Pat Todd & The Rank Outsiders – ‘I’ll Dream Alone’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

Pat Todd & The Rank Outsiders – ‘I’ll Dream Alone’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

I’ll Dream Alone’ is the ninth studio album from Pat Todd & his Rank Outsiders, a guy who should be a household name in raw roots rock n roll if the world were fair and just and rock ‘ n ‘ roll music was rightly appreciated by those who tune in a /or drop out. For those who don’t know or care, I’m going to let you know that once you’re done listening to this bad boy, you’ll need to investigate the LAzy Cowgirls because that’s where Pat and some of his Rank Outsiders hail from, along with the LA Guns, it would seem. They play real, roots, raw rock n roll; it’s as simple as that. There isn’t a magic formula, just some guys who write and perform to the best blueprint there is. It’s loud and infectious and always produced really well, which should appeal to anyone with a sympathetic ear for the good stuff. On this here record, they’ve poured twelve chunks of that good stuff onto the wax and kick it off with the lead single ‘Desire Has Left Town,’ a foot on the monitor wedge, head-down slab of no-nonsense boogie-woogie with a subtle hook on the chorus that leans into the guitar break that is of classic vintage, and the subtle shift in gear and tempo is majestic. If you’re not punching the air when the song fades away, I’d call a medic.

The songs have been road-tested and recorded at the same Californian studio the last two albums have, so they must be comfortable as the good times pour through the speakers ‘Ambition Street’ starts like they’ve found the Johnny Thunders / Chuck Berry mainline from the next life, as that bass line walks as the finest heartbreakers’ basslines did whilst rampaging like the bastard child of ‘Mama Kin’.

The pace is a little bit measured on ‘We’re Outta Time’ compared to the openers, but it’s still as cool as a polar bear sitting on a fox’s glacier mint. Hell, it’s got handclaps and woohoo’s. ‘Mediocre Hearts’ is almost horizontal in its late night smokey grab your gal slow dance number, but it’s got a sweet harmonica solo in the middle of a wonderful, lazy tempo.

The tempo is picked up again as shots are fired and the backbeat gets the blood pumping before ‘The Last of Me’ starts a punch-up to end side one in fine style.

Replenish your glass because side two kicks off with ‘Blood And Gunpowder’, and that’s followed by ‘Night Beat’, dedicated to Randy Stone, with a thumping rhythm that drives the song on before Pat takes a breather and Guitarist Nick Alexander jumps onto the mic and delivers some cool licks and vocals. If you want some wholesome roots Americana, then ‘Can’t Get Arrested In This Town’ will have your cup overflowing. It’s Green On Red Dan Baird countrified balladeering with more of that sweet gob iron wheezing in all the right places, making it one hell of a song.

As the album slides to its natural end, the penultimate rocker is ‘The World Don’t Need You’ that kicks up some dust before the title track throws some petrol on proceedings and crashes and burns with one of the album’s finest rockers that also has some awesome keyboard flourishes adding to the chaos and final hurrah. It’s always a great day to review a Pat Todd And The Rank Outsiders record because you just know you’re gonna get an honest record full of fine tunes, well written, well recorded and bloody well delivered – if you love yourself some Rock n Roll, then grab ‘I’ll Dream Alone’ and get on board. Buy It!

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Author: Dom Daley

The Pleasure Dome – ‘Equinox’ (Hound Dawg! Records)

The Pleasure Dome – ‘Equinox’ (Hound Dawg! Records)

Bristolian three piece playing dark post grunge noise in the time honoured tradition often unhinged – always on the edge from the frantic slightly psycotic intro of ‘Pass The Parcel’ claiming we aint getting any younger and whats the point paves the way for the frantic dash to the finale with some fine screams and hypnotic riffing is a very decent opener.

There is a vulnerability about the songs a fragility behind the screams and desperate loose melodies of ‘Down The Alley’ as the thumping driving bass line and drum beat hold down whilst the often wild guitars turn to a hushed middle eight. Like fellow Bristolians Idles they throw convention out of the window and do their own thing and it works well. At times it reminds me of alternative bands like Libertines mixed with the obvious Seattle leanings of early Nirvana and Mudhoney it’s a very engaging listen.

The artwork is bleak and cold but the music is far from cold and at times is a burning skip of the 90s and beyond youth culture all melting in one burning inferno.

There is a live and urgency about the songs felt particular well on ‘Vampire Of The Night’ with its drone thud and the energy is raised on ‘Psychodrama’ as it franticly thrashes around with a tightness that wouldn’t work at all if it was loose but the fills sound great bristling with energy and plenty of punch.

‘What a shame (Cocaine)’ is a strong sidestep in the middle of the album in case you were flagging it slows down and is sparsely delivered with a decent melody. Of course, it breaks out it had to. Great song though.

‘Boiler Room’ is a chance for everyone to shake off any fatigue as the rumbling bassline and monotone vocals give you a much-needed kicking as the chorus swings in all directions. There’s a good ebb and flow to the second half of the album as all roads lead to the finale of the epic nearly ten minutes of;No Guts No Fame’ with its acoustic intro breaking into the smash of the loud bit with screams and throbbing bass line it’s a great way to end your record as it reaches its climax before heading back down a lou reed rabbit hole before hushing into one final ending. Enjoyed that unpredictable and satisfying album.

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Author: Dom Daley

Girls In Synthesis – ‘Konsumerausch’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

Girls In Synthesis – ‘Konsumerausch’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

London post punk noise bringers Girls In Synthesis turn up the tempo on this EP? Mini Album? Extended single? Who knows what to quantify it as but once the needle drops and the hum of overdrive and distortion grinds through your speakers added to the metronomic beat ‘Pulling Teeth’ will certainly test your fillings from the constant steady beat that creates a solid platform for the synth and guitar drones to test the limits of your speakers its hypnotic qualities draw you in like a modern-day homage to Joy Division via some Gallon Drunk meets Germanic industrial – its a melting pot alright and pretty captivating it is too throughout its nine minutes lifespan. I can’t believe they haven’t fallen through a portal in time and left post-WWII Berlin and landed in wet south London on a freezing cold and damp November.

At about six minutes your head feels like it’s about to explode with the metallic feedback reaching a crushing climax before the bass thumps through the ether. Modern anarco punk is calling and its pulling teeth mantra is perfect as it escalates to its explosive conclusion. Intense and mesmerizing.

‘Enveloped’ is like a post-Bauhaus industrial banger – easy listening this isn’t. ‘Bypassing’ is a widescreen landscape of twitching noise and brass blasts as the waves of noise washes over you. From the nine-minute opener to the sub-one-minute ‘Interlude’ seems obvious before ‘The Engine’ crashes in to wrap up this record. With four minutes of dark bleak guitar clashing with a great tune to wrap proceedings up before lying in a darkened room to get over the end-of-the-world noise, I’ve just experienced. It’s great to test your head with some extreme noise terror and Girls In Synthesis do it as well as anyone I’ve heard recently. It’s like pushing a johnsons cotton bud through one ear and out the other without dying it’s not for everyone but those that get it will achieve immense enjoyment from their listening experience.

Digital downloads are available or direct from Hound Gawd! if you prefer the best experience on wax.

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Author: Dom Daley

The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt – ‘Devil In Berlin’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt – ‘Devil In Berlin’ (Hound Gawd! Records)

Hound Gawd! Records announced the new album by The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt on the back of the RSD release that featured Watt and its fair to say I got a little excited. I love myself some Cutthroat Brothers anyway and the added Mike Watt was always a blast. Whilst having a bass guitar on the older tunes was quality it was always going to be interesting to see how that dynamic would work on hearing new tunes and it was a proper buzz and lived up to the hype and standard I’d imagined in my fuzzy head. ‘Devil in Berlin’ is set to drop in record stores in early December but it can’t come quick enough.

Might as well start at the top and ‘Bad Candy Girl’ kicks in like a motherfucker with a bass that’s growling like a Mack truck with no brakes doing 100. but after the sonic boom, it settles into a cool groove and already this record has my attention. The breakdown is like a dust-up at the crossroads and those Bad Candy Girls are twerking with old nick before leaving with these three cats.

Love the tunes as they roll off the record from the swirling grind of ‘Been Away’ Colliding with the jig of the title track that’s splendid with its fuzzed-up bass and finger-clicking goodness. Its like you’ve entered some late night tiki bar thats got harleys out the front and the band kicking out the james are these three reprobates oozing equal parts Gun Club, Stooges, Elvis, The Cramps and just about a dozen other cool as fuck bands from history all spilling out over the grooves of ‘Devil In Berlin’.

To be fair I could go through each track dishing the dirt and drooling over the coolness of this record as the Brothers have really hit their groove and found the missing piece of the jigsaw in Watt who adds that little something extra that the dynamic duo couldn’t quite reach without him. Sure, the tunes would have been good but not this freakin good. ‘Love, Drugs Etc’ has some wicked slide that’s got some cool 70s glam running through it like an unearthed Sweet song played by some punks who found it washed up on a beach in some bottle.

In contrast, the fuzz of ‘Cold Dead Night’ has some Grunge running through it, either via Sonic Youth or a bit of Husker Du with a smidge of Kobain for good measure. The vocals remind me of some Black Francis in his Pixie days. Without a single duff or remotely below par track on offer, this album is excellent as one track detonates the next and the band move through the gears so smoothly from one tempo to the next and tracks like ‘Cherry’ has the band so comfortable and confident they it just sounds so confident like they knew when recording these songs how damn good it was going to be once it was handed over for production. In three years The Cutthroat brothers have served up some fantastic music that has gotten better and better with each record right up to this point and there is no filler just all killer its a close shave as to the best track maybe its the swirling backbeat of ‘Like A Zombie’ that sounds like its being pounded with sledgehammers courtesy of Paychecks drumming as the overdriven fuzz of Watt compliments the licks of Jasons guitar and devilishly cool vocals.

But wait they sign off with a song that’s like the beyond the grave rumble of Lemmy beating up a sonic youth Goo period thumper before menacing its way to the close and the final notes of an extremely exciting and bloody good record. Never mind the King being dead The fuckin’ Devils In Berlin aparently and this is his soundtrack.

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Author: Dom Daley