Righto punk rockers after a debut album that was heralded as a hardcore classic right from the off Bloodclot were far more than the sum of their parts even if those parts were fuckin’ awesome. After the sad loss of Todd Youth the thought of a new Bloodclot album didn’t crop up on anyone’s radar I wouldn’t imagine. Then Boom! the power of the internet revealed late in 2022 that there was now music seeping out of the wounds of Bloodclot and whilst there was a huge Youth sized hole in the band they could continue if the material was anywhere near as strong as what was on the debut.
Mainstay vocalist and part-time Cro Mag John Joseph howls the battlecry of Bloodclot and as far as modern hardcore goes these are as good as you can hope to get and stand on top of the pile. Apparently, Bloodclot has been a going concern since the mid-80s kicking out the jams on the live front but it wasn’t until ‘that debut ‘Up In Arms’ were they laid down for eternity on some epic wax. Almost a decade later they follow up that debut with the stingy ‘Souls’ stingy in as much as there are only seven songs represented here but boy is it in your face hardcore. With Slayer gone and living it large in some retirement home someone needed to pick up those riffs and smash them down onto wax so why not Bloodclot.
There might not be many songs on this seven-track album but there’s a hell of a lot going on and it’s Hardcore as fuck with no second passing that isn’t going to devastate your eardrums or give you the slightest second to catch your breath. It’s Punk as fuck, Metal as fuck, Hardcore as fuck – Thrash as fuck it’s the whole freakin lot. My only complaint is the cost of getting this into the UK with the cost going through the roof currently thanks to Brexshit and the UK government dragging us closer to hell with their economics and cost of living but then again what better soundtrack is there?
When you find out that Joseph has recruited Tom Capone formally of the influential post-hardcore band Quicksand, bassist Craig Setari of Sick Of It All, and Darren Morgenthaler formally of Madball on Drums you might begin to understand why these guys deliver such a bone-crushing heaviness.
If it was possible this is heavier than ‘Up In Arms’ in a Slayer thrash sort of way its crossover at its finest and uncompromising. If I were to offer up a criticism then it would be the fact that there are only six original songs here with the album closing off with a rip through Bad Brains ‘How Low Can A Punk Get’.
‘Unhinged’ will pummel you ‘War Castles’ out Slayers early Slayer with a twist. Save the Robot’ is a little slower in tempo but not much, even leaning on early Metallica especially when you hear dim the light’s lyrics but why not. ‘Infectious’ is a slower more grinding heaviness and possibly the least enjoyable track on offer. But hang on in there ‘Relentless’ picks up the pace again with its tip of the hat to Lemmy and his Ace Of Spades (nice touch).
I’ll always be interested in a new Bloodclot album regardless of how many songs and how long it lasts because even if it’s not hit the dizzy heights of ‘Up In Arms’ it’s not too far behind and that’s still a rip-snorting place to be.
Last one of the year from ‘Rainy Days & Mondays’ Taken from forthcoming album ‘Shapeshifting’ (Svart Records), release date 26th of February. One for the diaries kids.
If that wasn’t enough of a treat get an earful of this ‘Bloodclot – Save The Robots’
How about some The Bloody Hell. – ‘Nobody Cares About America Anymore’ find out more over on Facebook
To wrap it up in style how about a classic from the Ramones covered by Those Drive By Truckers? either way here it is – See you in 2021
Was it really twelve months ago today we got the really sad news that friend of the website todd youth had sadly passed away. A year flys by and there have been plenty of times several of us have talked about his sad passing and the legacy he left behind whether it be introducing some of the magnificent bands he was a member of or telling stories of the brief moments we shared with the guy. We’ve had a whole year to think about his effect on our little scene and some of our favourite bands have to be the line up he was in alongside Johnny Martin (Now an LA Gun) as part of Jesse Malins St Marks Band. It has been said that this was the finest line up Jesse has been in since D Generation no doubt about it.
Another band he spent a brief time in was the magnificent hardcore racket that was Bloodclot alongside legend vocalist John Joseph (Cro-Mags), Nick Oliveri (Dwarves) and Joey Castillo (Danzig). But it all began when Youth was still Todd Schofield a New Jersey boy who ventured over to the LES when it was a tough neighbourhood and not the sanitized high street it is today. He started out in Warzone before graduating to Murphys Law where he stayed until 95. Todd then went on to replace Richard Bacchus in D Generation in ’96 and recorded ‘Through The Darkness’ after D Gen split he formed Chrome Locust with fellow D Gen Michael Wildwood.
It was after the Chrome Locust album that he then moved onto Danzig and worked with Joey for the first time after turning down the chance to join Foo Fighters and the Hellacopters. Whilst playing with Danzig he got to record the one studio album with Glen that featured his fellow Bloodclot mate on drums former D Gen legend Howie Pyro on bass and of course Danzig on the ‘ I Luciferi’ album as well as the live Danzig album. later in 2007 he left Danzig and became the guitar player for none other than Glen Campbell.
Sometime later when we got to meet him he had formed the awesome Chelsea Smiles with Karl Rosqvist, Johnny Martin, and Skye Vaughan-Jayne and also reformed Son Of Sam. He also almost made it into Gunfire 76 with Wednesday 13 and the inaugural line up of Michael Monroe’s band but Youth split at the 11th hour to play the guitar with one of his heroes Ace Frehley. youth lasted four years playing with Ace and we spoke once when he played Bristol with the St Marks Social that he had been stranded in the UK as Ace pulled his shows leaving members of his band in the UK without a show. Anyway, it was 2017 when youth hooked up with Bloodclot (I hope you’re keeping up here folks?) to record the epic ‘Up In Arms’. To be fair to Youth he turned in some epic performances in his time on this planet and along with Chelsea Smiles and Chrome Locust or Bloodclot and Fireburn he certainly left his mark with some amazing records.
Todd was 47 when he passed away and that’s way too young. We miss you man see you in the next life.
Another East coast Legend who sadly passed away on this same day was the one and only Lou Reed. Lewis Allen Reed was born in Brooklyn March 2nd 1942. He’s somebody who doesn’t need any introduction and was forever pushing the envelope of Rock and Roll from way back when he was part of the whole Warhol scene and originally moved to NYC to be an inhouse writer for Pickwick Records before forming a partnership with Welshman john Cale whom he lived with in the LES and went on to form the Velvet underground. It was through Warhol that his association with Nico (A German Model) that Reed wrote some songs after initially rejecting the idea of working with her.
In the 70s Reed signed with RCA who also had some notable other significant Glam Rock pioneers on their roster and he went on to form lasting friendships with bowie and Iggy Pop. It was 72s ‘Transformer’ album that broke through for Reed which happened to be produced by Bowie and his fellow Spider from Mars Mick Ronson. The single “Walk on the Wild Side” got him noticed as his anthem for the misfits of the world and the so-called weirdos and gender benders of the time but it was Reeds biggest hit managing to evade scrutiny for its playful lyrics of New York nightlife. Ahead of his time? For sure he was. He had a rather tempestuous friendship with Bowie and wasn’t afraid to disagree with his friend with his fists.
Reed had some success with ‘Berlin’ but decided to follow it up with an album primarily made up of metallic feedback and almost unlistenable music that was ‘Metal Machine Music’ no doubt an inspiration to many noisemakers further down the line such as ginger Wildheart for his Mutations records and Endless Nameless albums (possibly).
Drugs and booze might have had something to do with Reed’s creative mindset at the time but it wasn’t long before he would indeed clean up his act (as Bowie had previously requested) He got married at the turn of the 1980s and went on to produce some of his finest work in that decade. ‘New York’ ended the decade for Reed and gave him only his second Gold Record.
the 90s saw him work with former VU compadre Cale on the album ‘Songs For Drella’. He also played Glastonbury was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his fellow VU bandmates. He also went on to record a bizarre record with Metallica after playing with the band at MSG in NYC ‘Lulu’ had only sold 13,000 copies in its first week of sales and ever the philosophical musician Reed joked that he’d finally pissed off all his fans and didn’t have any left.
It was in 2013 after suffering for years with hepatitis and diabetes Reed was diagnosed with Liver Cancer and after undergoing a transplant in the May of that year it was in the October Reed said he was bigger and he eventually passed away from liver disease at the age of 71. He was posthumously inducted into the #Hall Of Fame as a solo artist a year after his passing and Reed will forever be associated with the city he loved Lou Reed and New York go hand in hand and many of his songs are about the city and its only right that we remember such a legend on this day. Rest In Peace Mr Lou Reed. #Legend
“October The trees are stripped bare of all they wear but what do I care”
October
We’re building up a head of steam as RPM goes live and one of the first thing Craggy does is pick up the cowpunk noisemakers Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band and their ‘Poor Until Payday’ album (Oh yeah the one he didn’t review) That aside October saw Fraser jet off to warmer climates before chasing the Damned around the country and flying to Holland for Helldorado. But more of that later.
Several of us bought ‘Speed’ no not the drug but the fantastic new album from Swedish action rockers Scumbag Millionaires it is a thoroughbred non-stop wall of noise a turbocharged ride of exciting punked up Rock n Fuckin’ Roll and it deservedly got a rave review round here.
Whilst we’re on the subject of new records it seemed pretty much everyone picked up a copy of the Primal Scream‘Memphis Recordings’ and most scratched their heads wondering how the band ditched these swinging versions for the more straight rock versions that made the commercial release but we’re glad it did see the light of day that’s for sure.
Bringing up exciting new bands a promo for ‘You Say I’m Too Much’ by Estrons flew into our emails and proceeded to work its way around the review team as those that did hear it wanted to review it but the one pulling the lucky straw was Johnny Hayward who rushed out and picked up a copy and a ticket to see them live on the strength of the record that blew him away. One of the reasons why we do this is because we are music fans and discovering new bands and albums still gives us a buzz when it happens and especially when it’s this good.Certainly a potential album of the year right there.
Other notable releases this month were the magnificent Virginmarys‘Northern Sun Sessions’ and ‘Master Volume’ from the Dirty Nil. We also got stuck into a couple of fantastic interviews – firstly Gerald got Tyla to sit down long enough to tell us all about his new album as well as more in-depth responses to some burning questions Gerald wanted to ask someone he greatly admired it was the perfect time to get the exclusive lowdown on the new ‘In Vino Veritas‘ album that was due out in November which we were lucky enough to review first I do believe. As it goes Gerald also picked up the honour of reviewing that to which he gave it a glowing report and one that will certainly be near the top of his end of year list for best album.
Another album we got to review first and another that would easily be a contender for album of the year and that’s the debut solo album from Role Model frontman Rich Ragany. ‘…Like We’ll Never Make It…’ is a beautiful, skillful master class in songwriting and showed another side to the guy we call Rags and we were the first to ask the question of how this guy isn’t everywhere? How he’s not on the cover of music mags? Seriously it’s a weird business sometimes but we get it and so do others such has been the response from people who’ve taken the time to sit down and listen. Anyway, Released via pledge it gets its CD birth in the new year with a release show that will sell out fast and it has a supporting cast that makes me blush thinking how good it’s going to be and RPM will be there too.
I also got to interview one of my favourite players the one and only Alvin Gibbs. We chatted about his forthcoming album as well as his time with Iggy and Cheap and Nasty and found out about Alvin having a degree in History which isn’t something most musical artists can boast as well as a few choice stories about his love of the Subs as well as his book Neighbourhood threat (now entitled ‘Some Weird Sin’) having a makeover with a new chapter and title and a book I can’t recommend highly enough. It really is one of the finest books about touring and being in a band out there and absolutely captivating read and one you won’t want to put down.
Also if that wasn’t enough we also got the lowdown on The Hip Priests new album and it was exclusively revealed that the new album that’ll hit the shops in the new year will be called…Nah click the link and read it yourself. As well as the new album we spoke about playing in a band on shit island and about the expansion to a five-piece.
We could go on and on about all the great records released in October this year but we’d run out of time and we need to review the live shows we took in. So Fraser made sure I mentioned his Kiss Kruise and the fact that he finally got to meet Vinnie Vincent but knowing the kiss set up I can’t see if its Vinnie or if he sent his mother instead with a note explaining.
There were so many shows in October Johnny went gig crazy taking in a diverse range of genres from the Canadian thrash-punks Voivod who RRRRooooared into Cardiff and put on a fantastic display then he headed East to Newport Rock City when he spent a rather splendid evening with Ancient Shapes where he declared the evening to be such a success that it was one of the best gigs he’d been to all year and the only thing missing was the sold out sign on the door.
We also took in Classic rock when Leigh Fuge went to the Tramshed to see Glen Hughes where he was suitably impressed whilst Nev went across the river to see the finest in Americana done acoustically by none other than Chuck Prophet who was supported on the night by Jesse Malin a firm favourite of the team here. It was certainly all happening out West meanwhile in old London town Armitage happened upon a show where The Dirty Strangers followed a magnificent performance by Rich Ragany and the digressions but The headliners from Los Angeles The Brutalists made it a memorable evenings entertainment guvnor.
Sadly October wasn’t all wine and roses as we got the news that Biters were going on an indefinite Hiatus but Tuk later revealed he was heading into the studio to record a solo album which we look forward to in 2019. however, the real tragedy unfolded in California as the news swept social media that Our friend and incredible musician Todd (Youth) Schofield lost his life. It was one of those news stories you hoped was fake news and just an internet trolls mischief but it was later confirmed by his good friend Skye Vaughan-Jayne. Todd will be really missed by a lot of people most notably his daughters and close friends. Todd was a gent we had the pleasure of meeting several times when he toured the UK as part of Jesse Malin’s band and also when out with Chelsea Smiles. When Johnny was the head honcho at Uber Rock he had the pleasure of interviewing the guy who was very supportive of an alternative website championing rock n roll and for all the records he played on we salute you, Mr Youth, you will never be forgotten.
Before the month was out we still found time to review some fine records most notably Martins breakdown of the new Nicotine Pretty EP ‘Real Life Glories’ whilst Dom forensically picked through the charred remains of Deathtraps ‘Gotta Get Some’ and I even managed to take in a couple of their live shows where the songs came to life and were subsequently throttled to death through the medium of garage punk rock n roll it wasn’t pretty but I liked it – no I fuckin’ loved it! – great stuff!
Gerald flew in his Prophets Of Addiction album review which again impressed us at HQ whilst Ben was mightily Impressed with King Brothers and their wild Garage beats. There was even time for Jeff Dahl to drop by with a new mini album in tow which he recorded in Sweden with the excellent Demons. It was next month when I got to put some questions about his work and plans.
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