Second EP offering from this Philly trio of noise makers who live in the shadows and walk on the sleezy side of town, where shit happens and the music is rough and ready. Brought up on a steady diet of T Rex rhythms and dreams but with a darker reality of festering punk rock, Problem Addict have got it going on. ‘Back In Jail’ is what the kids would describe as Fire, or the slightly older amongst us would say is banging. Me I’d say it has the beating heart of Bolan played through TSOL’s instruments and the DK’s four-track recorder.
What it lacks in finesse and big studio edits and sheen, it has a beating heart full of napalm and it ain’t afraid to let it all hang out. ‘Damaged In Transit’ is the sound of cheap alcohol fueled punk rock giving the listener the middle finger right up in their grill.
It’s short and oh so sweet, and we love that here at RPM Online, it’s got heart and soul in spades and a pocket full of great ideas and tunes, and boy is it gonna let ’em out. Hell, to finish they even open Pandora’s box of pop shit just to fuck with you some more. Bad drugs Bowie and Bolan mixed with some more noisy fuckers but with a style and swagger Problem Addict might get to make a diamond long player with great tunes or they really might end up in jail or as Michael Monroe once said ‘Dead Jail or Rock n Roll’ one of the three only they can decide but lets hop for the latter. top tunes.
Bryan Adams, now an independent artist on his own label Bad Records, is promoting his brand new album ‘Roll With the Punches’ with a series of intimate album release shows in select clubs across the UK.
I was not going to miss the opportunity to catch a multi-million selling artist up close and personal in my favourite venue, The Brudenell in Leeds.
With a strict no phones/recording policy in place, no support act and an early start, this proves to be anything but a normal show for the artist and punter alike.
The no phones system actually works really well. After queuing in the rain, you are handed a pouch to place your phone in, which is then locked and handed back, and you keep it on you for the entire show.
It sounds like a bit of a faff, but it’s not. It’s well worth it to be free from a sea of screens in front of you, filming the entire thing.
The four-piece band take to the stage bang at 8 pm. Dressed in a tight black T-shirt, blue jeans and regulation short back & sides, Bryan Adams looks shorter than I imagined, and has barely aged in years. He smiles, straps on a bass and tells us what to expect. No hits tonight, they don’t have time, this is all about the new album. They will play the whole thing and answer questions in between songs. Then they proceed to kick out the jams with the opening title track. It’s a song with an instant, classic Adams chorus and a punchy, jarring riff, a great opener. With Adams handling bass duties, long-serving members Keith Scott on guitar, Mickey Curry on drums and Gary Breit on keyboards, the four-piece band sounds tight and they truly rock. The sound is great, the vocals spot on, to be honest, it sounds like the goddamn record!
Next up is ‘Make Up Your Mind’, another classic sounding Adams signature single. With a chorus that may be designed to be sung en masse in stadiums across the world but sounds perfect here in a small, sweaty club. It feels really surreal seeing a guy of this stature playing a small club show right in front of my eyes.
‘Never Let You Go’ is an anthem that is as euphoric as it gets. That rousing chorus builds and builds. It’s a strong song,
possibly the best on the album. Is that goosebumps I feel travelling up my arms? I’m sure I’m not the only one.
It turns out they are playing the album in sequence, albeit with between-song breaks for Q&A’s. There is a certain ebb & flow to the show as the sequencing has been designed for the album listening experience.
The band are doing 3 sets each night on this promotional tour, when questioned as to the motives, Bryan explains that’s how they started in bars, doing 3-4 sets a night, so it’s a sort of return to the band’s roots.
And there is a nostalgic feel to the album as a whole, whether that is intentional I don’t know, maybe I should’ve stuck my hand up to ask the question!
The second half of the set, as with the album, shifts the mood from the upbeat, arena rockers to the more reflective and dare I say ‘power ballad’ territory. Bryan swaps his bass for an acoustic guitar and a harmonica to channel his inner Bob Dylan on the emotive anti-war anthem ‘Love Is Stronger Than Hate’.
The following ‘How’s That Working For Ya’ sounds like it could’ve been lifted from the ‘18 Til I Die’ sessions, it has that punchy, radio friendly bravado going on.
Elsewhere, ‘Two Arms To Hold You’ is a declaration of love that straddles Bon Jovi radio rock and the following ‘Be The Reason’ screams ‘album track’ on first listen and could be the only song that comes close to being classed as ‘filler’ tonight.
Poignant set closer and new single ‘Will We Ever Be Friends Again’ leaves things on a reflective note. And that’s it, 1 hour, job done.
Hats off to Bryan Adams for arranging these shows. Not only for playing intimate venues, but for insisting on a no phones policy to make sure everyone gets the true live experience every musician surely wants for their fan base: to experience living in the moment and not watching a gig through a screen.
Ok, so some of the hits would’ve been nice, but tonight was about the new album and showing the fanbase that he can still write a good tune or two, and is excited to perform new songs with the conviction and passion they deserve.
A truly special, one-of-a-kind night that surely has to go down as one of the highlights of the gigging year.
Monty has been a valued member of The Mighty Damned since 1996 and has contributed to the songwriting process, and has also written and played with the Captain, but did you know he is a trained Psychiatric nurse and Psychotherapist
Now its fair to say The Damned have been the pioneers of Punk since its inception and have easily weaved their magic through many of its subgenres as the pioneers never afraid to take a chance and always had diversity in th e records introducing keyboards and having songs with synths so it might only have been a matter of time before someone in the camp inspired Monty to get in a studio and lay down his parts or interpritations for many of the bands best loved songs adding another flavour to many classics and some not so classic. Join Monty on this magical mystery ride.
Now I’m not sure if his tongue is firmly in his cheek or this is a deadly serious project, either way I was intrigued to investigate all nineteen tracks. Sure, we would all agree there are some quite beautiful songs that either already have significant piano parts or involve keys in some fashion, so beginning with ‘Beauty Of The Beast’ is safe territory, but having no vocals and just piano and no synths is very interesting. ‘Blackout’ had me upright and not sure whether to laugh out loud or to appreciate the majesty of the melody or scratch my head at the blasphemy of hearing it like this. Sure, the breakdown sounds wonderful, but whatever gets you through, I guess.
Monty often has me scratching my head as he dances on the side of the stage or leaps up and down, but when the band do the huge songs like ‘Absinth’ I see his worth and like what I hear. There are some safe tunes like ‘History Of The World’ where it works, and others like ‘Smash It Up’ that sound like it belongs on Blackpool sea front, amusing old punks in their kiss me quick hats.
‘Life Goes On’ sounds fantastic, and is it rude of me to prefer Captain’s performance of ‘Just Can’t Be Happy’? ‘Shadow Of Love’ works as does ‘Limit Club’, a song the band should get back in the set and leave it there in place of ‘Eloise’ if anyone’s asking. ‘The Dog’, ‘Disco Man’, ‘Generals’, ‘Natures Dark Passion’ and the beautiful ‘Under The Floor’ make this all worthwhile.
Saying that the tribute pieces to end this album, dedicated to Cap, Dave, Paul, Stu, and Pinch, are lovely, but not something I will be returning to, (Jazz just goes over my head or on this case right through it) even if the one for Paul sounds like the same amount of notes Paul hits every song hes ever played on. For Damned completists, no doubt a lovely piece of curio from a maverick figure in the most glorious and wonderful punk rock band that ever made a note of music. Long live The Damned and everything they do, even the bat shit crazy piano lounge albums with no words just piano. Respect to Monty and whoever commissioned this crazy album. I await the tour dates as Monty heads out on a solo tour with this bad boy.
So there will be blood, apparently. Not really, I’m sure they’re nice chaps, but it’s the full bloodied opening track from their brand new long player ‘Vandalheart’. Birmingham neerdowells The Liarbilitys play full tilt wholesome street punk n roll with a passion and belief in what they do, and there is a wholesome honesty about the brand of street punk they peddle. It’s loud and toe-to-toe with the listener. There are plenty of sing-alongs in a Bad Religion meets Frank Turner on full tilt happening here, and I like it. The Levellers, if they turned to electric guitars instead of bodhrans and fiddles and sped it up a few BPMs.
The arrangements are clear and have vocals that sing melodies with attitude, like a Dirtbox disco meets Cock Sparrer which really works to be fair. Take the title track as an example. Lived in lyrics that are relatable, singing about yesteryear, be in nostalgic or just to convey a story, works wel,l and hearing “Twats” used in a song is heart on the sleeve stuff.
I like the aggression of ‘Strangways’ whilst ‘Sin Em All’ has the heart and soul of a Sparrer old school glunk about the rhythm. The pace is varied like the heartfelt ‘Gutta Percha’ that breaks out in timely fashion before the upbeat call to arms of ‘Battering Wall’ and the closing time sing-a-long of ‘Daisy You’re Gonna Wind Up Dead’.
All in all, it’s a well-constructed, varied album of anthemic street punk n roll that’s well produced and arranged and played. It signs off with the pacey ‘The Armada’ it might be a safe path to tread but you still have to deliver it well and The Liarbilitys do exactly that. I’m sure live they’ll sound exactly like the record and if you’re looking for a good time and a sing song then you need to get on this one.
Holy fuck, I have to start by saying that my first spin was on ear-bleeding volumes, and as the title track burst through the ether, I felt quite emotional. The melody is exquisite and those gang vocals haven’t been heard since Turbonegro hit their zenith. Throughout the album trilogy ’Misanthropical House’, ’Algorithm and Blues’, and ’Research and Destroy’, were well above average, in fact, over ti.m,e I’d go so far as to say at times exceptional but his ‘November Boys’ is shaping up to be something else that blasts off into the red hot sun. The Good The Bad and The Zugly have limped their way through midlife crises and pubescent antics to release one mother fucker of a record from the opening pop sensible melodic bastards that ore the first two to ‘Norweigans Abroad’ which is a thrashing mother fucker of a track that is tight and raging and turning into everythinng you want it to sound like – turn it up please.
They might well be mediocre underachievers on the unglamorous Scandirock path to valhalla but fair play this eclipses everything they’ve done until here and maybe now people will take these slackers seriously and they will be championed for saving gumbo punk rock n roll single-handedly.
‘Dig A Ditch’ sounds like a heavy diet of UFO records and bad drugs for the length of the intro alone but man this record is making bad life choices seem like good ideas that have brought us to this point in life otherwise we’d have passed these nut jobs by and given them a wide birth, thankfully I’m not that sensible.
The bands press release is like it was lifted from a twin peaks script after some bad acid and too much vodka but the tunes will always be their saving grace when they’re this good. ‘Dig A Ditch’ could and should be a crossover radio hit anywhere and everywhere.
A snippet from the press kit reads as follows: “The fact remains: we have always been left behind ever since kindergarten (for those of us lucky enough to experience such a well-regulated institution). In sports, we were always picked last. Our finest effort was put into keeping the bench warm for all the tough and slick January boys whenever they got tired of scoring goals—and chicks. Our academic performances measured at impressively low standards. Lacking any ability to concentrate, our educational path was a fast track to the headmaster’s office and, eventually, special ed classes. Today, they would have stuffed us full of pills in no time.” Confused? Don’t be, join us and rejoice that we’ve got the best tunes just take the melody on ‘A Blazer In The Northern Sky’ and dance like nobody is watching and sing like nobody can hear you. It’s blissful, trust me.
‘Scandinavian CRISPR Brat’ is like their irresponsible hate anthem, but with a sweet melody and a riff to die for GBZ are on FIRE! The fact that there are only ten songs here fills me with sadness. I wish it were a double album with twenty tracks, such is the quality on offer, but he,y ten is fine and dandy. ‘FOMO’ is bone-crushing riff-a-rama as we’re almost at the finish line, it’s a burst on as we dash for the finish through a thrashingly good ‘Hadeland Hardcore’. The Stooges one-finger piano tonk on ‘All My Friends Are Dead Inside’ rings around my head before we sign off with the wonderful ‘New Kids on the Blockchain’ and we’re done. I’m going back in for more and might just play it on my headphones and see if I can just run as fast as I can for as long as I can to see if this album makes me go mental. What a fuckin monster of a record. Congrats GBZ, you have achieved a goal of writing and recording one hell of a record that is as good from the opening track to the closing track, and everything in between is pure fuckin fire (as the kids would say). Melodies to die for, riffs that are on point and life-affirming. The November Boys are here, and the summer isn’t even done yet. Buy this album; it might just be the best thing you hear all year.
The latest band hitting our collective ear drums on the Venn roster are Club Brat and what a punch to the ear drum they are. Joining the impressive Aerial Salad, High Viz, Split Dogs and Bob Vylan to name a few Club Brat have a pop sensibility about them but they wrap it in a velvet glove inside a boxing glove holding a sledge hammer.
’25 Cameras’ opens up this rapid four-track EP, and it’s everything you want to hear. Cool lyrics wrapped inside a hard-hitting, sharp guitar-driven song, is it indie post punk? Who knows who cares, it’s full of energy and packs a punch, that’s all you need to know, and once it’s in your ear, it’ll take something special to dislodge it.
A rich bass-heavy thump and volatile rhythmic urgency is the MO here. ‘Goodbye Pop Culture’ has the warm, rich Bass thump and those angular guitars chopping away through a twitching, crowded backdrop, excellent stuff and very accessible. Originally from Peterborough and now split between Bristol and London, the five-piece formed in 2023 and quickly earned a reputation for unpredictable live shows and a relentless DIY ethos, while still working with some of underground music’s most respected engineers. Club Brat has a statement EP, no question about it, now to follow it up with more live shows and then the album. On this evidence, they have nothing to worry about. ‘In It For The Money’ might not be what they’re about, but it’s like if Jane’s Addiction were from inner city UK and not Hollywood, California. It has the energy and drive, and most importantly, it has the tunes. The final cut is the rapid barking dog of a track, ‘Watch’ it’s heavy, fast but you can dance to it. Go pick up a copy and find out for yourself.
We all have styles and bands that keep returning to our turntables, tablets, digital streaming or however we consume these days, and you can add to that labels that just get it and churn out reliably above-average music and new finds to add to our playlists and favourite new albums of the year list. One such label is the Scandi power poppin’ legends at Beluga who’ve done it again. If you are ever in doubt about your choices of music and bands to play, then I suggest you jump on board because the latest record off the quality-assured conveyor belt is the quirky named No Tears.
Now stay with me, it might have been originally released back in 2023 on Luftslott Records. No Tears peddle pure Costello-infused Power Pop with added snot guitar pop. The whole shooting match is performed by the clever so-and-so called Christoffer Karlsson. The astute and top power poppers will know his day job is performing with the horror punkin power poppers The Dahmers as their lead vocalist, so the guy has pedigree.
Now you can check them another day because today it’s all about reengaging with No Tears and passing on the love and hopefully expanding the ownership of this fantastic record. The album kicks off with the rampant horn honkin’ blast that is ‘Dreamin’, and that’s it I’m all in. Energy, excellent playing and those honkin’ saxophone breaks laid over a wicked riff and thumping beat, it’s a freakin winner every day of the week. From the drum fills, the bass solo and then the rasping guitar break, this is kitchen sink rock n roll and some. Oh and handclaps
Once upon a time, this record would have been huge and hits galore all over the globe. There is a familiarity with the melodies in some of the songs, and the riffs are all borrowed from the good and great of history. Had Chris Stein penned some of the licks and arrangements around the time of ‘Eat To The Beat’, like ‘Get Away’. The sugar-sweet melodies are wrapped in raw guitars but smoothed over with some well-placed keys.
‘Same Old Story’ is banging and giving The Hives a good run for their money, and they’re playing arenas. The variety is excellent, pitching ‘Broken Mirror’ with its backbeat and dreamy breakdown alongside a good boogie ‘On 45’, then a curveball in the spaced out dreamy of the ‘Silence Is Speaking’ before signing off with the acoustic slide marching beat of ‘Without Your Love’ that features vocals from Beatrice Rosdahl adding some ye haw! to proceedings. What a fantastic breath of fresh air this record is, featuring eleven diverse songs making up a complete album that you should be checking out.
Get over to Beluga and tell em RPM sent you or else…
From the windswept, sheep-dotted cliffs of the Faroe Islands comes a band that are anything but pastoral. Joe & The Shitboys, self-described “queer vegan shitpunks”, have been raising hell, ruffling feathers, and flipping the script since their chaotic inception, and now they’re ready to unleash their debut LP, Greatest Shits, via Alcopop! Records.
A compilation of the band’s first three releases—each originally pressed on 7” vinyl due to their rapid-fire 10-minute lengths— ‘Greatest Shits’ also features a bunch of brand new tracks recorded straight to analogue tape. It’s a vital, venomous, and vibrantly unfiltered collection from one of punk’s most exhilarating and unique new voices, giving anything from down under a run for their bad hair cut money and (probably shit fashion sense).
Once you get balls deep into this a mix of ragged punk mixed with the more artsy side like PAvement or DKs mixed in with early Lemonheads and a vibrant wreckless abandonment like ‘Wonderwall’ which sounds like the instruments tied to the back of a tractor and dragged around a field would sound like before the excellent tribute to wrestling legend ‘Macho Man Randy Savage’ kicks in.
So there might be thirty seven tracks here but you don’t need to dig deep to hear the three second blast of ‘Fuck’ or the eleven seconds of ‘Eat Ass You Fucking Coward’ you know the drill it might be nothing new but its a lot of fun and highly addictive.
With Joe taking the mic and a rotating cast of Shitboys behind him (currently Ziggy Shit, Johnny Shit, and Ollie Shit), the band became a lightning rod for resistance against the backwards, macho values that persist in their homeland’s music scene. Their goal? Skewer toxic culture with speed, wit, and the occasional ass joke. Job done and an album to be proud of, no matter what.
The band might not be on the tip of everyone’s tongue, but Iggy had them on board for Alley Pally recently, so the right people are getting involved, and on this evidence, it’s not hard to see why. Potty-mouthed and kicking out the jams, Beastie Boys meet a whole goofball bag full of original punks. Joe has the world at his feet, and songs like Mr Nobody sound effortless as well as timeless. Then to follow it up with a groovy ‘Fuck Everybody’ is a band dancing to their own beat, and that only like it or lump it I doubt they give a single shiney shit.
Who knows what Jooe and the gang will do next, but I’m all ears, but let’s live with this bad boy for a while yet.
Joe & The Shitboys are just getting started, they declare, so jump in and join us. Joe and the shitboys are de bomb as the cool kids say.
AUSTRALIAN PUB-PUNKERS MINI SKIRT ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘ALL THAT WE KNOW’ TO BE RELEASED NOVEMBER 14TH VIA BAD VIBRATIONS
PRE-ORDER HERE:NEW SINGLE ‘POTTSVILLE RIVER’ OUT NOW
Five long years since their debut album ‘Casino’ snuck into the ears of punk enthusiasts around the world, Mini Skirt’s second full length album, ‘All That We Know’, is now ready to hurl at the world. The Australian pub-punkers continue to deliver their brand of jagged, raw political Aussie grit, delving deeper and leaning harder into their signature blend of Australian punk, ‘All That We Know’ solidifies Mini Skirt’s position at the forefront of a socially inspired noisescape.
Back with a brand-new single, ‘Pottsville River’ is a taste of what’s to come from the album, due November 14th via Bad Vibrations. Leaning hard into the teeth-kicking brand of pub-punk they have become known for, with belting drums, balls to the wall guitar riffs, and witty lyrics, ‘Pottsville River’ holds you under water for the whole three minutes-something and only lets you up for a breath when the song’s done.
All grit and no glamour, Mini Skirt’s noisy new body of work is underpinned by lyricist and visual artist Jacob Boylan, painting a picture of the modern social climate, every verse and chorus a well-crafted and concise assessment that has the listener replaying each line to be sure they don’t miss a word. This is, as always, laid on top of the dirty, driving guitar/bass tones and skin splitting drums that have helped Mini Skirt to develop their own sound in a heavily saturated and competitive corner of rock’n’roll. Paying homage to Australian pioneers such as X and Radio Birdman, Mini Skirt’s sound remains raw and honest.
Hailing from Byron Bay in the Far North Coast of New South Wales, the four boys in Mini Skirt produce a timeless sound that’s rough as guts and truly ensconced in the essence of pub rock that captures the climate of current-day Australia. Things aren’t always picturesque and idyllic; the vocals are urgent and frustrated while the music has a rawness and melody, sonically painting a picture of the hope through the struggle.
‘All That We Know’ lands mixed and mastered by Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control) and is due to be self-released in Australia and via London-based label and gig promoters Bad Vibrations in the rest of the world.
New LP AD ASTRA LP // 3 OCTOBER [featuring Graham Coxon]
UK & IRELAND TOUR DATES // ON SALE NOW
To coincide with the release of their forthcoming ninth studio album Ad Astra via Fierce Panda Records on 3 October, ASH have unveiled details of seven intimate Instore and Outstore shows. Tickets available here: https://ash-official.com/pages/shows
Containing eleven brand new tracks, including their raucous take on surprise single and Beetlejuice staple Jump In The Line and the most recent single Give Me Back My World, the Ad Astra album sees Graham Coxon appear on two particularly sassy songs and catches the perennial power pop kings in typically rocket-fueled form.
INSTORES & OUTSTORES // OCTOBER
Fri 03 BRIGHTON Resident Records (Instore)
Sat 04 LONDON Rough Trade East Records (Instore)
Sun 05 LEICESTER 2 Funky Café (Truck Records Outstore)
Tue 07 NOTTINGHAM Rough Trade Records (Instore)
Wed 08 KINGSTON Circuit (Banquet Records Outstore)
Thu 09 LIVERPOOL Baltic Jacaranda Records (Instore)
Fri 10 EDINBURGH Liquid Rooms (Assai Records Outstore)
Ad Astra follows hot on the heels of Race The Night – the band’s highest charting album for 20 years – and is being released two years and one month later, which is no coincidence. Always a band that lives for live music, Ash vowed that the fierce pandemic-induced five-year chasm between 2018’s Islands and 2023’s Race The Night would never happen again.
By focusing on the endless horizon of galaxies far, far away and staring into an endless black hole Ash have somehow ended up creating a cohesive whole. There is classic Ash power-pop rocking action with the blistering purity of Hallion, the crunchy chuggings of Keep Dreaming and the furious sonic lunges of Dehumanised. But equally you can’t fail to succumb to the glorious swooping jangles on Which One Do You Want? – a whirl from Marr’s canon for sure; My Favourite Ghost and its acoustic elegance, floating on strings of desire; and Fun People (feat Graham Coxon) is quite simply one of the maddest, punchiest songs they have ever recorded.
As if creating this lovingly optimistic opus wasn’t enough to be getting on with, they’ve kept themselves busy elsewhere. Since Race The Night came out, they’ve run riot at SXSW in Austin, played Belfast for Steve Lamacq during Independent Venue Week, headlined the 100 Club in London for BRITS week and toured Australia. Already this year, they’ve amassed the masses at Glastonbury for the eighth time – equaling the multi performance record of Van Morrison – and toured the UK with The Darkness.
In short, three decades into a career peppered with timeless indie-punk nuggets and wildly inventive gigging and releasing concepts, the trio shows no sign of slowing down. To infinity and beyond indeed. Or as Rick McMurray gently muses …
“The title Ad Astra, the worst kept secret of the last month, points to ideas that became a big identifier back in 1995, but they’re updated with 30 years life experience. I’ll leave you to compare the differences, and with the thought that while the optimistic innocence of 1995 might have been tempered by those 30 years, if you look to the stars, you might still feel a glimmer. Of hope.”
And for those of you wondering, Ad Astra is Latin for “to the stars”, the words that came out of a teenaged Tim Wheeler’s mouth in the summer of 1995, setting up the classic chorus to the band’s first Top 20 hit Girl From Mars.
To celebrate the album release of Ad Astra, Ash embark on a huge touring schedule from this autumn into the early part of next year as follows:
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