessant punk riff picking at you from the background. “Liberez Wayne Kramer” again is one of those interludes, before “Johns Gone” again dropping fully into that post punk vibe, this is potentially my fave on the LP, alongside “We make bombs” it’s all over the place. “Seek shelter” another corker, starts with the white noise that all us gig goers live with, before again we have that dark Killing Joke edge.

This is a seriously good LP, Dealing with Damage are really finding their feet embracing their influences, throwing them in the mixer and coming up with something unique. “Write it down” is flat out from the intro, hard edged picking at you, drawing you in. Next in “May I help you” again provides the interlude to “Sunset” before we’re back into that 60s Psychedelica with “Sunset” bringing the LP through a full cycle, looping you backwards to the beginning.

This is an LP that everyone needs to listen too, more mature than the debut, packed with ideas and bringing a distinctly new sound to the place, get it on repeat, purchase it, buy the t-shirt and more to the point enjoy a fucking good LP. Can’t wait to try to catch them live (Camden Rocks next year maybe?)

Buy Here

Author: Nev Brooks

ASH announce newly remastered splatter edition vinyl reissue of ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’ Released 24th Feb

ASH announce newly remastered splatter edition vinyl reissue of ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’ Released 24th Feb

Ash announce the reissue of their second album, ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’. Newley remastered and reissued for the first time since its original 1998 release, it will be available on limited edition Clear and Nu-Clear green splatter colour vinyl from 24th Feb.

Pre-order the Nu-Clear sounds reissue here.

After the runaway #1 success of the band’s debut album 1977, the release of follow-up Nu-Clear Sounds showcased a darker but no less melodic side to their writing. Explored in songs that covered a loss of innocence and drink and drug misuse, Nu-Clear Sounds captured the frustrations of the time with stark sincerity, its joining of grunge rock and gloomier balladeering giving rise to the hit singles ‘Jesus Says’, ‘Wildsurf’ and ‘Numbskull.’ It would be the first of three albums released with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley as a full time member.

Drummer Rick McMurray comments: “We’re absolutely buzzing to announce we will be re-releasing our Heart of Darkness in the shape of the splatter vinyl edition of our second album, ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’.”

Ash: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

RICH RAGANY & THE DIGRESSIONS RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM ‘WHAT WE DO (TO NOT LET GO)’ RELEASED MARCH 3RD

RICH RAGANY & THE DIGRESSIONS RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM ‘WHAT WE DO (TO NOT LET GO)’ RELEASED MARCH 3RD

PRE-ORDER HERE:

Fronted by former Role Models leader Rich Ragany, the last few years has seen the Calgary, Canada born and now UK based songsmith build up quite a reputation with his band of rock n ’roll trailblazers, The Digressions. With musicians that include Andy Brook (celebrated producer, SHUSH), Gaff (Glitterati, Dedwardians, Desperate Measures,) Ricky McGuire (UK SUBS, The Men They Couldn’t Hang), Simon Maxwell (Role Models, Yo Yos) and Kit Swing (Mallory Knox, Seven Days And Doesn’t Die), the band won over the hearts of many in 2021 with their critically-acclaimed ‘Beyond Nostalgia & Heartache’ album, gaining considerable airplay on BBC Introducing, and rave reviews and features from the likes of Classic Rock, Vive Le Rock, Louder Than War and Powerplay etc.

Sharing stages with the likes of The Lemonheads, Warrior Soul, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Whitfield Crane, Ginger Wildheart, The Professionals, Steve Conte (New York Dolls) as well as packing out London venues in their own right, all this deserved attention has led to the band signing a deal with Barrel And Squidger (who have released music by CJ Wildheart, Massive Wagons, members of Status Quo and Sex Pistols) and are set to return March 3rd with a brand new album titled ‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’.

Today, the band have launched the pre-order for the album and are giving people the first sweet taste of its charms in ‘One Last Thing To Prove’ – a song that lulls the listener into a false sense of security with a beautiful piano and simple chord refrain before out of nowhere the Digressions kick in with a Stooges worthy rock n’ roll riff, complete with ‘Raw Power’ one-note piano stabs. But the vocal harmonies that the band are renowned for lift the song far beyond any low rent garage vibes, and the song soars.

“One night out in Camden I ran into an old friend Pete,” explains Rich, remembering the origins of the song. “We go way back to Canada He’s a sound tech for some pretty amazing acts. Anyways, I see him, and his arm is in a sling. I ask him what he’s doing after. He says he can’t be out late as he leaves in the morning to hit the road. “With a broken arm man??” He replied “We all got one last thing to prove…”

It’s a taster of an album that is crammed full of soaring melodies and the kind of rock n’ roll that can take on many different moods, sounds and styles. For ‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’ that band went for a different approach to its predecessor…

“As ‘Nostalgia….’ had that wide-screen depth and cinematic feel,” explains Rich. “I decided to lay down a new approach. Gone were layering guitars and keys, in with punchy one takes… everyone getting one shot… everybody gets one job (Gaff is lead guitar, Kit rhythm for example no layers… just the parts), solos are solid takes and not pieced together. This to me would ensure that everyone’s personality would shine right through while making the songs far more immediate and vital. If it’s one thing I’ve learned while being incredibly lucky to work with the Digressions, it’s that they have a ton of personality.

“After writing, recording our ‘Beyond Nostalgia And Heartache’ album through the pandemic I felt we were on an incredible creative roll. So just before the release of Nostalgia I booked time again with Andy at The Brook Studios in Wallington Rock City. I had the songs and the band had grown into something very special. We had to keep going, which felt natural. What you get is a muscular yet melodic, anthemic rock n roll album. A new way of telling our story. One I can say I am so proud to be part of.”

‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’ is out March 3rd via Barrel and Squidger Records and is available to pre-order HERE.

Album release parties are confirmed for March 3rd at The Parish in Huddersfield and March 4th at The Camden Assembly in London. 

Also, the band have just secured the main support slot on The Southall Lawless Stage of The Call Of The Wild Festival on May 27th. More dates across the country are being added.

Rich Ragany And The Digressions are:

Rich Ragany – vocals/guitar/drums
Gaff – lead guitar
Kit Swing – guitar/vocals
Andy Brook – keyboards/vocals/guitar
Ricky McGuire – bass
Simon Maxwell – drums/percussion

Rich Ragany And The Digressions online at:

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Dinosaur Jr – ‘Puke & Cry-(The Sire Years 1990-1997)’ (Cherry Red Records)

Dinosaur Jr – ‘Puke & Cry-(The Sire Years 1990-1997)’ (Cherry Red Records)

Undisputed kings of the clamshell box set Cherry Red have put together the ultimate CD clam shell box of Dinosaur Jr from 1990-97 or the hits years when they were signed to Sire. On the four CDs, you get all four albums plus a plethora of B-sides and more. Albums, Singles, and rarities are pretty much the Jewson lot.

The booklet has a heap of awesome artwork to accompany the releases as well as extensive sleevenotes from Mojo Magazines Keith Cameron based on his interviews with J Mascis.

Born in the mid-80s post-punk and pre-Grungers Dinosaur Jr was the brainchild of Mascis and his unique guitar style. To be fair the run of sire records are an amazing body of work and a commercial success to boot. ‘Green Mind’ with its cool cover was intriguing at the time (pre-internet) but as soon as the needle dropped it was a sonic scalping. Songs like ‘The Wagon’ and ‘Whatevers Cool With Me’ were and still are fantastic songs.

To follow it up a year later with ‘Where You Been’ with its lead track ‘Start Choppin’ was nothing short of brilliant and deserved its commercial success proving that ‘Green Mind’ wasn’t a one-off or flash in the pan. The beauty here is pulling in all the bonus material onto one disc with its corresponding album with ‘Missing Link’ ending disc two which was the pick of the soundtrack ‘Judgement Night’ which pulled together some amazing collaborations.

Continuing the upward trajectory ‘Without A Sound’ and ‘Hand It Over’ wrapped up a real golden period for the band. They might not have reached the dizzy heights of the first two in the set but I’ve always loved ‘Feel The Pain’ and it still sounds amazing all these years later but again its the bonus tracks that are the main draw here Instrumentals, Acoustic live tracks all filling out this set.

With almost 80 tracks this is a superb box set that’s a fantastic in for new fans or people too young first time around and a great accompaniment for the vinyl reissues that broke the band when they came out a few years ago.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

The Stripp – ‘Aint No Crime To Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (Lux Noise Records)

The Stripp – ‘Aint No Crime To Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (Lux Noise Records)

Australia, Australia, Australia! It seems that anything top-notch is coming from afar these days and powering through 2022 “Down under” has delivered time after time and it seems flipping off the year was the MO of Melbourne Rockers The Stripp.

From the great cartoon artwork, it’s obvious these rockers are all about having a good time and rockin’ out. Ten tunes between two and three minutes long keeping it short and sweet. They kick things off in style with a rollicking title track that puts the foot down and goes for it. You don’t need to concentrate to hard just know the title and shout out ‘Aint No Crime To Rock N Roll’ with your thumbs in your bullet belt and your head nodding back and forth. It’s part Scandi rock part old-school hard rock and a heap of Aussie attitude and a little bit of Bosh!

‘The Bitter End’ has a stinking attitude as the riff just cuts through the solid rhythm. Hold on a gawd damn minute it’s the backbeat of Joan Jett meets the bass grunt of Quatro that’s shoved down your ears on Ghost Town. I’m hearing comparisons of Sally Cato and her Smashed Gladys going on here. The songs come thick and fast and sound like they were born out of playing shitty venues left right and center and grinding out a style and sound born out of who they are and all they know.

The fact that Lux Noise are handling the record in Europe makes perfect sense and they should get over here pronto and hit the road with Bitch Queens and slay some audiences around the globe. ‘Witch Hunt’ has got some swing Whilst ‘Back In Action’ tunes into some fine Action Rock.

There’s no reinventing the wheel here and that’s not what The Stripp are about – They’re about picking up the blazing baton and carrying it forward – making a noise and doing it well and hopefully turning some young pups onto some good old loud hard rocking music. There’s no time for a power ballad its just foot-on wedge rockin’ out from the top to the bottom finally signing off with the shuffle of ‘Don’t Feed Me Your Lies’ with its hard n heavy tip of the hat to those who’ve gone before them and blazing a path to oblivion. Rock hard brothers and sisters and turn it fuckin’ up! The Stripp are in da house drink up.

Buy Here (Down Under) Buy Here (Europe)

Author: Dom Daley

The Stripp Facebook