The Cavemen – ‘Ca$h 4 Scrap’ (Slovenly Records)

The Cavemen – ‘Ca$h 4 Scrap’ (Slovenly Records)

The undisputed kings of swampy wild n wreckless garage rock n roll from New Zealand are in da house motherfuckers and they’ve brought a brand spanking new long player with them. ‘Ca$h 4 Scrap’ is everything you want it to be and some. It’s not all crash bang wallop (well, Almost) but I wouldn’t suggest for one minute that these four reprobates have lost any of that spark nor would I suggest old age is slowing them down. Songs like ‘Leather Boys’ is more a groovin slice of junk rock done in the best sleaziest way.

Start your record as you mean to go on. ‘Children Of The Dead’ rattles off with the band’s usual vim and vigour with plenty of Thrashing around. A sharp intake of breath and ‘Without You’ is climbing over broken glass to get heard. With a party kicks off in the speakers as Paul Caveman takes a drag from the 40 a day no filter smokes and gurgles neat whisky and broken glass as the boogie rages in support.

Hold onto your strides mates because these cats are grooving hard on the growling ‘Night Of The Demon’ where you can all join in on the chorus. It’s ‘Night Of The Demon’ x3 but clear your throat first this one needs some oomph.

‘Booze Ciggies n Drugs’ might be the thrasher up next but it might just be the band’s shopping list whilst they remember the essentials. Rapid, punk n roll at its dirtiest but finest. Get in the pit and start barking

y’ bastards.

I love the sleazy glam punk of ‘Isn’t Remember Your Name’ It’s trashy and beautiful with a melody knocked off from Los Pepes. Side One takes a kicking on ‘Personal WWIII’. Closing off with ‘Drug Man’ is a case of singing what you know being the mantra. So why not, with the sleazy solo and Iggy piano tonk it’s a beauty.  That’s seven tracks in, about ten minutes of crash, bang, wallop! And closing off with a song almost three minutes long is decadent as fuck almost mature proto-prog.

If this was played out in a live setting you’d just have witnessed one of the best shows for ages so get a refill and flip this bad boy over. ‘Hanging Up’ has just done a bump in the toilet and the band comes out swinging complete with Groovy handicaps. Now that’s what I call music. ‘One Leg and a Waterbed’ has some trippy organ squealing throughout behind its fantastic lyrics. And as you head towards the end you realise the Cavemen have bashed you over the head with their club called rock n roll it feels great.

If only all albums sounded this good. Fuck the sound levels, the production, the tightness this is rock n fuckin roll baby and it sounds fantastic. Rough n raw, wild n reckless, and I fucking love it. Go get some Caveman Rock n Fuckin Roll its the way to start off 2024.  Buy it!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

HAND & LEG – Lust In Peace (Slovenly Recordings/Black Gladiator/Fourth Dimension Records.)

HAND & LEG – Lust In Peace (Slovenly Recordings/Black Gladiator/Fourth Dimension Records.)

“The Kritikal Beatdown continues as Black Gladiator and Slovenly Recordings present the second album from Athens via Crete dynamic duo HAND & LEG. The new LP is called “Lust In Peace” and it advances the post-punk infused concoction of blazing garage and art-driven destructo-rock as established on their grinding debut. Murky shades of sexual negativity plow forth with the help of white-hot distortion, alternating between soul-crushing fuzz bass dirges, ungodly squalls of noise, and occasional playful rhythmic rituals that offer brief respite from the saturation of musical sadism.” 

That’s the labels blurb taken care of as we turn up the speakers to furniture shaking levels to get the full experience of this headfuck of a record. after ‘Faux’ sort of give you a peek behind the curtain its ‘Softyhead’ where shit gets interesting as we get the ying and yang of the garage rock clashing head-on with the post-punk grind but that’s only the aperitif for ‘L.I.P’ (fuck knows what’s going on here) but its loud and I mean LOUD! as the guitar fuzz hacks and slashes whilst the vocals are Numan like monotonous and flat in their delivery until the chorus when things sound like a nuclear reactor gone out of control.

This album twists and turns as it tries to find a comfortable place whilst scratching at the listener.  I daren’t ask what the lyrical content is about I’d rather just enjoy the noise pouring out of my speakers.  Take ‘Grave Gravy’ for instance its creeps into existence and your just waiting for the breakout but its more subtle than that or so you think.

At times this ten-track assault on the ears can be a challenge as the brain struggles to cope with the audio bombs going off left right and centre and the duo revel in the attack. ‘Shoplift’ doesn’t sound like a good experience and not a soundtrack you’d have liked playing whilst fingering the pick and mix in woolies.  Having said that ‘Peter Pancake’ is someone we’d all like to get to know.  Iro and Stelios have delivered a post-punk garage meets art-rock album that will fuck with you play after play. I’m guessing they like to fuck with the listener but with a cheeky wink here and there and some serious ringing in one’s ear.  The art rock crowd of the lower east side would have been all over this one and a perfect touring partner for VU has finally arrived decades too late ho-hum check out hand and leg the crazy fuckers.

Author: Dom Daley

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