It’s unbelievably six years since Swedish glam/death punks Razorbats first came into my life via their musical suckerpunch of a debut record ‘Camp Rock’. Word of how insanely catchy that eleven track tour de force was spread like wildfire across the world wide web back in 2015 and if I remember correctly it was actually an avid reader of Uber Rock (who I was writing for at the time) who sent me a message saying “whoa John you really need to check this album out, it’s like Turbonegro jamming previously unreleased Starz and Cheap Trick songs. You will love it….”

 

And love it I did… as fast forward just a few short months and not only was ‘Camp Rock’ my favourite new album but the band were also booked to play a couple of UK shows, one of them being a headline slot at the legendary Slugfest here in south Wales, at which the band would go on to film the chaotic video for their then still to be released single ‘This High’.

 

Things were certainly looking good for Razorbats, when news suddenly broke that singer Even Berg was out the band and was being replaced by Paul Vercouteren (from sleaze rockers Virginia Hill) ahead of the release of the band’s 2018 sophomore album ‘II’. With Berg having been an intrinsic part of the Razorbats unique blend of punk and hard rock, I must admit I didn’t initially warm to that second album, and it took a good number of plays before I finally got beneath its skin. So, if the blurb that accompanies the band’s third long player to date is to believed – then things all kind of got on top of the ‘bats too, as this new record is an album they actually never thought they’d get around to writing, never mind recording. The band almost imploding for a second time in the back of their van amidst the hectic touring schedule that followed the release of ‘II’.

 

Praise be to the rock gods though that they did make it through, as even after just an initial couple of listens ‘Mainline Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is easily one of the best albums I’ve heard so far in 2021. With guitarist and band mainstay Kjetil Wevling along with Vercouteren once again joining up with guitarist Asle Tangen and adding a new powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Martin Korsgaard Hervig and drummer Christian Håpnes Svendsen along the way. Now these guys really do sound like they are ready to take on the world.

 

Kicking off this all new 10 track album we have ‘Rock N Roll Kills’, and the immediate thing that hits me is the step up this record has in the production department from its predecessor. The main riff to ‘Rock N Roll Kills’ really does sound like more of a mission statement than a song title given the immediate shock it is to the system it generates, and I do have to wonder if the production team of Kjetil Wevling (yup he’s a man of many talents) and Torris Ilievski might also happen to be fans of Michael Beinhorn’s stellar work during the multi-platinum selling grunge days, such is the potential for this tune to immediately be syndicated by rock radio stations worldwide. And it doesn’t stop there either folks, as the immense ‘Working For The Weekend’ and the almost Hanoi (with a decent production) greatness of ‘Rebel Soul’ twist and turn into your psyche like a slinky Axl Rose sideways dancing his way through the late 80s.

 

It’s when we get to ‘Little Ms. Crazy’ though that ‘Mainline Rock ‘N’ Roll’ really throws me the first musical curveball (not unlike ‘Camp Rock’ excelled at doing), and this really is when Razorbats stand out from the Scandirock pack. Granted this tune might be a step down in pace following the album’s frantic opening trio, but just for the last 30 seconds alone with its vocal refrain just waiting to get stuck going round and round in your head, this is without doubt a true highlight of this record.

 

For the rest of ‘Mainline Rock ‘N’ Roll’ the pedal is well and truly to the metal with the likes of ‘The City’, ‘White Trash Radio’ and album closer ‘Nightcrawlers’ perhaps being the closest the crue (sic) have ever sauntered into the field of cock rock, whilst the likes of the anthemic ‘Cocaine Karma’ and ‘Big Time’ and the reflective ‘Venice’ simply sound like Razorbats right back at the very top of their game and enjoying every second of it.

 

Look, buying a copy of ‘Mainline Rock ‘N’ Roll’ should be made compulsory for not just every RPM Online reader but also anyone who owns a record by any of the bands/musicians I’ve namechecked here. Trust me, ‘Mainline Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is guaranteed to drive you (Razor)bat shit crazy folks.

 

Now, hit the link/s below to get your copy!!!!! (UK fans can pick up a copy by emailing glunkrecordstcb@yahoo.co.uk)

 

Big Cartel Shop

Author: Johnny Hayward

 

 

Who knew in 2020 Redd Kross would be rescheduling these shows to 2022?… no one!!! they’ve lost a couple stops but gained a few more. Yay to Vigo, Vienna, Orëbro and Newcastle,… and don’t forget Rotterdam! All 2020 tickets will be honored. If you have a ticket for a town not listed refunds are available. They were excited last year to do this,… but now they are electrified!!!

 

 

The Damned’s upcoming shows have been rescheduled to 2022.  The events will now take place in Feb 2022-

11th Feb for Glasgow, 12th for Manchester whilst Birmingham is now set for the 16th Feb and the two London shows

Friday 9th July 2021 moves to Friday 18th February 2022   

Saturday 10th July 2021 moves to Saturday 19th February 2022 

They will be joined on tour by the following guests:

Friday : Special guests Skids + TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers + Small Town Tigers

Saturday: Special guests Wildhearts + Penetration + Small Town Tigers

 

THE DAMNED original line-up has reunited for a UK tour featuring the founding members Dave VanianRat ScabiesCaptain Sensible and Brian James.

 

*If you cannot attend the rescheduled date, you are eligible for a refund* for the face value of your ticket(s).

All tickets must be returned to and received by us prior to the rescheduled date. Please return them, along with a quick note stating your order number to: Eventim Customer Services, PO Box 75668, London, WC1A 9QE.

(Please note: we recommend sending tickets via recorded delivery, as we cannot issue a refund if these are lost in transit)

If your tickets are TicketDirect (print at home), for venue collection, or if you haven’t received them, please contact our customer service team at customerservice@eventim.co.uk.

*All refunds are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Sale, which can be found here: https://www.eventim.co.uk/help/terms/

The Offspring have announced The Hives as support for the LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL TOUR in the UK and Ireland!


Tickets on sale this Friday, April 9 at 10am GMT. – Here

 

21st Nov | 3Arena | Dublin
23rd Nov | Motorpoint Arena | Cardiff
24th Nov | Resorts World Arena | Birmingham
26th Nov | The SSE Wembley Arena | London
27th Nov | The SSE Hydro | Glasgow
29th Nov | AO Arena | Manchester
30th Nov | First Direct Arena | Leeds

#theoffspring #thehives #letthebadtimesroll

A bit of retro Goth Doom never hurt anyone did it?  Seeing as it’s coming into spring and summer I need some tunes for sitting outside in the blistering Welsh sunshine and as the first drum beats break cover and the soaring and searing overdriven guitars sharpen their riffs I apply the corpse paint and turn up the volume on this Human Trophy.

 

It’s like the Sisterhood grew up bitter and twisted and melted all their Numan albums. The cover art is the work of the weird kid from school who nobody went to junior school with and has heard him speak but his art is well weird and the soundtrack to the art is the music it houses ‘Binding Me’ is a deadpan slice of rapid drum machine beats with vocals dripping in echo as the song charges to its sudden conclusion.   To be fair it’s pretty much the pattern for the whole record Goth not for the faint hearted.  It makes Joy Division sound like Jive Bunny or Newlydeads singing Stock Aitkin and Waterman.

 

Saying all that ‘Empty Places’ is a belter of a tune with its searing guitar being wrestled from feeding back I got sidetracked realising the vinyl is indeed Goth purple in colour which is a nice touch and the fact that there is a track entitled ‘Forming Horror’ which to be fair is another great track that sails fairly close to being an upbeat pop song – if you close your eyes that is.  The title track is almost upbeat as well in a Goth sort of way.

 

The album finishes on ‘Blood Apex’ and the grinding bassline and hammer-like drum beat are giving me vertigo it’s like falling into a vortex and being touched by demons as you fall.  You either love or hate it I guess there is no in between with pure Goth.  When its loud and I’m in the mood its spell binding when I’m not in the mood however I just turn it up a little bit louder 😉

 

Buy Here

Brand new video for the track ‘Never Forget’, a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.  One Thousand Motels –  Rat Scabies & Chris Constantinou feat Sean Wheeler

 

Our favourite Norweigan Rockers Razorbats have their brand new album ready to go so why not get the brand new video

 

Another Suzi this time it’s Suzi Moon with her new video for “Special Place In Hell” which is coming out on Pirates Press Records!

 

I stumbled across the documentary ‘Suzi Q’ on TV back last year and I was amazed how much I didn’t know about the legendary Queen of rock, Suzi Quatro. Of course, I knew the classic songs from the 70s, ‘Devil Gate Drive’, ‘Can the Can’ and ‘48 Crash’, who doesn’t? The image of Quatro in a leather cat suit with a Fender bass that’s bigger than her slung low, is an image that’s ingrained into my mind (as well as many young, and not so young males). I also knew about the rasping voice and that scream that’s instantly recognisable. What I didn’t realise was how revered she is in the music world, with peers such as Debbie Harry, Joan Jett and Alice Cooper clambering over each other to sing her praises. As the Runaways Cherie Currie says, “If people have overlooked her, that’s their fault.”

She has inspired generations of her own gender to pick up an instrument as well as being completely aware of her sexuality and she has used that to her advantage in the best possible way over the years. It’s testament to her talent and determination that she’s still releasing material today and her latest effort ‘The Devil in Me’ hints back to her roots in Detroit, you can hear everything that makes the motor city such a great music town, from the Stooges, the MC5, the blues legend John Lee Hooker as well as the monstrous pop factory Tamla Motown in the twelve tracks that make up the album. While this isn’t as good as Alice Cooper’s own recently released homage to the motor city, ‘Detroit Stories’, there are some fine moments to be heard here.

This is Quatro’s seventeenth studio record and it’s been written and produced by Suzi and her son Richard Tuckey. There are nods to the glory days of the 70s with the title track, starting with some blaring feedback and a crunchy riff and plenty of those trademark screams, it’s a great opener with some fantastic honky tonk piano and harmonicas pushing the song along nicely.  ‘Hey Queenie’ utilises my favourite drum, the cowbell to great effect with a funky feel and a fist pumping chorus to boot.

‘Betty Who?’ Grooves along nicely with more tasteful guitar licks and some soul style backing vocals. Another catchy chorus here with some great bass playing by Quatro. It’s not all great though, ‘You Can’t Dream It’ is a bit throw away with a lacklustre performance and Christmas song ‘My Heart and Soul’ won’t be popping up on one of those NOW That’s the Best Christmas Album in the World….Ever compilations any time soon. Things pick up again for Get Outta Jail with its chain gang vocals adding character to the song. ‘Do Ya Dance’ is another mid paced funky number with loads going on. Things quickly go downhill again; however, ‘Isolation Blues’ is very predictable and not really what we want to hear from Quatro.

‘I Sold My Soul Today’ is an up-tempo rocker that would sound great in a car chase scene in a Hollywood blockbuster, Love’s Gone Bad is another throw away track that doesn’t really go anywhere. ‘In the Dark’ is a sultry number with some nice saxophone playing (I love a sax solo). The album closes with some good old greasy rock ‘n’ roll with ‘Motor City Riders’, this is where Quatro sounds most comfortable, and the best tracks on the album all have this kind of feel. This is more like it!  She can certainly kick out the jams with the best of them. Her chapter in rock ‘n’ roll is a very important one, and we all need to remember how tough it must have been for Suzi to carve out a career for herself back in the 70s. All hail Suzi Q!

 

Buy ‘The Devil In Me’ Here

Author: Kenny Kendrick

 

 

FUTURAMA – A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES

THE LEGENDARY 2-DAY POST-PUNK FESTIVAL RETURNS TO LIVERPOOL SEPTEMBER 11/12th 2021

MORE BANDS ANNOUNCED!

A CERTAIN RATIO, CLOCK DVA, POM POKO, SEX GANG CHILDREN ALL CONFRIMED!

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM SEE TICKETS HERE:

www.futuramafestival.com

Futurama, the legendary post-punk and electronic music festival, is back after 40 years! Taking place in Liverpool over two days, 11th and 12th September, the festival is thrilled to be able to announce a further wave of electrifying bands confirmed to perform.

Among those are Manchester post-punk legends A Certain Ratio, who played the first Futurama in Leeds in 1979 and are confirmed to play the main stage this year on the Saturday. A hugely influential band who’s funked up post punk has mesmerized people for over 40 years, the line-up still revolves around the three core members Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson and Kez Kerr and they are currently enjoying a renaissance with their Loco album on Mute Records.

“We are really looking forward to playing the Futurama again! I remember playing the Futurama 1979, it was a great line up of post punk and weirdness,” remembers Martin Moscrop. “Gutted to have missed Hawkwind though. Can’t wait for September.”

They are also joined by Clock DVA, the electronic pioneers formed by Adi Newton. Clock DVA were one of the big three Sheffield electronic bands along with Human League and Cabaret Voltaire that influenced generations of bands that came afterwards, so Futurama are delighted to have such a trailblazing band play. Clock DVA played the second Futurama Festival in 1980 and they headline the Substation on the Sunday.

Another very special guest are Sex Gang Children. One of the most important positive punk and goth bands whose career has stretched over four decades. They’re back with a new album ‘Oligarch’ and they will be re-entering the abyss when they headline the Planet X stage on the 12th September. They played Futurama 4 in Deeside 1983

The Blue Orchids also join the bull on the Sunday. Christened by John Cooper Clarke, The Blue Orchids were formed in 1979 when Martin Bramah left The Fall. They have a new album out on May 25th, 2021 and are about to support The Nightingales on their up-and-coming dates.

Spear of Destiny have replaced Kirk Brandon’s other band Theatre of Hate. This is due to Kirk’s hectic touring schedule which meant Theatre of Hate were fine for April 2021 but not for September. Spear of Destiny were already booked in to play the postponed ‘World Service Tour’ celebrating 35 years since the release of their most successful album.

Pom Poko, Norway’s fast rising sugar-coated noise makers also join the bill where they’ll be joined by the likes of TVAM, Joe Oxby’s cut up electronics, the striking talent of Julia Bardo, the excitement of Loose Articles from Manchester, the gothic rock of Twisted Nerve and two of the UK’s best new punk bands Grandma’s House & The Meffs.

Many of Liverpool’s newest noiseniks and far from angelic upstarts play as well, including Zee Davine’s latest project, Zee Davine & The Unholies, SPQR, Eyesore and the Jinx, Piss Kitti, Spilt, Yammerer, Bite Back and Dry Retch.

FUTURAMA FULL LINE UP IS AS FOLLOWS WITH MORE TO BE ADDED:

SATURDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER

HEAVEN 17 / SPEAR OF DESTINY / A CERTAIN RATIO / WARMDUSCHER / BILLY NOMATES / BALAAM & THE ANGEL / SPIZZ ENERGI / SECTION 25 /SINK YA TEETH / TVAM 

 IST IST / GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS / HEAVY LUNGS / WE ARE NOT DEVO / THE DSM IV / TOKKY HORROR / POZI / WITCH FEVER /SPQR / LOOSE ARTICLES / PETE BENTHAM & THE DINNER LADIES / EXPELAIRES / FEATHER TRADE / LIBRALIBRA / SPILT / YAMMERER / DITZ / FRAUDS / GRANDMA’S HOUSE / THE GENTLE SCARS / THREE FROM ABOVE / BITE BACK / DEH-YEY / DRY RETCH 

SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT / THE CHAMELEONS / THE BLINDERS / CLOCK DVA / THE LOVELY EGGS / SEX GANG CHILDREN /THE MEMBRANES / CHUBBY & THE GANG / JULIA BARDO BLUE ORCHIDS / POM POKO / SAINT AGNES / JOHN / BOB VYLAN / EVIL BLIZZARD / TVAM / ZEE DAVINE & THE UNHOLIES / CROWS / TV PRIEST / COURTING 

DR DIABLO & THE DEVIANT SHOW / COURTING / LIINES / DREAM NAILS / EYESORE & THE JINX / CRAWLERS / GRAVVES / GENN / THE MEFFS / TWISTED NERVE / THE WEBB / KLAMP / THE PLEASURE DOME / COUGHIN’ VICARS

Main stages will be hosted by Vive Le Rock, the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll and punk magazine, and respected website Louder Than War.

Saturday and Sunday day tickets now available at £45 per day +bf! Weekend tickets still available £80 +bf for the weekend and there is a new deposit scheme that starts this week of 4 monthly instalments available HERE:

For more info head to: futuramafestival.com

 

‘Ten Easy Pieces’ due out on June 11th. ‘Don’t Keep Me Guessin’ is the first video from the album.

Stream “Don’t Keep Me Guessin” – Spotify

Pre-Order New Album “Ten Easy Pieces” Bandcamp

Sudbury rockers and preeminent road warriors – Dany Laj and the Looks – have released their brand new single and video for Don’t Keep Me Guessin’. From their upcoming third full length album Ten Easy Pieces, which is set for release on June 11 via We Are Busy Bodies.

Produced, recorded and mixed by Laj at La La Pop Shoppe in Sudbury, the new music speaks volumes to the focus and determination it took to bring together this addictive assortment of tracks.  “It’s an interesting collection of songs for me,” says Laj “Don’t Keep Me Guessin’ was written in 2011 after I had met Jeanette Dowling (bass / vocals) and we started hanging out. Some of them represent some of the feelings that I wasn’t able to comfortably let out till recently.”

 

D I S C O V E R

Website: Website / Facebook: Facebook / Twitter: Twitter / Spotify: Spotify

Released from the vaults over twenty years since being laid down, this “lost” album from noise-tinged swamp rockers the Knoxville Girls. A supergroup if there ever was one, featuring a disparate bunch of players with backgrounds ranging from the Cramps, Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth and Boss Hog.

The melting pot once cooled produces a hectic but concentrated rockabilly numbers not too dissimilar from Tom Wait’s rockier 90s output. Though sounding a bit coarse at first, this is definitely a recording that improves with repeat listens.
I realise that sometimes material leaning towards a Country sound or a Western edge can raise a red (confederate) flag for many, but with its New York alt-rock leanings, this record owes as much to the Velvets as it does to Sun Records.
The organ sounds here brings a lot of identity to the record and provides great flow linking up the very interesting and but different compositions track by track, much like hip hop beats can hold Beck’s albums in line.
Ranging from dirgey toe-tappers to heart-wrenching ballads, ‘In a Ripped Dress’ will transport you to places you’ve only read about or seen in Road Movies with your own personal score to accompany you. Why this has sat untapped for decades is a mystery (train), so make up for lost time and get yourself a copy!
Buy In A Ripped Dress Here