Hands off Gretel/Bottlekids/Tribeless-Clwb Ifor Bach 21/6/2019 / Red Light Syndrome-Moon Club-Cardiff 21/6/2019

Hands off Gretel/Bottlekids/Tribeless-Clwb Ifor Bach 21/6/2019 / Red Light Syndrome-Moon Club-Cardiff 21/6/2019

Two venues? Two gigs? at the same time! No I didn’t split myself in two it’s the thing I love about Womanby Street in Cardiff, now the pressures off and developers have been sent packing it really has become a vibrant hub of the Underground music scene, catering for all musical tastes and the atmosphere. Sense of belonging and camaraderie in the crowds lurking outside three venues, all within 50 feet of each other, on both sides of the road, shows what happens when you get things right.

Walking towards Clwb Ifor Bach for another superb offering from our friends at Pity my Brain (you really should keep up to speed with their offerings, they never disappoint and always put on gigs with integrity) I picked up the sound of a band starting up in the Moon Club, I know that voice! So took a quick detour to be confronted with Red Light Syndrome, now you might well ask who? But take it from me these guys are a band that are really coming together. I’ve caught them twice over the last month and what is starting to come together is a sound grounded in Husker Du, tipping a nod towards Jawbreaker but all the time showing a Lemonheads grasp on pop sensibilities. Craigy Rees is starting to build in confidence as a front-man and Dean on Guitar is bringing the noise with a gorgeous punk rock edge to the sound. The too short set to an ever-increasing crowd drawn in from the outside is met with a more than appreciative response.

 

 

Nipping back across the road to Clwb Ifor Bach and we catch the start of Tribeless , its always a pleasure to catch a young band on the up but bringing their own sound into what could be classed as classic rock, with a leaning towards the alternative. (Listening to the single post the night there’s a definite hint towards prime time Evanescence) and in front-woman Lydia McDonald they have a genuine star in the making.

 

Next up we have Bottlekids and a band I’ve been looking to check out for a while Joe Grogan, front -man of the mighty Graveyard Johnnys side project and right from the start that un-mistakable vocal hits you and your off that punk rock underpinned sound drags you out of your seat and draws you right in to the moment. With a new EP due, available to pre-order on the nite, or here (https://bottlekids.bigcartel.com) and a touring schedule that is rapidly filling up they’re in the exchange in Bristol alongside Riskee and the ridicule and the Mighty King Prawn, (what a triple header) October 18th. I would suggest you jump on board pretty quickly! These guys aren’t hanging around.

 

Time is absolutely flying by tonight, and with an early curfew, we’re into the headliners Hands off Gretel before we fully have time to cool down from Bottlekids onslaught.

The music-press I have to say are for once right in tune with a band and a rapidly growing following and everything is in place for Hands off Gretel to explode out of the alternative underground and hit those bigger arena’s. They have the image and with the addition of Becky Baldwin on Bass we have a twin focus a counterpoint to frontwoman Lauren Tate, people in the know might have caught her with Triaxis? If not why not?

 

From the opening chords the crowd are up for it and worth noting tonight, in what is usually a heavy male-oriented audience I would have put the ratio at almost 50/50 great to see and with none of the behaviors that have crept into some of the larger venues and audiences. With Hands off Gretel, you can’t help but make comparisons to some of the bands that exploded out of Seattle at the peak of grunge, but it’s tighter, been brought up to date and not just sung but presented by Lauren and the band. I think the image, the attention to detail, the sound and most importantly the potential for crossover into the mainstream is huge. I’d love to see them on a stage with the likes of Garbage.

 

As the set moved on you could feel the band picking up on the crowd’s energy and shifting through the gears, in turn driving the crowd on, the Mosh pit got bigger and bigger and by three tracks from the end had spilled onto the stage!!

Tracks like SASS, My Toy, Kiss me Girl and Punk Rock leveled the place and again way too quickly they were gone. But on finishing the set the band joined the crowd, taking photo’s, chatting and spending time with the fans, nothing was too much trouble, remember this was a sell out crowd too!!

 

Now the last time I though a band was on the verge of hitting the big time was a band called Estrons, and they blwdi split up. So this time I’ll hold my thoughts, but catch Hands off Gretel now, before they move from the smaller more intimate surroundings, everything’s in place for world domination.

Author: Nev Brooks

ESTRONS share video for new single “Strangers” as well as release tour dates

ESTRONS share video for new single “Strangers” as well as release tour dates

UK headline tour continues into Spring, including dates with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and new video here


Debut album “You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough”: Here

Photo credit: Imogen Forte 

Three months after the release of their critically acclaimed debut album “You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough”, Estrons show no signs of slowing down, returning today to share a video for their brand new single “Strangers”. Filmed at The Globe in Cardiff, the site of a big sold-out homecoming show for the band at the end of 2018, lead singer Tali Källström says;

“Strangers is about self-acceptance and finding the strength to grow and be on your own. The song takes us on a journey of self-sabotage, redemption, failure and success and how all of these experiences meld together to make us who we are. This video represents the different facets, the flaws, the strengths and the disparities we feel about ourselves and others during our day to day lives. It was important for us that we kept the video as a genuine reflection of who we are and the real-life things that we do, breaking the fourth wall, allowing the audience to empathise with the genuine emotion and meaning of the song. We hope you like it.”

Estrons have brought their inimitable style of ferocious alt-rock to sold-out venues up and down the country, as well as appearing live on-air with Annie Mac and Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1, and Julie Adenuga on Beats 1. Racking up millions of streams for the album, while taking on a successful run of festival appearances in the UK & EU, Estrons received invitations to join Garbage and Pussy Riot on the road, and dates with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are up next. The band have been steadily collecting a swathe of new cult fans of all types with a live performance to justify their unique sound.

With many more UK live dates in the diary for 2019, a number of which are already sold-out, the upcoming tour also includes their biggest headline show to date at Scala, London, on Feb 7th.

Estrons UK Tour Dates
Tickets for Spring dates on sale Fri 25 Jan at 10am

28 Jan: Glasgow – Broadcast ^
29 Jan: Newcastle – Head of Steam ^
30 Jan: Cambridge – Portland Arms ^
31 Jan: Huddersfield – Parish ^
01 Feb: Sheffield – Record Junkee ^
02 Feb: Bedford – Esquires ^
07 Feb: London – Scala &
15 Feb: Stoke-on-Trent – Sugarmill**  SOLD OUT
16 Feb: Coventry – Empire**
18 Feb: Peddler, Sheffield**  SOLD OUT
19 Feb: Liverpool – Arts Club**
21 Feb: Newcastle – Think Tank**  SOLD OUT
22 Feb: Edinburgh – Liquid Rooms**
23 Feb: York – Fibbers**  SOLD OUT
28 Mar: Dundee – Beat Generator
29 Mar: Aberdeen – The Tunnels
30 Mar: Edinburgh – Bongo Club
03 Apr: Tunbridge Wells – Forum
04 Apr: Coventry – The Empire
05 Apr: Norwich – Arts Centre
06 Apr: Bridgend – Hobo’s
10 Apr: Southampton – Joiners
11 Apr: Stoke-on-Trent – Sugarmill
12 Apr: Aberystwyth – Arad Goch
13 Apr: York – Fulford Arms
19 Apr: Cardiff – Wales Goes Pop
04 May: Liverpool – Liverpool Sound City
12 Jul: Cheltenham – 2000 Trees

^ = Independent Venue Week
& = Support from Lucia
** = Supporting Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

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Twelve days of Christmas – A look back at 2018 with RPM – October

Twelve days of Christmas – A look back at 2018 with RPM – October

“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.

 

 

Estrons-The Globe Cardiff 06/12/2018

Estrons-The Globe Cardiff 06/12/2018

As I stood in the Globe, just prior to Estrons hitting the stage, I took two minutes to reflect on the live music scene. Myself prior to the last week was beginning to lose faith in the live music scene, not from the perspective of the bands who have never failed to give a 100% balls out performance, but the lack of a crowd to support them in doing so.

 

I’d began to despair for the bands and wonder where the next big band was coming from, to me bands have traditionally built a following live.  I’d caught Janes Addiction in the back room of a hotel in Birmingham and watched them explode, I’d caught Nirvana prior to the release of Nevermind to name two and watched them hit the stratosphere.

 

Now over a week-long period I’d caught Zeal and Ardour destroy a sold-out Fleece, I’d seen The Interrupters get a sold out SWX dancing and now I’ve seen Estron’s deliver a sound that was too big to fit within a sold-out Globe!!!

You couldn’t have asked for a wider variety of music starting to explode out of the Underground, what did they all have in common? That little bit of something you can’t define, that star quality you can’t fake and a blinding LP to promote, Estron’s probably sat at the top of the tree with their LP “You say I’m too much, I say you’re not enough”.

 

So who are Estrons? They’re made up of Taliesyn “Tali” Källström on vocals

Rhodri Daniel on guitar, Steffan Pringle on bass and out of Exit_International

Adam Thomas on drums together they have crafted something that was like a breath of fresh air, defiantly different, grounded in the underground but destined to become so much bigger. I could go on and say I first caught them two years earlier supporting Bob Mould, but the band that turned up tonight were so far removed from that performance, so much more confidence, so much more power, so much more craft present you could see the miles they’ve put on really shaping them.

 

Opening up with possibly the most powerful tracks on the new LP “Lilac” and “Body” I could feel my smile spreading across my face (when I’d picked my jaw up off the floor), Tali the perfect focal point, reminding me at times of a young “Siouxsie” at others the singer Courtney Love had always wanted to be, I looked across to Johnny H and saw that same expression “This is something special”.

 

“Killing your love” and  “Strangers” hard to believe moved it up a gear before the band absolutely raised the roof with blinding versions of “Make a man out of you” and “Aliens” talk about power and intensity!! Before the track of the night for yours truly “I’m not your girl” we had mosh pits, we had crowd surfing including Tali, but what we had in reality was a band that have already grown too big for this size venue, in no way did it hold down the Maelstrom of noise they’d created.

 

They’ve raised the bar so high for the next level of Welsh bands it will be great to watch a whole new raft of Welsh bands emulate, experiment and plough their way through a staid mainstream musical environment, very much as the Manic’s did back in the day and to see Welsh music back in the wider public eye.

 

You’ll be lucky to catch these guys live in intimate venues in the future, the Festival circuit will undoubtedly call, as will the large support slots and the bigger headline gigs. The Future is Welsh and led by a bunch of Misfits (Estrons)

Author: Nev Brooks

Buy Estrons Here

That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

Seven days in Rock and Roll can be a long time or if you like us then it’ll fly by.  With some exclusive interviews and a whole lot of records reviewed we hope we’ve at least shone a little light into a corner of the entertainment world we think houses the best of the best and having the likes of Rich Jones give an interview with some snippets about the new Michael Monroe album revealed ‘One Man Gang’ is now out of the bag and having the likes of Nasty Suicide and Captain Sensible playing on the record 2019 is shaping up nicely or as someone here at HQ said “that’s album of the year sorted for 2019”.

We also brought you Paul Collins interview who is the self declared king of power pop although I did get a call in to HQ saying that wasn’t quite true as Rags now holds that title but I’m not getting involved in that debate but we did announce that Rich Ragany is holding an album launch in London Town in January and the line up is a very impressive set of bands that shouldn’t be missed details can be found on RPM online News section.

There were live reviews from Japanese Garage legends King Brothers as well as acoustic platinum seller Eric Martin and on Friday we brought you a review of The Feelgood Band playing in London which rounded up a pretty diverse bunch from around the globe I’m sure you’ll agree?

For our bread and butter album reviews, we had some old new um very old and one turkey so a festive collection of records were covered by a crack team of scribes.  We previewed Black Friday RSD must own – Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers ‘DTK’ as well as newcomers Estrons that went down extremely well here.  We took a trip to New York for Palmyra Delran and her doppelgangers and whilst we were there Beechwood were heading out the door to Europe for a tour but left us their new long player which is also an impressive second album this year from the three-piece.  The Turkey well we couldn’t sit Idol let Billy off without mentioning his revisited best-of collection that has been given the dance remix treatment which could have worked but cutting edge it isn’t.  90’s dated Ibiza dance off it might have been but disappointing is what it is and we can only bring you the truth here at RPM even though we love William Broad we’re excited for Generation Sex but not his new collection of remixes. There were the likes of the excellent Bitterlicks and Dave Kusworth records reviewed before they hit the shops as well as Thomas Silvers much anticipated solo album.

 

Not wanting to finish on a downer we look forward to the coming week where you have to keep it RPM online because we’re bringing you The Hip Priests and He Who Cannot Be Named live and where else are you getting that and Junkyard bookending Cowboy Junkies?  Nowhere that’s where. Also, we have albums from Honest John Plain, Australians Civic, New York Sick OF It All and Europeans like Youth Avoiders and Fertile Hump.  So remember to keep it RPM online and as Lux would say Stay Sick.

 

 

Estrons – ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’ (Gofod Records)

Estrons – ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’ (Gofod Records)

Johnny Hayward.

Every now and then a record comes along that makes you feel so alive and excited that you just want to tell everyone how amazing it is. ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’ the debut album from Welsh rockers Estrons is just such a record.

 

Released back at the start of October, (I’m guessing) to tie in with the band having just supported Garbage here in the UK. Shirley Manson and gang are as good a place as any to start when trying to describe what Estrons do, because just like when that late ‘90s grunge supergroup got it bang on the button with their particular brand of spiky agitpop Estrons do pretty much the same, albeit with a new Millennium twist all of their own.

 

Take lead track (and debut single) ‘Lilac’ for example, this track kicks off with the type of off-kilter guitar intro that Franz Ferdinand used to maximum effect to make them enormodome headliners before singer Tali enters proceedings and the track literally explodes into 2 minutes and 37 seconds of youthful vigour, and watch out because this track cuts – it’s that sharp. It actually reminds me of the first time I played ‘Nevermind’ whilst working in Our Price, and a punter stormed up to the counter barely seconds into ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and asked me to turn it down.  After I refused, he walked out yelling at me that it was a racket and the band would never be heard of again.

 

Just like that now infamous album ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’ is also chock full of “go fuck yourself” moments for you to use and abuse at your pleasure, with the pulsating ‘Make A Man’ and the infectious ‘Body’ having the potential to be huge global hits, if those things actually still existed or mattered in an industry that seems only too happy to replicate the human centipede by regurgitating the same shit over and over again.

 

Whilst I’m getting all anal it has to be said that ex-Fudge Tunnel man Alex Newport (who co-produces here with Steffan Pringle) really has managed to capture a clarity of both vision and sound within the grooves of the album’s ever so subtler moments, and on the likes of ‘Aliens’, ‘Cameras’ and ‘Strangers’ the music kind of takes the back seat to the hugely impressive vocals of the enigmatic Tali who whisks you off on a Debbie Harry meets Aimee Echo masterclass in how to effortlessly deliver a pop tune brimming with attitude.

 

That Estrons don’t really sound like anything else out there right now is hugely commendable in my book and coupled with the fact that they have also just added to their line up man-machine Adam Thomas (ex-Exit_International) on drums makes for the prospect of this record being turned into a total sonic attack on the senses if you are lucky enough to actually get a ticket to see them live.

 

Gimme gimme gimme gimme more Estrons – these guys deserve to be bloody huge!!!!

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That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

In a week when RPM brought you interviews Live Reviews and album Reviews from far and wide, we scoured the globe to bring you bands and releases that matter so you don’t have to do the hard work. Sit back skive off and enjoy.

 

As far as interviews go we went to Vienna for Reverend Backflash Swansea for Jack Jones out of Trampolene who head out on tour this month all over the UK.  we also brought you the words of Jeff Dahl and what his plans are for 2019. Right there are three reasons to keep it RPM for all the chatter that matters in the same week as well! Damn, how good was that?

If those interviews weren’t enough we also brought you album reviews from legends like Glen Matlock who released a new record with some help from the likes of Slim Jim Phantom and Earl Slick. If that wasn’t enough to make you good to go then we also brought you music from Australia in the shape of the excellent Black Heart Breakers, Noo Yawk City in the shape of The Erotics and obviously it wouldn’t be right if Canada didn’t wade in with a new record from a band with immense potential and a bunch of tunes you’d expect from a band who have been around the block a few times in the shape of Sick Things whose album is just getting the vinyl treatment from Gods Candy Records.

 

We might have been a bit stingy on the live front this past week but we did venture to Vienna for some TV Smith and finish the week wiping the sweat and maybe a tear or two from one’s cheek as Jonny Cola And The A-Grades said hello goodbye and thanks for the ride which was a great place to check out for the week.

Now. This week we’ve already brought you Rich Jones and Paul Collins interviews and we have some killer live reviews from the likes of King Brothers and Eric Martin as well as plenty of albums we crack open from Dave Kusworth, Palmyra Delran and Estrons as well as a classic reissue that’s coming on RSD Black Friday that people shouldn’t miss.

 

Not too shabby on the old rock and roll front there I’m sure you’ll agree? Remember to keep it RPM and don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t any rock and roll anymore because we know and you know that’s just bull shit right? Right! If you think you have what it takes to join our band of scribes then drop us a line at rpmonlinetcb@yahoo.com and introduce yourself – we don’t bite and are quite a welcoming bunch.  thanks and as Lux said – stay sick!

Rainy Days And Mondays

Rainy Days And Mondays

Yup its wet as outside and most people are heading out the door to earn a crust to buy more records and go to more gigs – well the sensible ones are so we have  a couple of new tunes to help you on your way into the big wide world this Monday morning.

Reviewed coming on RPM this week are the impressive Estrons and their album ‘You Say I’m Too Much I Say I’m Not Enough‘

Next up are Jonny Cola who we reviewed last week with their awesome ‘Halo’ video.  Gone but not forgotten round these parts – Enjoy! Could have should have – didn’t. you know the drill folks

To finish off this weeks offerings we reviewed these Canadians this past week and think they deserve to reach a much wider audience and as you splash through the puddles to work why not have some great rock n roll ringing in your ears.