The last few months have been tough on all of us, the key workers in the NHS do so much to help us. One of the bands that we manage “Adam & The Hellcats” wanted to say thank you. So what better way than teaming up with some of the most talented musicians in the punk scene right now and release a charity single. Featuring JACKIE CHAMBERS of GIRLSCHOOL & ADAM THISTLETHWAITE of MASSIVE WAGONS. Plus many more…
The emotional centerpiece off the Bristol band’s forthcoming LP, ‘Ultra Mono’ (out Sept 25th via Partisan). The accompanying music video features the band driving with their parents through their hometown streets to the shops, providing a grey window into suburban English life that matches the song’s heavyhearted churn.
Frontman Joe Talbot says of the song: “‘A Hymn’ is a hymn that rejoices in the sinister flesh-eating virus of the pedestrian. It sings the tune of normal’s teeth sinking into your neck as you sleep stood up with your eyes open. Amen.”
“A Hymn” follows the release of other ‘Ultra Mono’ highlights “Mr. Motivator” and “Grounds,” the latter of which earned a spotlight in the NY Times (“What’s a British post-punk band to do at a moment of black American protest that has spread worldwide? Slam and declare solidarity.”)
Ahead of release, IDLES will host a series of three live performances from an iconic studio space (to be named later) on Aug 29 & 30, which will be professionally recorded, filmed, and livestreamed. Tickets on sale now, more info and link to purchase HERE.
Talbot also recently launched a new virtual talk show called BALLEY TV, rolling out new episodes every other Friday this summer. Guests have already included Mike Skinner (The Streets), Nadya Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot), Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES), Hak Baker + more. Watch the most recent episode HERE featuring Arlo Parks and Billy Bragg. Subscribe to see more episodes HERE.
Produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire) and Adam ‘Atom’ Greenspan (Anna Calvi, Cut Copy), with Kenny Beats (FKA Twigs, DaBaby, Vince Staples) providing additional programming, ‘Ultra Mono’ was sonically constructed to capture the feeling of a hip-hop record. The album also features guest vocals from Jehnny Beth (Savages), and additional guest contributions from Warren Ellis (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), David Yow, and Jamie Cullum.
Here we have the second outing from The Blinders, definitely one of the brighter stars of the modern day Post Punk revival. ‘Fantasies Of The he Stay At Home Psychopath’, the follow up to the fantastic 2018 debut ‘Columbia’.
buy ‘Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psycopath’ Here
Up today in our feature of Introducing a band you probably aren’t familiar with yet but should be we bring you all the way from Portland US of A….Guerrilla Teens. Read the feature and it’ll become apparent why you seriously need to check these out.
We asked a few questions and got a prompt reply it might not have been to answer our questions but its a reply none the less. In full…
“This year, as a researcher for the Oregon Center for Musical Anthropology, I have been monitoring the activities of the “Guerrilla Teens”, a group of aggressive feral orphans living in the shadows of our state’s largest city, Portland. Upon release from an area juvenile detention facility (due to overcrowding during the pandemic) the youngsters set up camp under the Ross Island bridge. They were first noticed when a passerby heard the strumming of a rudimentary guitar coming from a lean-to near the river’s edge. Apparently subsisting on a diet of nothing more than twigs and berries, the Teens managed to build makeshift musical gear using only raccoon traps and discarded Rainier beer cans. Over the last three months, I’ve not managed to approach the Teens close enough to attempt communication for fear of being mauled (or worse) but I’ve been able to observe some of their bizarre habits. It quickly became obvious to me that they have created their own primitive religion and have entered into some sort of “blood-pact” which centers on the worship of high energy Rock and Roll.
TOKKY HORROR (ex-Queen Zee) Sign To Alcopop! Records
Crash “Hyper-Masculine” Cultural Spaces On Debut Single ‘Girlracer’ Out Now
Liverpool/London collective TOKKY HORROR are pleased to announce they have signed to Alcopop! Records. Their debut single ‘Girlracer’ is out now and available to stream and purchase on all good DSPs.
Completed by joint-vocalists Mollie Rush and Ava Akira, the trio form the hotly-anticipated new project from ex-Queen Zee vocalist Zee Davine, marking a stark change in musical direction from Davine’s former outfit.
Commenting on the new project, Davine says: “For me, ‘Girlracer’ is a joyous return to the fun of creating and making music after falling out of love with it. The experience of creating Tokky Horror has helped me address what my priorities are with my creativity, and how I wish and need to express myself. Sonically we had no idea what we would sound like, except we wanted it to be intense, visceral and cathartic.”
Inspired by artists like Dennis Lyxzen (Refused, International Noise Conspiracy)—who has spoken and written in depth about wanting to create punk music for the present generation, instead of simply mimicking bands from the ‘60s and ‘70s—and Liam Howlett of The Prodigy— who would refuse to pinpoint their specific sound—culturally-speaking, the new material carries on where Queen Zee left off, by crashing headlong into traditionally less diverse spaces and firmly planting the flag for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I wanted to find my own sound, and my own way of expressing myself, that takes from all of our influences across dance culture, psychedelia and punk,” explains Davine of the process. “Lyrically the song addresses hyper-masculine spaces (which is very often dance culture itself) and inserts Tokky Horror with confidence. Girlracer’s unashamed appreciation of fast cars and loud music is a tongue-in-cheek to every boy who thinks they’re better than us.”
Written and recorded by TOKKY HORROR, ‘Girlracer’ was produced and mixed by Zee Davine, and mastered by Stephen Cole at WHAT STUDIO, Liverpool.
Hailed as LGBTQ+ icons in the making, and touted as “the next Iggy Pop” by Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry on the 2019 GQ Awards red carpet, with multiple BBC Maida Vale sessions and a raft of press and radio support under their belts Queen Zee announced their unexpected shock split following the release of their debut album in October 2019.
Over the space of their short career they appeared at Glastonbury Festival, Reading & Leeds, Download, Latitude, Rebellion, Kendal Calling, Beautiful Days and more, and toured alongside Marmozets, Dream Wife, Skunk Anansie, and The Zutons.
TOKKY HOROR will be revealing further details and announcing more new music over the coming months.
Girlracer is out now on Alcopop! Records
TOKKY HORROR online: Facebook / Twitter
Riskee and The Ridicule honour New York singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey with their own unique take on her hit ‘Young And Beautiful’.
Not a band you can second guess, unpredictable Kent punks Riskee and The Ridicule follow-up their first lockdown release in May, the seething anger of the Brexit-baiting single ‘Blue Jacket’, with their own respectful take on New York pop singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey’s award-winning 2013 smash-hit, ‘Young And Beautiful’. This, however, is no guilty pleasure for the band, who are longtime fans of Lana’s work.
“Lana Del Rey is one of pop music’s best storytellers,” states frontman Scott Picking. “There’s something about her music that is so intense and descriptive that it’s movie-like and in these times of being locked down, that type of escapism has been a personal paradise. In choosing this song, I knew I could bring something different vocally and musically, we were excited about changing the song dynamically while staying true to the emotiveness of the original.”
Despite being isolated from each other at the time, Riskee and The Ridicule were able to create a video for ‘Young And Beautiful’ by recording their individual parts at home, allowing their former bassist David Thomas to collate them together with footage from one of the bands early hometown gigs.
“The video feels like a nod to both our early days as a band, just us and our own motivation, as well as where we are all at in this unique moment, one that we’re not likely to be in again any time soon (hopefully). ‘Young And Beautiful’ is a song I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” confesses Scott.
2019 was an amazing year for the band and saw the highly anticipated release of their third album ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ well received by both fans and critics alike, with their sets at Rebellion and Boomtown proving to be real highlights of 2019
Body Bag Your Scene was written and recorded at breakneck speed, a reflection of its reactionary nature to the daily uncertainty projected upon us. Taking aim at the powers that be (“Our Time”), sexual exploitation (“Sex”) and the barrage of contradictory news (“Black, White & Grey”) it’s a record that holds a mirror to the world with simultaneously acerbic and humorous analysis.
Growing up in Kent, Riskee and The Ridicule have always been a staple of the UK DIY scene, but their fervent attitude and unique “Grime-Punk” rallied troops of dedicated fans across the world. Musically, the band meld their genre-spanning influences with their intent to challenge preconceptions. On the surface they may appear easy to read, when in fact Scott Picking (Vocals), Jimbo Aglony (Guitars, Vocals), Jordan Mann (Guitars, Vocals) and Matt Verrell (Drums, Vocals) are a gang of progressive punks who form a powerhouse of change. Full of fierce energy, the Kent quartet have motives resting among The Clash with relentless streams of wit, literacy, and observational accuracy akin to The Smiths and a background in the UK Grime scene.
There is much more to come. You can be sure that Riskee and The Ridicule will be back onstage as soon as the world allows.
Buy ‘Young And Beautiful’ Here
Find Riskee and The Ridicule online at: Bomber Music / Band Website / Facebook / Twitter
Its been a while. No doubt about it.
This is the Eleventh studio album from Pretenders and I can honestly say I’ve not felt a real buzz off one of their records coming out since the second one came out way back in 1981 almost forty years ago! Gulp. sure they’ve hit paydirt in the pop charts since but they’ve not really dished out a record bristling with top tunes, until now that is. Damn, On the second single off the album ‘The Buzz’ shes even managed to recreate the vibe of ‘Kid’ on that guitar break. It appears that the past might have been embraced and maybe explored in order to strip back those past forty years to create ‘Hate For Sale’ which seems an odd title because there seems to be an overwhelming “love” going on.
The other noticeable feature is a sparkling production that lets everything breathe where it needs to and the crunchy dirty bits are backstreet dirty and not polished into oblivion fake dirty.
Hyndes vocals are as good as they ever were sounding fresh and captivating and at times comforting.
In the first four tracks, you have everything that made the original line up such a great band. A roaring call to arms on the intro track and album title followed by the more pop-friendly ‘The Buzz’ Something different and maybe a little risky in ‘Lightning Man’ and the rock-solid handclap heavy ‘Turf Accountant Daddy’ then to close off side one the retro pop ballad of ‘You Can’t Hurt A Fool’ which might be the weakest on side one with its soul trappings but Hyndes vocal is exceptional and delivers a stunning performance that elevates the whole song which is anything but tokenistic.
It’s great to drop the needle onto side two and hear the power chords clash and strut on ‘I Don’t Know When To Stop’ enhanced with some great gob iron blowing and a bowery staggering solo. Then to bump straight into ‘Maybe Love Is In NYC’ which makes a great dive bar buddie maybe not as strong but great to hear those guitars being rinsed with passion and some attack.
Chrissie Hynde might well have found her Mojo and really delivered a great record. there isn’t one weak track on offer and whilst side two might lack the variety that you have on the opening few songs they are immensely enjoyable like the punky hand jive of ‘Don’t Want To Be This Lonely’. To be fair the piano balladeering of the albums closer ‘Crying In Public’ had to be and the strings and big chords make it listenable without becoming lush or too polished and it retains the feel of the rest of the record and has grit and charm.
Pretenders have turned back the clock and knocked out one of 202s finest records without any shadow of a doubt. It’s short, sharp and exactly the pick me up needed during this oddest of summers. Something new with an old feel that’s comforting and downright bloody entertaining. ‘Hate For Sale’? Yes please.
Buy ‘Hate For Sale’ Here
Author: Dom Daley
Ok Ok settle down you punks, power poppers & hard rockers It’s been a bumpy ride for the past few months and we’re not out of the woods quite yet what with some countries doing a hell of a lot better (Canada, New Zealand) than others (UK, USA take note).
RPM is really missing heading out to live shows right now so what we thought we’d do is introduce you to some new bands we like and who should be on your radar if you’ve been paying any attention to RPM Online. First up from outta Canada we bring you the power poppin’ Autogramm.
Autogramm is a synth-driven, power-pop trio from Vancouver drawing influences from the likes of The Cars, The Go Go’s, Gary Numan, 20/20 and Devo. The band members are Jiffy Marx of Brooklyn’s Hard Drugs and Vancouver’s Blood Meridian, CC Voltage of Berlin’s Dysnea Boys, London’s Loyalties and Vancouver’s Black Halos and Spitfires, and The Silo of Vancouver’s Black Mountain, Lightning Dust and Destroyer.
Previous recordings available? 
“OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE” IS THE THIRD FULL-LENGTH
ALBUM FROM THE RAGING NATHANS. RECORDED BY MATT YONKER, (LESS THAN JAKE, TEEN IDOLS) THIS RECORD MARKS A DISTINCT MILESTONE IN SONGWRITING FOR THE BAND, BOTH IN TERMS OF LYRICS, SUBJECT MATTER AND MUSIC. WITH THIS BEING THEIR FIRST ALBUM AS A FOUR PIECE, THE RAGING NATHANS STAY TRUE TO FORM IN TERMS OF THE FAST-PACED MELODIC STYLE THAT THEY ARE KNOWN FOR, YET “OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE” BRANCHES OUT INTO NEW TERRITORY FOR THE BAND. THE DRUMMING IS TIGHTER; THERE ARE MORE GUITAR DRIVEN SONGS, TONE-SETTING LEADS, SOLOS AND EMOTIVE VOCAL HARMONIES. THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT BEGIN TO SHOW THE LEVEL OF GROWTH THAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED SINCE THEIR LAST RECORD, “CHEAP FAME”. THE NATHANS HAVE ALWAYS PAID TRIBUTE TO THEIR PREDECESSORS AND HEROES OF THEIR PAST BUT CARVING THEIR OWN PATH REMAINS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE BANDS CORE MISSION”
The new release opens with a package of news clips from the tragic shooting in the band’s hometown of Dayton Ohio, last year. Set to a guitar track, it offers a poignant tribute and affective intro to the first song proper ‘One Day Closer’. This song is brief but has the obvious makings of a future set opener with it’s ballsy pace that grabs you by the proverbial.
‘Lets Kill Rock and Roll’ is the umpteenth studio album from The Erotics but this one is with a twist and boy does the twist suit The Erotics. In early 2020, The Erotics began writing and rehearsing a batch of new songs set to become the band’s next record. As the songs streamed out of Mike Trash’s fretboard, the band frantically rehearsed and defined all the details of the songs, working to batten down the hatches for the rapidly approaching studio date of Feb 20,2020.
Of course, never being a band to play it safe, The Erotics decided to do the only sensible thing: throw caution to the wind and invite a contingent of dedicated fans to Don Fury Studio to take part in a live recording of 12…no make that 13…wait, on second thought, how about 14 brand new songs! It’s rough, it’s raw but with a Rocky Balboa punch it’s sleazy, it’s glamourous but of course, its got that dirty punk rock attitude you want from The Erotics. If you’re already a fan then you should know what to expect and if this is your first tentative footsteps into the world of Mike Trash and his band The Erotics then welcome on board. Opening with the title track proper notwithstanding the instrumental opening the invited guests howl their approval as the guitars get louder and a little rawer (if that’s possible) It’s a brave move unleashing new tunes on fans live in the studio and capturing the performance like this but the DC inspired ‘Lie My Way Into Hell’ is hauling around a fair sized pair of rock and roll bollocks that swing to the beat right up to the middle eight and breakdown post dueling guitars.
I hope there were monitor wedges for these Rockers to put their feet on as they throw out the shapes as ‘Lie My Way’ leads into the powerful ‘Monday Morning Meltdown’ but there’s no time to rest as the band speed off with the ‘Head Of The Low Class’. The beauty of The Erotics is they keep it simple and stick to exactly what they’re good at and are clearly comfortable with. Man ‘You’re History’ even has cowbell to go with the sleazy cockrock riffage and we all know you can’t get too much cowbell. We head out on a rollercoaster ride of fast and more solid Rock tunes and when ‘Wrong Kind Of Love’ ends the audience sounds like they’re having a real blast.
Our Man Dan Kasm had this to say about the release,
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