Let’s not muck about here folks these are the dates already announced –
The tour gets underway in Oslo on 22 October and features UK dates as well as a headline performance at the Hard Rock Hell festival in Great Yarmouth on 9 November. Full dates are…
Oct 22: Oslo, NO John Dee
Oct 23: Gothenburg, SE Pustervik
Oct 24: Stockholm, SE Fryhuset Klubben
Oct 25: Copenhagen, DK High Voltage
Oct 26: Hamburg, DE Headcrash
Oct 27: Berlin, DE Frannz
Oct 29: Paris, FR La Maroquinerie
Oct 30: London, UK O2 Academy Islington
Nov 01: Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
Nov 02: Milton Keynes, UK Crawford Arms
Nov 03: Southampton, UK Engine Room
Nov 04: Birmingham, UK The Mill
Nov 05: Glasgow, UK Garage
Nov 06: Manchester UK, Club Academy
Nov 07: Bristol, UK Fleece
Nov 08: Stoke, UK Sugarmill
Nov 09: Great Yarmouth, UK, Hard Rock Hell Festival
More shows are likely to be added. Tickets are available here.
Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghostshave announced a UK tour for June 2019 in support of the new album ‘This Is The Sound’.
‘This Is The Sound’ is released on 31st May 2019 on Wicked Cool, Pre Order the album Here the label run by Little Steven / Steven van Zandt, a long-time supporter and co-writer of current single ‘Mamacita’ –
Bristol is like band central tonight, Angelic Upstarts, Terrorvision and Fat White Family are all in town and with all of them playing within easy walking distance of the rather splendid Hy-Brasil Music Club you could be forgiven for thinking that a gang of five nerdy Norwegian garage punks might be struggling for a crowd in such a claustrophobic gigging situation.
Rest easy though my RPM chums because common sense (and that Ash support tour from last year) has saved the day and by the time Death By Unga Bunga take to the venue’s compact and bijou stage the dance floor if full of people, who just like me, have just happened to have discovered one of the best-kept secrets in rock music right now.
Up first though tonight is local Indie (as in proper mid-80s/early 90s Indie) trio Seek Warmth who plough a kind of 4AD furrow whilst managing to be somehow understated yet also remain intriguing all at the same time. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this kind of music personally, but the band is tight, have some very decent tunes and have one hell of a drummer behind the kit. I actually found it kind of refreshing to be whisked back to that age before grunge when Indie guitar music didn’t sound as forced and manufactured as it does today, so credit indeed to Seek Warmth for making that happen.
With Iron Maiden’s ‘Ides Of March’ booming out from the PA there is an immediate shift in my 80s throwback mindset, as I travel back to an age when metal also was nowhere as stylised as it is today and taking one look at the five musicians that are clambering onto the stage like extras from the Ant Hill Mob it makes me feel warm inside to say Death By Unga Bunga are never going to be called fashionistas. One look at the already sneering face of frontman Sebastian Ulstad Olsen and I can’t help but chuckle at his ‘70s Dennis Waterman meets Blakey (from On The Buses) image and he radiates that bad boy you love to love persona to absolute perfection. On the downside, he’s forgotten his Killers T-shirt tonight and is instead sporting a Dickinson-era Iron Maiden affair so he loses a few instant cool marks for this. Still with songs as amazing as opener ‘Into The Night’ who really give a flying fuck what Death By Unga Bunga look like, the sounds they create are some of the most original feelgood sensations you’ll ever experience live, and I’m just going to let myself be totally immersed in the next 30 odd minutes of absolute powerpop perfection.
With their roots in the Norwegian punk scene watching Death By Unga Bunga is not unlike that fist in the face experience you would expect from a hardcore show, especially when Sebastian is off the stage and prowling the raised area of the club looking for even more converts to join us on the dancefloor, its just that songs like ‘Turn My Brain Off’ and the knock out blow of ‘Soldier’ could very easily be hit singles and have seen the band on Top Of The Pops, if such a thing still existed of course.
Amongst all the tongue in cheek between song banter there’s also an underlying appreciation of all things hard rock that makes the Bunga truly bounce live, with ‘Cynical’ sounding even more like Thin Lizzy live than it does on the band’s amazing ‘So Far So Good So Cool’ album, and is something which manifests itself into all out fanboy status when the guys (jail)break into a brief segment of ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ before leaving us all wanting “10 more songs” (something the dreadlocked punk next to me is screaming like his bus fare home depended on him securing the deal for us).
Watching Death By Unga Bunga live makes you smile, it makes you sing and most of all it makes you want to dance, and in the world we live in right now that’s all you can really ask for from a great rock n roll band, the thing is watching Death By Unga Bunga makes me want to do it every night. I wonder if they need a sixth member?
The first wave rightly gets the recognition but hot on the heels by a matter of days, or weeks bands like Generation X and Buzzcocks took things to new levels. So the Clash had the slogans and Politics, The Pistols the nihilism and snot and The Damned were the first for everything it was bands like Buzzcocks who brought the poetry and teen love and With Idol and James Generation X brought the Legacy and homage to who passed before them from the silver screen and music clubs they openly embraced Elvis, The Beatles and The Who to name a few. It was their thrift store chic and boyish good looks and that swagger that they put to maximum use with Idol and his lip curl these magpies soaked it all up like a sponge punk, pop, rock and a dash of glamour.
This Deluxe Edition house in a solid slipcase is expanded to three LP’s. LP one is the debut album complete with lyric inner bag and the first thing that grabbed me was how fresh the songs sound. I still love ‘One Hundred Punks’ and the energy from the frantic drumming and the edge on Derwood-Andrews guitar playing. so Idols lyrics were a bit shit at times such as ‘Kleenex’ but it certainly doesn’t detract from his sneer as he spills the lyrics left right and center. But don’t forget these were just a bunch of snotty kids to be fair why shouldn’t their lyrics be a bit juvenile because at the end of the day that’s exactly what they were.
Musically they weren’t some kids picking up their instruments for the first time and a bit wet behind the ears as songs like ‘Listen’ might have been a bit sloppy but they used echo and time changes really well and it all weaved an awesome tapestry. ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ being the platform that Idol broke away and used throughout his career wasn’t the sound of a bunch of kids making a racket with volume and adrenalin it was and still is an exceptional song.
Be honest who doesn’t like shouting the refrain of ‘Youth Youth Youth’? A great way to end a great record fuck the detractors and the purists Generation X made a few exceptional albums and this was the first. Don’t even get me started on ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ which I trust will also get the same treatment as this?
The second LP features the singles and their B Sides now who doesn’t really think those couple of singles weren’t fantastic? ‘Ready Steady Go’, ‘Wild Youth’ and the slew of B Sides are a welcome addition to this collection housed as part of a double album. The Remaster has taken away all my clicks and pops and has me thinking how good would that album have been had these two been included on that as well? “Wild Wild Wild Youth!” Hearing the Dub version was probably the first time this young kid had ever heard any Dub – trailblazers for sure. Not sure how or why the B Side of ‘Fridays Angels’ is included here but I’m not complaining ‘Trying For Kicks’ is decent.as is ‘This Heat’ it has cowbell for Gawds sake!
Probably the main reason a lot will have picked up this set is the third LP (it certainly swayed it for me) with twelve previously unreleased tracks which include a couple of Phil Wainman recordings such as ‘Ready Steady Go’ and ‘No No No’ and the Us versions cover of Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’. the kind of material I’d expect to have on a set like this. The big revelation is still to come with the Alan Winstanley mixes. Alan Engineered the first album and also mixed these versions and to be honest Maybe its time playing tricks with me but boy these songs really do come to life on these versions.
There are seven songs in total and they take on a fresh and even more raw sound which is excellent. If I was to have a complaint about this set its the lack of little extras that aren’t essential but do tend to make this anniversary box sets a bit special. I wasn’t looking for silver rings or signed art reproductions (although that would have been nice) for £500 but maybe a 12″ book with essay from people who were there and pictures maybe a DVD with live footage who knows it must all exist maybe have gotten the band to do a short piece each because all that’s contained here is one side of the innerbag has an essay from Adrian Thrills which is nice to read but sort of a little lite. That something of a minor gripe because for less than 40 sheets this is a must-own for punk rockers and anyone who ever had a soft spot for these four scamps and their Rock and Roll sound because it really was a boss sound and I loved it then and still love it now. If anyone from the James, Idol, Chrysalis camp happen to read this I look forward to the ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ set it needs to happen for continuity and because I’d love it. Never mind a hundred punks I know four who ruled. Tony, Billy, Mark and Bob.
In a career that’s lasted nearly forty years and a whopping seventeen albums, this isn’t a band who’ve sat back and looked away from flexing their socio-political views whenever possible, and for a band with tracks like American Jesus and 21st Century (Digital Boy) that rank among their biggest, there’s been a clear response to it. And as the world continues to burn more and more each day, what better time for Bad Religion to resurface and take society’s ills to task once more?
Essentially its Bad Religion doing Bad Religion; For a band as right on as Bad Religion these are times that just keep giving and in return, Bad Religion keeps giving back.
As Brett Gurewitz said, “The band has always stood for enlightenment values. Today, these values of truth, freedom, equality, tolerance, and science, are in real danger. This record is our response.”
I guess it was time to don the shit kickers and kick some shit then. From the opening frantic burst of ‘Chaos From Within’ it’s slick it’s fast it driven and the guitar solo is a ball of fire lasting the blink of an eye there’s no time for bloated introductions, it’s on with the punk rock show. ‘My Sanity’ is fast but has a heartfelt melody with lush harmonies mixing sweet tunes with fast sharp punk exactly what Bad Religion is best at. The pace is constant for the first four songs and its not until ‘Lose Your Head’ does the pace relent. Another excellent song By the time you get to the album highpoint that is the acoustic driven ‘Candidate’ the band demonstrates right there how vital they are and how their sound is timeless and ageless. Graffin and Gurewitz have plenty of anger and are articulate enough to relay it through their music in a constructive and authoritative way. They go from the melodic ‘Candidate’ to the pounding ‘Faces Of Grief’ that thrashes and gasps for oxygen before ending sharply.
The ebb and flow through fourteen tracks is the sound of old pros knowing exactly how to deliver what they do to perfection its not easy staying ahead of the curve and remaining relevant in todays music scene but with such a plentiful pool of inspiration how can you not love the groove on songs like ‘Big Black Dog’ and if I’m honest the second half of this record is even stronger and the band also take a chance on breaking the pace and frantic style and their canon of songs is expanded further.
Bad Religion are one of those bands I never realise how many of their records I have until a new one comes out and I always like what I hear and am slightly taken aback at their body of work. Yet their standards are always really high even if you probably know what you’re going to get before the needle drop. That’s not a criticism by the way if the music is consistently strong as their is which is exactly why they’ve released so many and have maintained their popularity after all these years. Long may it continue because the world needs BAd Religion right here right now.
Same old boring Monday morning… Nah RPM lets a little sunshine via the powers of Rock and Roll. Here are three videos to get the blood flowing this Monday morning, enjoy
Oh yeah, Canada is killing it again on the power pop stakes. Trust me there is no other country on the planet churning out top-notch power pop quite like Canada.
I’ve reviewed Corner Boys singles before and when I heard they had an album in the can it was a no brainer. Imagine Buzzcocks and Undertones mashed up with some New Wave and rolled it into the modern age and whilst these cats doff their caps to their forefathers in punk rock they have just about handcrafted a whole bunch of awesome power pop. Superbly crafted punk rock songs played at pace with melody and equal amounts of angst and loud sharp guitars. Songs like ‘Lies And Excuses’ throw some punchy bass lines into the mix along with some Gatlin gun drum rolls. Damn Corner Boys have got it all.
Spit and snot aplenty there is a triumphant fist-pumping we know we’re great thing happening here. Seriously playing this record through had me comparing it to Cyanide Pills for quality on quality on quality and so it goes. You keep waiting for the next tune to drop off and you tut that they weren’t really the best thing since sliced bread but it doesn’t happen the title track is a much more juvenile snotty pogo through the best of SLF whereas ‘Norman’ is just a massive sugar rush on a rolling guitar lick in a similar vein as the Briefs and The Stitches or at least if you love them you have a fair idea where these cats are coming from. It’s not complicated its just great fucking songs one after the other from start to finish. If there is a complaint its there are only ten songs on here and that’s it. They’ve really mainlined the lyrical quality and melody of the late great Pete Shelley on ‘Guilty Galaxy’ No I don’t know what it’s about but it doesn’t matter I was too busy jumping up and down trying to get in time with the music.
‘(I’m such A) Mess’ is like the best Briefs song they never wrote and ‘Don’t Come Back’ is more Buzzcocks that Buzzcocks which is a great place to be. I love that bands from thousands of miles away really just get it whatever it is they get “it” enough to go into a studio and just have a bunch of fun hacking out tunes faster than the last one and doing it well. sure Corner Boys won’t ever get inducted into any stupid hall of egos but they’ll make their way into a bunch of really fucking cool record collections of like-minded people who just get it as well. Why not be one of those people and let a little sunshine into your life and get yourself some Corner Boys punk rock n roll because its simply excellent stuff now ‘Tell Me’ What You Waiting For?
A few weeks ago I was coerced into going to to see legendary post-punk outfit the Mekons by a good friend of mine who demanded I witness the band he calls “the originators of the alt-country movement” live.
To say that gig left me flabbergasted is perhaps something of an understatement, not only because the band managed to squeeze more musicians on stage at Le Pub than I’d ever have thought humanly possible (is that really Lu Edmonds hiding behind in the darkest recesses I wondered?…yes it is), but also not really knowing any of their songs I was enthralled by the band’s ability to mix up genres for the sake of a great tune, and which only showed the merest touches of alt-country if truth be told, so much so in fact, you could call me something of a convert. Not that the band really needed me, as fans of the band had long since sold out the gig travelling from all over the country and indeed the globe (fuck you flat earthers) to witness Jon Langford leading his band out on his home turf.
You see although the Mekons are hailed as a Leeds based band, by way of Langford’s adopted home of Chicago, he is still very much a Gwent boy at heart, and someone who up until a few weeks ago, I knew much more about as an artist, than I did as a musician.
This was all about to change for me though when I picked up a copy of ‘Deserted’ the 9 track album the band were promoting on that recent UK/Euro tour. This is an LP recorded on the fringes of Joshua Tree National Park to maximise the band’s creativity and the thing that hits me straight between the eyes is just how many of the tracks off this album they played live I actually remembered. No mean feat for a bunch of songs I’d only heard once before I’m sure you’ll agree.
‘Lawrence Of California’ which open the album is one such tune, a folky fiddle driven number that has more than just a hint of a drunken night on the tiles about it. Langford’s buzzsaw guitar and doubled vocals (with his vocal counterpoint Sally Timms screaming her lungs out) all underpinning this very strong call to arms. Likewise, the Tom Greenhalgh hollered ‘Harar 1883’ which follows vividly stuck in mind not least because it was such a shift into almost Keith Richards songwriting territory that it almost knocked me bandy live.
With repeated listens I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to pigeonhole ‘Deserted’, which I mean in every sense in a good way, the band genre hopping all over the place and essentially writing and playing the music they want to hear.
Personal highlights for yours truly include ‘Into The Sun’ which kicks some serious butt in an almost B.A.D kind of way, whilst ‘In The Desert’ drifts through your mind like some Gabriel-esque soundtrack moment and acts as an almost perfect juxtaposition musically to the way too piratey for my tastes ‘How Many Stars’ which it follows on the album. Elsewhere there are elements of Berlin-era Bowie evident during the frankly bonkers-brilliant ‘Weimar Vending Machine’ and finally, I do get some alt-country in the shape of the staggeringly beautiful ‘After The Rain’ which closes out the album.
That a band as creatively magnificent as the Mekons are almost hidden away from the mainstream means that you can still see them live for less than ten pounds, the music they deliver here on ‘Deserted’ however really is priceless. Make sure you don’t miss out on this absolute gem of an album, it’s well worth making that musical leap of faith for…trust me.
Cotton picking country blues – born on the Bayo poor boy fingerpickin’ dreamy roots rock and roll. There you go if you were looking for a Genre to hang your hat on that should just about cover it. Lonesome Shack starts off with the first couple of tunes picking the blues out of his geetar. But wait this isn’t a solo album Lonesome Shack is a trio. Lonesome Shack is Ben Todd (guitar/voice), Kristian Garrard (drums), and Luke Bergman (bass). and this record gets really interesting by the time ‘New Dreams’. Then ‘Lonely’ builds on a repetitive hypnotic riff that rolls and rolls gathering pace on the snare drum but the vocals are kept to a fairly distant dream-like level. Its a primitive journey you’ll take with Lonesome Shack that’s for sure. There ain’t nothing modern or hi-tech jiggery pokery happening here my only complaint is the song perhaps outstays its welcome clocking in at almost five minutes. However, saying that this album takes on a different feel when you add volume there is an earthy tone that is totally engaging and that’s ramped up on the highlight of ‘Only One’ with its darkness and sparse arrangement. Had this been from the pen of say the Urban Voodoo Machine we’d all be raving about it and rightly so.
I was quite surprised to see they’re based in London via Seattle and not from some crossroad down on the Delta. ‘Too Bad’ is a batton carrying rhythmic affair from the bluesmen of many moons ago and has a wonderful rhythm and hypnotic feel to it. Its not always about what you play sometimes the magic is what you leave out and sometimes the minimalist arrangement and delivery is the strength of a song ‘The City Is A Dessert’ is one such tune as it thumps the chord and rhythm over and over as if they’re forging the tune on a smoking hot day it gets inside your head and you drift off with the rhythm. Lonesome Shack has a gift and on this record, they’re leaving the best till last as the title track is a splendid slice of Bluesy rock n roll and Keith ‘n’ Ronnie would approve I’m sure of it. Great stuff.
Cool as drinking Tequilla on a hot hot day check out this piece of urban delta blues its refreshingly good.
Rock The Coast Festival, which is set to take place in Fuengirola, Málaga, Spain on 14th and 15th June, 2019 at the spectacular site of Mare Nostrum have revealed the stage times for this year’s event.
The line-up is a healthy mix of metal, classic rock and prog featuring the likes of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Magnum, The Darkness, UFO, Opeth, Carcass, Mayhem, Aborted, Wardruna, Tribulation, Wintersun, Von Hertzen Brothers, Jinjer as well as RPM favourites Michael Monroe.
The final price for 2-days tickets is 130€ (+ expenses) and the single day ticket price is 80€ (+ expenses, each one, same price for Friday and Saturday).
A very special opening party takes place the night before the festival on Thursday 13th June which will feature an exclusive show from Norwegian music group Wardruna who will perform inside the stunning Sohail Castle. Capacity is limited for this separately ticketed event.
Fuengirola’s municipal area is one of the smallest in the Málaga province and it is virtually reduced to a coastal strip that the city and the district of Santa Fe de los Boliches take up. It extends along seven kilometres of coastline with plenty of excellent beaches. Fuengirola is also only a 20 minute drive from Malaga airport.
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