Wild Zeros – Well Cooked (Heavy Medication Records)

Wild Zeros – Well Cooked (Heavy Medication Records)

France’s Wild Zeros play fun, frantic trashy rock & roll with a late-70’s punk edge, steeped in the sounds of DMZ, Vibrators, Teenage Head, and The Devil Dogs. Although formed in 2007, this gruesome threesome has been prolific as hell over the last two years, unleashing a slew of 7″ers on labels such as Crocodile, Chickpea, Nerve Centre and Permanent Freak. “Well Cooked!” compiles those releases and throws in two exclusive live tracks for good measure. The studio tracks feature band originals as well as covers of The Pack, The Penetrators, and The Cigarettes.

If you like your rock and roll frayed around the edges and straight outta the garage then what’s not to like about Wild Zeros? Of all the covers they’ve pulled in here one thing you notice is they’ve picked well and they’ve managed to take ownership of the tunes and make them fit right in with the Wild Zeros original.

I’m a big fan of the single always have been and when a compilation record gets put together it can showcase a band’s best bits for sure so what you might deduce here is Wild Zeros know their way around the scene and have plucked a few gems that you might well be unfamiliar with and done an exceedingly good job of compiling a really enjoyable long-player.  I’m sure should I have happened across this trio in a bar somewhere and they’d have knocked out a set comprising of these very songs in this manner I’d have been very impressed and would have wanted to tell everyone that would listen how good Wild Zeros are.  So on that evidence, I’ll say go check em out turn it up and get your freak on this tasty feast is ‘Well Cooked’ but certainly not overdone.

 

Buy ‘Well Cooked’ Here / Label

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Author: Dom Daley

Bella Wreck – Bella Wreck (Heavy Medication Records)

Bella Wreck – Bella Wreck (Heavy Medication Records)

Based on the notion that there is not enough true rock ‘n’ roll in the sprawling capital of Berlin (if anyone wants to prove them wrong, then contact us), Bella Wreck are a garage sensation doing their best to correct that unforgivable wrong. With this reissue of their 2014 self-titled debut album, they are giving us another chance to indulge in this raucous sensation, and with a few new tracks to boot.

Bella Wreck aren’t afraid to pin their colours to the mast and leave no doubt as to what inspirations are driving this party. The album builds on the classic garage rock ‘n’ roll sounds, mixing a bit of Radio Birdman with a bit of Nomads and finding time for New York Dolls along the way – listen to ‘Untold Fury’ and ‘Trash’ and you could be right back there with Thunders et al. They give it their own shine though and it’s fair to say that this album is fantastically enigmatic.

The high level of song writing is on display from the first moment with opener ‘Can’t You See’, and happily it doesn’t stop there. The album is littered with fantastic hooks and catchy choruses, and energy abounds, whether it’s the intensity of ‘Vienna’ or the cool of ‘Fear Me’. Songs such as ‘1000 Years’ and ‘Fun’ have a confident swagger, whereas ‘Run’ and ‘Fight’ change up the mood a bit with pop hooks and superb melodies.

This self-titled record is worthy of a reissue and, hopefully, a much bigger audience. Simply put, if you like garage rock and punk, you will love this.

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Author: Craggy Collyde

 

 

Jack Saint – The Jack Saint

Jack Saint – The Jack Saint

Considering its size Poland has yet to really lay a glove onto the blueprint of Rock and Roll yet a lot of the bands I speak to that tour there rave about the reception they get and how passionate the fans are for Rock and Roll. so in 2018 it’s strange to think that underground Rock and Roll is still so far underground that everywhere else never gets to hear about it. Well, let RPM change that misconception as we champion this new CD from Poland’s Jack Saint.  Their garage rock n roll has a lot of traditional dark tones and some familiar influences and if you needed to know what side of the track these boys walk there is a cover of the Gun Clubs ‘Stranger In Our Town’ thrown in for good measure and a way of tying their flag to the mast.

Its dark, swamp blues with a very healthy dose of Gallon Drunk meets the Birthday Party meets the Gun Club if you’re looking for a line in the sand and know what I mean?  It’s unmistakably in that ballpark.  If I was to be picky and complain then it would be that a couple of the songs might be a tad overly long when they clock in at almost six minutes but if it needs it then that’s fine but a couple of these don’t but maybe that says more about my concentration span than the bands songwriting.  It’s only a minor gripe to be fair.

Album opener ‘Stop Hanging On Ma Door (Lil’ Bitch)’ sets the tempo with a groovy little number with an overdriven riff its got the DNA of the Stooges and associated bands but it’s not copying or aping their heroes. The first video (included below) has some of the Nick Caves about it which again isn’t a bad thing at all and I love the guitar breaks and the way they work with the hypnotic bass line – nice tune no doubt about it. Including the Gun Clubs ‘The Stranger In Our Town’ is an easy choice and its done very well indeed.

I also like the Swampy stomp of ‘Beer For A Dollar’ with its excellent rhythm. To be fair as the album progresses the Bass sound edges forward and takes a prominent place in the mix and that’s a good thing because some of the bass lines are great and set the tone for the song – ‘One Jump’ is chaotic and rough and a lot of that is to do with a driving bass line.

 

To close the album they take on the Laughing Hyenas ‘New Gospel’ with its sparse arrangement and honking Harp it’s a great way to close off a very impressive debut offering.  Hopefully, Poland is listening to the sound of its underground and it won’t be long before the kids catch on and Jack Saint are at the forefront of a musical avalanche from Central Europe.

Buy Jack Saint Here

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Author : Dom Daley

Poison Heart – Heart Of Black City (Heavy Medication Records)

Poison Heart – Heart Of Black City (Heavy Medication Records)

AI guess If you were to hear this record without any details as to where and what for you’d probably be forgiven for thinking they’ve just graduated from the backstreets of some Oslo dive bar or studied at the rock and roll high school frequented by The Hellacopters and that would be a fair assumption but if I were to tell you they are from a hotbed of punk rock n fuckin roll straight  outta Warsaw you might raise an eyebrow but there are no borders in Rock n Roll and where a band is influenced from doesn’t matter but its generally accepted that certain Genres of music filter out into the world from certain often unique places like Grunge hailing from Seattle or Hair Metal coming outta LA or punk out of London (maybe).  I wouldn’t mind betting this is the first Polish scuzzy rock n roll band you’ve had the pleasure of hearing?  anyway on with the show.  ‘Heart Of Black City’ certainly nods in the general direction of Scandinavia and their sleazy garage rock n roll and I bet there are a few Gluecifer and Turbonegro records splattered throughout their collections which is a great thing proving that it’s getting out there and kids all over the place are picking up a guitar and writing music that certainly hits the spot around these parts.

 

I’d say that this third long player kicks off with more of a Gluecifer nod than Hellacopters vibe which is fine but its riff-a-rama rather than leaning towards the American garage rock of the Stooges but I’m sure that diluted in their DNA somewhere. Jacek Barton handles the vocals confidently and he’s certainly shooting from the same lip as Biff Malibu and we like that.  As the album opens up you reach ‘Prince Of Scum’ which has a cool intro that raises the tempo before rockin’ out.

 

‘For Life’ kicks off side two and a rather tasty bass line signals a fairly lengthy intro  that heads right down the Gluecifer route which is fine by me and we’re treated to more of the same the riffs are big and bruising but to close this offering out the band dedicate ‘Bagermossen’ to Hellacopters recently passed away guitar slinger  Strings its a nice touch and obviously that’s why the riffs are less heavy and lean more toward the style of the ‘Copters with plenty of noodling and string bending.  I’ve enjoyed my first forray into the sleazy underbelly of Warsaw’s Rock n Roll scene hopefully there will be more to come and Poison Heart will spearhead a new dawn of Polish rock n roll.  Why not its got to come from somewhere might as well be this fine Black city.

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Author : Dom Daley