Our friend from Mainland Europe Craggy Collyde have finally taken shipment of their new record and have made details available of the release date. There will also be a bundle 7″ and 10″ package available for UK customers details to follow. Check out ‘Dead Refrain’ taken from the record below.
The original Boomtown Rats had their time and place and that ground to a halt in the early/mid-Eighties, amid Geldof’s involvement in Band Aid/Live Aid. They seemed to be a band who never seemed to know if they were a pop band with a bit of a maverick edge, a rock band with a pop edge, or just another New wave band with some big hit potential.
Always known for their gobby frontman who organised Live Aid Geldof like him or loath him he cuts a formidable figure and for all his faults did some incredible things with whatever talent he had be it one of pop music’s most sought after address books or just a flighty temper people were afraid to say no to but there can be no doubt his band the Boomtown Rats took a back seat for a long long time. Cue 2020 and after some questionable live shows be it good or not so good the Rats were back on the scene. then 2020 and ‘Citizens of Boomtown’.
With a couple of exceptions, this return to vinyl is pretty damn good. The band have penned ten songs that mostly turn up the guitar amps and rock like a pretty convincing take on garage rock via some Bowie and Iggy if I’m being honest. the opening stomp of ‘Trash Glam, Baby’, to the Transformer era Lou Reed -meets-The Beatles ‘Passing Through’. ‘Sweet Thing’, really does sound like Iggy Pop from the ’80s.
The exceptions have to be flagged so ‘K.I.S.S.’ sounds more like a Bwitched song and sits uncomfortably here which is a shame and breaks the flow of what has so far been a really impressive record. Then the other blemish on the record is ‘Rock N Roll Ye Ye’ which makes little sense to me so I’m choosing to gloss over these couple of glitches.
The album does end with ‘Get A Grip’ which whilst a little pompous had me drawing comparisons from some of Alice Cooper’s work with the keyboards and guitar lick joining the terrace chanting of the backing vocals and Geldof runs out of breath on the repeated verses before getting back into that chorus strangely alluring and enjoyable, who’d have thought it eh?
Maybe Sir Bob is letting his hair down and having some fun with his pals and cutting some tunes to fuck with the listener and take things somewhere you wouldn’t expect but I’ve heard the final cut live and used it as an excuse to get out before the masses hit the exits like a pound shop, Jagger, at his finest trying to create a soundtrack anthem about your band fails but I guess with an amount off porter in me maybe I’d hit the dance floor and get down and get with it but not a tune I want to hear over and over but don’t let that put you off generally this is a decent effort. Winner winner chicken dinner the Boomtown Rats are back in the room and the citizens of any town once the lockdown is over go and pick this up and find out for yourself. Give Bob yer fuckin’ Money! it’s been 36 years since he released the last one and the bills still need paying.
Author: Dom Daley
Those Dirtbag republic rockers have unleashed a brand new slice of Rock and Rolla for your listening pleasure Check out ‘Pandemic Blues’. It was all recorded remotely and mixed professionally by Ear Art Music Studios. We hope you like it as much as we do.
You can donate directly to the bands campaign to help the foodbank in Vancouver – https://my.ugm.ca/PandemicBlues
The brand new video taken from the forthcoming album from Scandi glam rockers Plastic Tears.
Finally how about this little blast of sunshine from Goldie Dawn
The Undertones were from Derry, Northern Ireland an exotic faraway land for this kid from South Wales (might as well be the moon) and they looked like they could have been from the next street with their parkas and doc martins but they stood out because they had tunes and lots of em.
Famously championed by John Peel, who’s favourite all-time track was ‘Teenage Kicks’ played at his funeral I beleive. But they were much more than that one song, they released thirteen singles and four studio albums between 1978 – 1983, and then in time honoured fashion the singer (Fergal Sharkey) announced his intention to leave. The band was toast but re-formed in 1999 with new singer Paul McLoone.
Subsequently the new Undertones recorded two new albums and have been touring regularly ever since. They even played Glastonbury Festival in June 2005,and marked their 40th anniversary, (40th gulp!) and completed a 46 date world tour only last year.
That’s the history of The Undertones pretty much in a nutshell and less than a 300-page biography but it doesn’t tell the full story, because, when you lift the bonnet and look under the hood their body of work is nothing short of stunning, and for singles, early singles, they were right up there with Buzzcocks as prolific and one of the best punk / post punk / new wave call em what you like bands. The quality was nothing short of magnificent. So it’s about time they got the definitive best-of treatment and ‘West Bank Songs’ pretty much captures the spirit and style of those kids from Derry perfectly.
30 tracks compiled by the band themselves it features 7 top 40 hits (including 4 top 20s): ‘Teenage Kicks’, ‘My Perfect Cousin’, ‘Here Comes The Summer’, ‘Jimmy Jimmy’, ‘You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It!)’, ‘Wednesday Week’, ‘It’s Going To Happen’ plus the Kevin Shields remix of ‘Get Over You’ ah now you remember, not just a ‘one-hit-wonder’ with that song they always play at weddings and school discos. It’s not just a greatest hits though as they do dig into their four studio albums the self-titled classic debut, ‘The Undertones’ (1979), ‘Hypnotised’ (1980), ‘Positive Touch’ (1981) and ‘The Sin Of Pride’ (1983) so they might have tailed off through the years and they never managed to better the debut (in my humble opinion) but isn’t that often the case? They’ve obviously taken time and pride in this best of with a take on the Stones ‘Aftermath’ cover this one comes in white and purple vinyl and has a twelve-page booklet with sleeve notes by Undertones bassist Michael Bradley and Mick Houghton, it also includes previously unseen band photos.
As far as walking down memory lane records go this is pretty much as good as it gets. I’ve not played an Undertones record in a long time and this made me re-evaluate my childhood and boy was I glad I got them first time around and all these years later they’ve not lost an ounce of their energy, melody, catchiness and colour. the Undertones easily fill a double album of absolute belters and if you love your music then you should pick this up and revel in some of the best-written songs from the UK in the last fifty years. An absolutely essential purchase. I can now retire the original albums and play this crackle and pop free best of.
Buy Here
Author: Dom Daley
Faz Waltz released a cover of T.Rex “Mambo Sun”, while under strict quarantine in Italy.
(Atlanta, GA, USA) While still under strict Italian Covid-19 quarantine Faz Waltz got together (sort of) and recorded a cover of T.Rex’s “Mambo Sun”. They’ve been sheltering in place for nearly two months and had that itch to record a track together.
They aren’t able to play live shows, but they’re still able to rock!
And don’t forget to check out “Rebel Kicks” , now available online on all major digital sites and also available on limited edition vinyl on Spaghetty Town Records (USA) , Surfin’ Ki Records (Italy) and Contra Records (Germany) Also available from Faz Waltz direct. reviewed here by Martin
Larger than life. Totally outta control forever and ever. Once again here to shake your ass, the true master of raucous rock and sexual shock. The infamous Norwegian who partied not to have fun, but in order to create destruction and havoc.
Two years ago, the legendary and former frontman of the denim demons Turbonegro was back for real with his solo debut Egomania, a record that immediately satisfied the needs of his rabid fanbase who had waited eight long and lonesome years for this punk icon to return from the world of films, musicals, cookbooks and the rest.
And, guess what, now the reinvented Hank von Hell has an ever stronger follow-up and it’s stocked with all the action, danger, debauchery, hooks and riffs you’d craved for, a large and swaggering sound designed to penetrate us all.
The title is ‘Dead’, and as the title indicates the album represents an even darker side of Hank von Hell than the one that we have learned to love. “I actually wrote this album and the concept of it, probably ten or fifteen years ago”, he says. “My life hasn’t really been the “sunny side up” all the time, so this is my way of expressing that. The idea of the album came about when I was a in a really creative and hectic mood last year, and I basically turned every single dark period of my life into music”.
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To celebrate this newfound inspiration and lust, Hank brings a party of favorites and friends onboard. Tom Dalgety, whose CV includes “Prequelle” by Ghost, “Rammstein” by Rammstein, “Sorceress” by Opeth, and many more, produced and co-wrote three tracks (“Blackened Eyes”, “Forever Animal”, “Disco”). “An absolutely amazing experience. Tom knew exactly what I wanted, and he even pushed my limits to way beyond what I’m used to.”
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An often forgotten incarnation of Scottish punk legends, The Rezillos. A name change developed to get out of record contract obligations. Although only a slight change of a consonant, a definite stylistic shift saw the group becoming more of an Irn Bru tinged B-52’s. This new New Wave output was prime for the American market and achieved a very much converted spot on a John Hughes teen movie soundtrack. Although the band maintained a massive following in Japan, they struggled to make a lasting impact in the UK & the US.
Behemoth main man Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski started Me And That Man as a solo project with folk stalwart John Porter. Their debut album ‘Songs Of Love and Death’ released in 2017, was as far removed from the extreme metal of Behemoth as you could get. Bringing together influences of Johnny Cash, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, their sound was an amalgamation of blues, country and folk music all wrapped up in glorious gothic-laced goodness.
Following the departure of Porter, Nergal called on the extreme metal fraternity to help him out when it came to the challenge of recording the sophomore album, fittingly entitled ‘New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1’. With Nergal taking a back seat in the vocal department, this album features contributions from members of Slipknot, Trivium and Emperor amongst many others…but not as you would know them.
First single and album opener ‘Run With The Devil’ shows a change in direction with a tongue-in-cheek ‘Deathproof’ style promo video, and a new dark sense of humour. It’s a blast of rock ‘n’ roll featuring the vocal talents of Jørgen Munkeby from Norwegian proggers Shining. In the video Nergal and Munkeby can be seen burying a body labelled ‘John’ and then drinking a toast by chinking bottles labelled ‘Porter’, an obvious reference to the departed ‘that man’ and the metaphorical burying of the past. Musically, it’s an upbeat, sleazy blast of rock ‘n’ roll, with cool vocals and saxophone that injects some sass and sex into the gothic melting pot. The “my heart is pure, but my church is black” refrain is effortlessly cool and carries on Nergal’s continued fight against the church.
Gothic is still the operative word with Me And That Man. Grave Pleasures vocalist Mat Mcnerney delivers one of the early highlights on ‘Burning Churches’. It’s all Nick Cave poetic lyricism with a Danzig-like vocal delivery. The minimal instrumentation, tribal beats and cool, church choir vocals give a cinematic quality. This could’ve come straight off the ‘Henry’s Dream’ album if I didn’t know any better.
Elsewhere, ‘Coming Home’, has Madrugada main man Sivert Høyem crooning Ian Astbury inspired lyrics like an 80’s goth lord at his finest, while Rome’s Jérome Reuter keeps things dark and doomy with the Fields Of The Nephilim styled ‘Man Of The Cross’.
Then Nergal takes us to church on the soulful and haunting ‘Surrender’. Featuring the raspy vocals of Dead Soul singer Anders Landelius and sweet slide guitar courtesy of Volbeat’s Rob Caggiano, it builds with intensity to a captivating crescendo.
There are many different vocal styles at play, and it could have easily lacked cohesion as an album, but it still flows nicely as a complete body of work. ‘Deep Down South’ is upbeat, moonshine swiggin’ goodness, featuring banjo, fiddle and harmonica. The duel vocals of Lucifer’s Johanna Sadonis and Hellacopters legend (and Lucifer drummer) Nicke Andersson work perfectly together. Sweet guitar solo too. The Devil went down to Georgia indeed, via Poland and Sweden obviously!
Emperor main man Ihsahn joins for one of the more spaghetti western themed moments. And I must say you would not know it was him, stripped of the high pitched black, metal screaming and challenged to actually ‘sing’, he pulls off one of the performances of the album on ‘By The River’. It’s all ringing chords, Tarantino vibes and drama, with an over the top killer guitar solo that lays the whole place to waste as a climax, cool as you like.
One of the most surprising highlights is ‘You Will Be Mine’ featuring Trivium’s Matt Heafy as you’ve never heard him before. The mainly acoustic, laid back track sees the singer bare his soul, out of his comfort zone, crooning Nergal’s dark lyrics to perfection over a burst of chilled harmonica. He nails it perfectly.
The epic ‘How Come?’ features Slipknot’s Corey Taylor taking the lead, guitars from Volbeat’s Rob Caggiano and a blistering guitar solo from Mastadon’s Bret Hinds, how could it fail to impress?
Hats off to Nergal, with ‘…Vol 1’ he has succeeded in realising his vision and encouraged all the players to reach out of their comfort zone and become characters in his spaghetti western/goth rock hybrid. This is how I imagine outlaw country should truly sound. While it’s self-produced, Me and That Man’s sophomore album feels like Rick Rubin has collaborated with Tarantino, stripped the fat, accentuated the cinematic and dark appeal of the songs and produced an upbeat and cohesive body of work that in actual fact just so happens to be a monster of a rock record.
Buy a copy Here
We go a long way back with Crazy & The Brains all the way back when they were first released by Baldy Longhair Records and from that debut release they’ve always hit the spot with their out of step punk rock with a twist of Garage and Xylophone madness and something they like to call anti-folk (I dunno either) anyway, They’re back in the house with a raging barnstorm of a new record and always offering value for money with their records this one is full to bursting. They’ve never strayed far from the blueprint of what made them great and once ‘Over The Edge’ hits the speakers you know what you’re in for. Its vibrant, rapid, maybe slightly off the wall but it’s a right powerhouse of an opener. Its the second track that intrigued me more from the thumping bass line raging throughout or those chanted vocals this tune is on fire, I Mean FIRE! ‘Live Fast Burn Cash’ is roided up from the grunt on the guitars to the pounding on that Xylophone – Top tune.
It isn’t all bash n pop as ‘Brown Rice’ kicks back and to be fair like its predecessor ‘Out In The Weedz’ this has been enhanced by Pete Steinkopf of Bouncing Souls who once again recorded the record in Asbury Park, NJ. I think on the evidence before me the songs are really strong on this release and songs like ‘Not Today’ should be huge these cats should be heading towards the top of festivals like punk rock bowling they’ve got the chops and prove it year on year.
The Ramones influenced ‘I Don’t Deliver Pizza Anymore’ is a blindingly good example of how good this band can be and it features cello from Jen Fantaccione, who also plays with The Front Bottoms (Great name) from the opener to the skank of ‘Born Free’ the Brains trust hit the spot again and really do deliver. If you’ve never heard of them nows your chance to jump on board and what a back catalogue to discover. It’s not like you’ve got anything else to do at the moment and discovering great bands who cut great records is an awesome way to pass the time whilst on lockdown and no better place to start than with the real Jersey boys. Crazy And The Brains. Get on it!
Author: Dom Daley
the Woodstock, NY-based punk band’s sophomore studio LP, out May 8th via Alive Naturalsound Records frontwoman Sam Quartin
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