The Suicide Machines – ‘Revolution Spring’ (Fat Wreck Chords)

The Suicide Machines – ‘Revolution Spring’ (Fat Wreck Chords)

It was in 2006 that Detroit punks The Suicide Machines called it a day after 15 years and six albums. The break didn’t last too long because in 2009, the four-piece reconvened to play the occasional show and embarked on some even less frequent touring. There was no sign of new material on the horizon that is until now.

‘Revolution Spring’, their seventh album, and the first new material since 2005’s ‘War Profiteering Is Killing Us All’, was released March 27th.

What you get for your buck is plenty of bang with some Dropkick Murphy style lead vocals driving the rousing songs.  The band sound energised from the break.  you get the full force on opener ‘Bully In Blue’ but there’s plenty of skank on ‘Awkward Always’

There are sixteen songs on offer here and the band say they had thirty written so it’s not like they were short of inspiration.  They continue to dish up sharp sounds with an excellent production that shines on songs like ‘Babylon Of Ours’.

The songs deal with real issues to the band and whilst they’re at it they also have a far wider appeal. Police brutality, American Imperialism and class war are all covered so not such a superficial record. they don’t hold back with opinions either ‘Flint Hostage Crisis’ being a good case in point. Some heavy topics covered as well like attempted suicide but I have to say that the overriding feeling I get from listening to the record is how up and positive it sounds and out of bad situations comes a positivity.  ‘Trapped In A Bomb’ has a rollicking bass line rumbling away urging this song forward. Punk rock isn’t just for the kids and the older wiser guys can give the young pups a run for their money and this is proof.  A very American feel to the record when they cut loose like on ‘Detroit Is The New Miami’ they really hit their stride mixing some hardcore with their skank and not sounding out of place.

Old and new fans alike will find Revolution Spring an energetic anthemic, hardcore, ska-punk roots mixing pot and it’s good to have the band back making music that sounds fresh and vibrant and there’s a lot of music to get through here.

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Author: Dom Daley

Cokie the Clown Limited Edition Throbblehead

Cokie the Clown Limited Edition Throbblehead
Cokie the Clown Limited Edition Throbblehead
Limited to 1000 hand-numbered figures
SHIPPING EARLY DECEMBER
 
**Not guaranteed for delivery by Christmas, although most US customers should be OK***
NOTE: For customers outside of the US, your order will take an average of 4-5 weeks to reach you via economy shipping, which does not have tracking. If tracking is needed, you can upgrade to priority shipping at an additional cost but must email us for details.

Cokie the Clown, Fat Mike’s alter ego, has now been elevated to Throbblehead status.  This figure is limited to just 1000 hand-numbered units, stands at 7″ tall, and is made of a high-quality polyresin.

Re-creating the cover art from Cokie’s first full-length album “You’re Welcome,” this Throbblehead comes complete with noose, squirting flower, and clown shoes.

“Punk rock was never just music to me, it was my life,” says Cokie. “My parents were just relatives, my family was always NOFX.”

Tommy & June – Tommy & June (Fat Wreck Chords)

Tommy & June – Tommy & June (Fat Wreck Chords)

I’m not sure what to expect whenever Fat Wreck release a new record long gone are the days of predicting a pop-punk 1-2-fuck you NOFX sing along what with the last Fat Mike album then CJ Ramone doing what he does best then this.

Predominantly an acoustic album with some crushing melodies and harmonies.  The songs are short sharp and right to the point – there isn’t any filler or padding out the record going on here take the awesome ‘Jetlag Blues’ with its subtle cello and drums gently keeping the tempo for its the harmonies that rule here and then to follow that up with the gentle picking of the dark ‘Adulthood’ will blow you away.

‘Ghost Of Paris’ is the first glimpse of what you might associate with the “Fat Wreck” sound but the arrangement is excellent. If you’re wondering just who the fuck these two cats are let Fat Mike explain –

“I never really put a band together before. It seems like a weird thing to do, but some things need to happen. I meet a lot of people on tour. Tommy I met in Israel about 12 years ago. Great singer/songwriter playing in a punk band. He was cool, and I started listening to his solo stuff. It was great, but no one ever came to see him play in the US. I felt bad. One day in SF Tommy asked me what he should do. He said no one comes to see his punk band or his solo shows. I said that’s how it goes. You’ve been doing this for over ten years and if you’re not drawing a crowd now, you never will. He was bummed. I was bummed. He’s a great songwriter, but who cares? Two days later I remembered I met an Iranian Colombian dude on tour that was a great singer-songwriter too. I hadn’t spoken to him in years….I had a weird idea. I emailed both of them and told them to start a band together. I know you live in two different parts of the world….but I think you would make a great two-piece band. Let me produce the record and we’ll see how it goes. You don’t have to tour. Just spend a week in the studio with me. I said record short acoustic weird songs with a new wave edge. They did. We did ten songs that came in at 20 minutes. I fucking loved it. Totally simple and clean and short and catchy and I had never heard a band sound like this before…. AND like Stiff Little Fingers (Protestants and Catholics), no one expects a Jew and a Colombian Arab to be making music together. Like SLF, it’s fucking good.

I introduce to the world Tommy and June…. two kinda boring guys that make really fucking great music together.”  You know what he’s not wrong these guys have great chemistry together and their knack for melodies sounds cool and a great distraction and just how punk rock should be – keeping you on your toes and keeping it fresh and different.  the fact most of the songs are under two minutes means there just isn’t time to get bored and they never labor the point they simply don’t have the time to anyway.

There is never any substitute for a good songwriter there are plenty of great performers or players but not everyone has the chops to write a song and put the time into the melodies and harmonies and Tommy & June don’t fit into that norm.  if you trust Fat Mike then check it out you’ll probably jump on board before the record is over and that’s not very long.

Buy Tommy & June Here 

Author: Dom Daley

Cokie The Clown – You’re Welcome (Fat Wreck Chords)

Cokie The Clown – You’re Welcome (Fat Wreck Chords)

Fat Mike NOFX.  Yeah, right now you sit up and pay attention well come a little closer because this is not NOFX it doesn’t sound like NOFX even if Fat Mike is Cokie The Clown. This is dark in a very late night and I shouldn’t drink whiskey and do blow kinda way’ oh, and listen to Tom Waits. More like E from Eels than NOFX and that’s a good thing.  Sure he could have clowned around and down a dumb punk record and made a mint off the back of it but he hasn’t he’s gone for the piano and miserable vocal angle.

 

‘Bathtub’ is almost three minutes of one sad voice and a sparse piano and to be fair ‘Fair Leather Friends’ is more of the same if not a little more uptempo (steady on punk rocker not that uptempo) and it has a cello and some hi-hat and snare and if you must know its endearing and really fuckin’ good.  Why wouldn’t it be?

If you think E and Tom Waits you won’t be far off the mood of the record it has been said it’s not a happy record (they got that right) but it is a very good record.  It shows Fat Mike has hidden depths and can indeed turn his hand to writing some great dark melancholy music there are some great arrangments like ‘Swing And A Miss’ and he looks inside the dark corners of his mind to dig up songs like ‘Down With The Ship’ and the grande Harpsichord led ‘Negative Reel’  the album has ten tracks, the album also features a who’s who of A-list talent that assisted him throughout the recording sessions. Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) produced ‘You’re Welcome’;  Travis Barker played drums and Dizzy Reed of Guns N’ Roses contributed keyboards! Baz (a French musician), who Fat Mike collaborated heavily with on the album has to take some credit for what is a really impressive record but for being so different from what I was expecting.  The pop melodies that make up ‘That Time I Killed My Mom’ well I did say it was dark!.  its all wrapped up in a really fine piece of Cover art painted by the talented Natalia Fabia.

‘Fuck You All’ is like Fat Mike doing his best Cranford Nix and it builds to the most upbeat song on the record (musically that is I can’t mislead you into thinking ‘Fuck You All’ is upbeat).

So Fat Mike exposes his soul and releases an absolute winner. Ten tracks, dark, simple (ish), excellent!  My final words have to be – buy it, just for the autobiographical ‘Punk Rock Saved My Life’ epic!  If you want to hear NOFX then go do so this most certainly isn’t and I’m good with that because this is the business.

 

Buy You’re Welcome Here

Author: Dom Daley