Steelhouse reveal elements of 2022 line up

Steelhouse reveal elements of 2022 line up

Steelhouse Festival is excited to reveal the first elements of the line up to feature in 2022. And what a selection it is!  With all bar one of these performers making their Steelhouse debut, there is a blend of freshness but also serious pedigree. This year the event will run 29th-31st of July and limited earlybird tickets are now available until midnight December 5th, after which they will go to full advance price for the weekend. 
 
Without further delay, joining us at the top of the mountain will be: Original KISS guitar legend Ace Frehley, Orange Goblin, Diamond Head, H.E.A.T, Green Lung, Black Spiders, Anchor Lane and Ashen Reach. And of course there are more great names to be announced.
 
This line up offers the best of all possible worlds for lovers of classic rock and of Steelhouse. Ace Frehley is an undisputed icon of Rock, Diamond Head unrivalled as old school legends. Orange Goblin and Green Lung bring, in every sense, a burst of colour and verve – each pioneering their own way. Anchor Lane and Ashen Reach show once again that Steelhouse is always looking to provide meaningful support to the best new, exciting talent, whilst Black Spiders and H.E.A.T are making good on their commitment to return and play after not being able to do so this year. 
 
Promoters Mikey and Max say, “It is with barely contained excitement that we can announce the one and only Spaceman, Ace Frehley will be flying in from Jendell to join us on the Mountain for Steelhouse 2022. Being co-founder and original lead guitarist of KISS as well as a Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, he is one of the most recognisable and influential players of all time…A true icon. Smoking guitars at the ready, we’re back!..Back in the Steelhouse Groove!”
 
2021, in the face of overwhelming odds, was a resounding success – marking as it did the 10th Steelhouse Festival. 2022 has a lot to live up to, but with this first announcement, we are well on the way to this being the best ever.

Darren Griffiths Photography

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.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Lusitanian Ghosts – ‘Exotic Quixotic’ (European Phonographic)

Lusitanian Ghosts – ‘Exotic Quixotic’ (European Phonographic)

Portuguese-Canadian-Swedish alternative collective Lusitanian Ghosts release their second album full to bursting with ancient sounds for the 21st Century and beyond. Imagine the most beautiful panoramic watercolour of big sky and deep waters ebbing and flowing well this would be the most exquisite soundtrack to such a painting.

Founded in 2015, Lusitanian Ghosts are Neil Leyton, Mikael Lundin (a.k.a. Micke Ghost), João Sousa, Omiri, O Gajo, Abel Beja, Janne Olson and other artists that come and go within the collective. It all began when Neil Leyton brought Micke Ghost a Viola Amarantina in Stockholm when visiting from Lisbon.

An album about life, love, loss and freedom of choice. Single ‘Never Less Than Lonely’ is about the loss of memory… from whichever perspective. Alzheimer’s, or cancer. Losing people slowly, watching them fade away. This the band’s second album ‘Exotic Quixotic’, is released on European Phonographic and is every bit as adventurous as the debut perhaps even more daring and joyful, dark and reflective.

The album was recorded on analogue tape and mixed by Sebastian Muxfeldt (Elbow, Peter Doherty, Teenage Fanclub) at Hamburg’s Clouds Hills Studios, recasts heritage folk violas into rock and roll songs

Lusitanian Ghosts strive for building a better world, Writing and performing songs from and for the heart and the mind. Their compositions mix indie songwriting with traditional Portuguese instruments like the Beiroa, Campaniça, Braguesa, Terceirense and Amarantina guitars (or violas as they are called in Portugal), each with its own string arrangements and tunings.

The bands sound coming from something of a unique place has Neil Leyton steeped in traditional indie Rock and Roll and his love of bands like the Manics and The Dogs D’Amour even, reinventing the style in an almost folk style yet remaining fresh and original is exciting and engaging.

The documentary ‘Lusitanian Ghosts: Making Of the Lusitanian Ghosts debut album – Chordophone Rock n Roll’ elucidates on why most of these Portuguese ancient instruments (the real Lusitanian Ghosts) have become forgotten over time. For this album, they’ve done away with the guitars, using only chordophones, along with bass and drums. Even the snare was replaced on many tracks with the Adufe, a Portuguese square drum.

“This is all Chordophone violas from Portugal – namely the viola Amarantina, Braguesa, Campaniça and Terceira, played by the Lusitanian Ghosts collective including Canadian-Portuguese artist Neil Leyton, Micke Ghost (the first Swede to play the viola Amarantina!), Vasco Ribeiro Casais aka OMIRI (Portugal), Abel Beja (USA/Portugal, viola Terceira from the Azores), João Sousa on drums (sometimes replacing the snare with the Portuguese square drum Adufe) and Jan-Eric Olson on bass. But not just bass! Janne borrowed O Gajo’s viola Campaniça for some extra dark licks. Chordophone rock n roll, Alt-Folk, Urban-Country-Folk, however it gets labelled what should come across are the humanist messages in these songs,” says Micke Ghost.

Featuring ten tracks from the upbeat opener of ‘Soul Deranium’ its brushes on the snare and some fantastic arrangements and a cacophony of string instruments attacking your senses and reeling you in its intended as a “protest song for the ages” whilst its four minutes of Rock and Roll performed differently it reaching the same end result, daring and adventurous and capturing the spirit perfectly its all there.

‘All The Sounds’ is Leyton at his emotional best as the song builds through the chorus before going back to the start. Then the title track has the soul of the early 70s Bowie or Ronnie Lane penned Faces song but also sounding very modern and original. It’s stirring stuff indeed.

Call it alt-folk or anti-folk – whatever, it’s just Rock and Roll isn’t it? just a different flavour with different instruments. I do know it’s engaging and quite beautiful. A very emotional record that oozes quality and passion both lyrically and musically. One of my favourite songs is the rush that is ‘Living One Life (Just Isn’t Enough These Days)’ it lasts a stunning six-plus minutes with the first half just building on the riff before a word is uttered.

‘Lisbon Calling’ is a European twist of ‘London Calling’ something of a first cousin, maybe played differently but with the same beating heart.

‘For The Wicked’ is dreamy as the snare shuffles Leyton’s hushed tones sound menacing as he rallies against religious or political extremism, populism, or any other kind of anti-humanist behaviour its engaging and as the general vibe of this record its a beautiful thing and thoroughly engaging even if you have no idea what the songs might be about the overall feeling is exceptional beauty and Leyton and Ghost should be so proud of what they have created with this record. I urge you to investigate this album further and I promise you will reap the rewards of what is a stunning collection of songs. An absolute triumph of songwriting and a texture of musicianship that has light and darkness that has to be appreciated for its boldness and a record that is an absolute pleasure to play regardless of one’s emotional state. Take a bow Lusitanian Ghosts for delivering such a stunning record.

‘Exotic Quixotic’ album will be released on November 19 and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp.

Author: Dom Daley

Lusitanian Ghosts live in Setabul https://youtu.be/7nGWKAGC3sc
“Never Less Than Lonely’ https://lusitanianghosts.bandcamp.com/track/never-less-than-lonely
‘Never Less Than Lonely’ pre-order https://lnk.to/neverless 
Album pre-order https://lnk.to/exoticquixotic 
Bandcamp https://lusitanianghosts.bandcamp.com/album/exotic-quixotic
‘Soul Deranium’ https://open.spotify.com/album/40JtZUOMwSaqeKcWpcKuxK 
‘All The Sounds’ https://youtu.be/wJZrl9wyvgs 
‘Exotic Quixotic’ https://youtu.be/FSGJHlHkTBE  
‘Making Of Lusitanian Ghosts debut album’ https://youtu.be/KwX3FHEl-cI 

Ryan Hamilton set to release ‘1221’ Digitally & on CD November 26th

Ryan Hamilton set to release ‘1221’ Digitally & on CD November 26th

Ryan Hamilton album, released digitally & CD November 26, 2021 on (Stevie Van Zandt’s) Wicked Cool Records

Hamilton’s Americana fuses his Country heritage with alt rock & power pop sensibilities. 


The central theme of this latest album is collaboration. Pandemically stripped – for now – of his transatlantic band the Harlequin Ghosts, Hamilton, working with long-time collaborator and producer Dave Draper, has drawn upon a variety of sources here. Including covers of tracks by The Spin Doctors, The Refreshments and Great Yarmouth’s finest – Catherine Wheel, ‘1221’ also offers a brace of previously unrecorded originals by Chuck Prophet and Bob Schneider along with the Hamilton penned singles.


Hamilton has released a track a month during 2021, each hitting the iTunes Americana Top 20.  Hamilton has been heralded by Spin magazine as one of the ‘Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years’.

The Gun Club – Preaching The Blues’ Boxset set for January

The Gun Club – Preaching The Blues’ Boxset set for January
Pic by Ed Colver

Limited Edition 7 x 7inch vinyl Box Set


Includes the highly sought-after debut 7” ‘Ghost On The Highway/Sex Beat’ All tracks remastered and issued with original artwork.


52-page booklet with rare photographs, reminisces from Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan, Henry Rollins, X and extensive liner notes from noted author Clinton Heylin.


Includes exclusive ‘Fire Of Love’ Fanzine, ‘Gun’ Button and Promo Postcard Released by Flood Gallery on 21st January 2022

Box set Pre-Order Here

If ever there was a band seemingly determined to come from nowhere and go straight back there, it was The Gun Club. Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s search and destroy combo was spawned by the L.A. punk scene in 1979. Two years later their first LP, the incendiary Fire Of Love, was spewed out by Slash Records, a matter of months after the punk zine Pierce wrote for, and the label named itself after breathed its last. Fire Of Love was one of the 80s’ genuinely shape-shifting US debuts, igniting post-punk depth and minting genres including blues, psychobilly, and Americana. Yet before they could fire up the lathe to cut the album master, The Gun Club unleashed a debut 7” ‘Ghost On The Highway’ b/w ‘Sex Beat’, two purgatory-bound hellraisers from the pen of Pierce. Appearing in the UK on the Beggars Banquet label,
this single is now entrenched in the collectors’ market commanding a three-figure sum for a mint original. Its inclusion here is worth the price of the Box Set alone. “Ghost on the Highway/Sex Beat’ was the first in a run of fire and brimstone singles The Gun Club released. Seven of their very best 45’s issued between 1981-1993 are
brought together on this potent collection including three later day 7”s for the completists. Joining “Ghost On The Highway’ are ‘Fire Of Love’, the ‘Death Party EP’, ‘The Great Divide’, ‘Pastoral Hide & Seek’, ’Cry To Me’ and a ‘Miami Demos’ single, exclusively made for this box set.

Each double-sided single is remastered and reproduced with its original artwork. Inside the Box Set is a high quality 52-page page booklet complete with expert sleeve notes by author Clinton Heylin alongside various contributors, among them Mark Lanegan, Henry Rollins and Thurston Moore. Reproductions of gig posters, tickets,
rare photographs and other Gun Club memorabilia are featured throughout. The Box Set is produced in association with the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Estate. Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an extraordinary character. Learning to play guitar at the age
of 10, he quickly immersed himself firstly in reggae and later the Delta Blues, particularly works by Tommy Johnson & Robert Johnson. By 1976, he had become obsessed with Blondie, going on to become President of the West Coast Blondie Fan Club. It was Jeffrey Lee Pierce who suggested to the band they cover ‘Hanging On The Telephone’. The Blondie connection would later resurface in 1982 when Chris Stein signed and produced The Gun Club for his Animal Records label. In 1996, after releasing 7 studio albums, 37-year-old Jeffrey Lee Pierce sadly passed away following
a stroke. What he left behind is a legacy of work that has had a prolific effect on some of the most distinguished rock acts of the past 20+ years, these include Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth, The White Stripes, Mark Lanegan, Primal Scream and The Black Keys.


The Gun Club story would not be complete without mentioning the following personnel who played an integral role in the musical output of the Gun Club: Kid Congo Powers, Terry Graham, Chris D, Rob Ritter, Patricia Robinson, Romi Mori, Ward Dotson, Jim Duckworth, Dee Pop and Nick Sanderson.

The Gun Club ‘Preaching The Blues’ Singles Box Set

  • Ghost On The Highway (1982) – Ghost On The Highway/Sex Beat
  • Fire Of Love 1982 – Fire Of Love/Walking With The Beast
  • Miami Demos (1982) – Carry Home/Brother And Sister
  • Death Party EP (1983) – The House On Highland Ave./ The Lie/Death Party
  • The Great Divide (1990) – The Great Divide/Crabdance
  • Pastoral Hide And Seek (1990) – Pastoral Hide And Seek/Black Hole/Emily’s
    Changed (Live in Paris, 91)
  • Cry To Me (1993) – Cry To Me/Give Up The Sun

SLADE official deluxe vinyl album re-issue series ‘Slade in Flame’

SLADE official deluxe vinyl album re-issue series ‘Slade in Flame’

SLADEofficial deluxe vinyl album re-issue series slide in Flame’released on limited edition splatter vinyl out 26th November 

Pre-order here

‘Slade In Flame’, the third release in the series, will be released on red and yellow splatter vinyl. 


The first release in this beautifully presented re-issues collection ‘Slayed? debuted at #7 in the Official Vinyl Charts and the final release will be ‘Slade Alive!’.Slade’s first soundtrack album and fifth studio album ‘Slade In Flame’, includes the singles ‘Far Far Away’ and ‘How does it Feel’. Originally released on 29th November 1974, the album entered the UK album chart at #6 and it was certified gold by the BPI in February 1975. Slade’s seminal film was hailed as ‘the Citizen Kane of British pop movies” by Mark Kermode, BBC.


‘Slade In Flame’ follows the release of Slade’s third and fourth studio albums ‘Slayed?’, and ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’. ‘Slayed?’ features ten songs including Number One single, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’  and ‘Gudbuy T’Jane’ which reached Number two in the charts. While ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’, features the singles ‘My Friend Stan’ and ‘Everyday’ and  The Times to retrospectively state: “This is joyous, unshackled and unpretentious stuff that reminds you how they rattled off six No.1’s.”

Pictures By Barry Plummer


Slade are without doubt one of the most exciting bands to come out of Great Britain and were unstoppable throughout the Seventies becoming one of the biggest bands; releasing six smash hits albums, including three UK Number Ones, a run of 17 consecutive Top 20 singles and their hits provided a soundtrack to the Glam Generation.
To pre-order ‘Slade In Flame’, go to: https://slade.lnk.to/sladeinflamePRTo order ‘Old New Borrowed And Blue’ go to: https://slade.lnk.to/onbabPR To order ‘Slayed?’ go to: https://slade.lnk.to/slayedPR

Rainy Days & Mondays

Rainy Days & Mondays

Denim and leather-clad Texas rockers Killer Hearts are still riding high from their debut LP release “Skintight Electric” are now hitting the road to spread the gospel of rock and roll. They’ve also released a video directed by Seyla Hossaini. The concept for the video, rock and roll women, a night on the town and getting up to no good, with Killer Hearts “Dynamite Tramp” playing the soundtrack! It’s a throwback to the early days of MTV when we had to stay up late to see the rock and roll videos.


Killer Hearts debut full-length “Skintight Electric” is out now on all streaming and download platforms. Vinyl can be purchased in the US from Spaghetty Town Records and in Europe from Dragstrip Riot Records.

Sweden’s boogie rock legends Diamond Dogs are back with the new single and music video ‘ALRIGHT BRUTUS I’M ON!’ The track is taken from the swedes upcoming double album ‘SLAP BANG BLUE RENDEZVOUS’, set for release on January 21.

Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous is a release for children of the 70’s. From the top it conjures up the spirits of the 70’s glam rock era. The warm atmosphere brings the air of the golden age, and the energy of the songs and performance give a promise of rock music for the new generation! Diamond Dogs leaves the listener feeling like they’ve been somewhere momma told them not to go, but knowing that they’ll soon be visiting again!

“This is my masterpiece, my White Album” as Tomas Skogsberg himself puts it. And we can only agree!

Hear Alright Brutus I’m On and pre-order the album: Here

Finally why not check out the new Jesse Malin video for ‘Dance With The System’ from Jesse Malin’s latest double album, ‘Sad and Beautiful World’, out now on Wicked Cool Records.

DINOSAUR JR ANNOUNCE LIVE ALBUM, ‘EMPTINESS AT THE SINCLAIR’

DINOSAUR JR ANNOUNCE LIVE ALBUM, ‘EMPTINESS AT THE SINCLAIR’

Dinosaur Jr. are “still making excellent records for new listeners and older ones who made the band part of their lives” (Wall Street Journal). Today, they release Emptiness at the Sinclair, an album that captures the essence of why the band has been such a staple in live music for decades. Recorded live at The Sinclair in Boston, Dinosaur Jr. play many tracks drawn from Sweep It Into Space, released earlier this year on Jagjaguwar, plus classics like ‘Just Like Heaven‘, ‘Start Choppin‘ and ‘Freak Scene‘. 

Listen to Emptiness at the Sinclair in full here: https://dinosaurjr.jagjag.co/emptiness-at-the-sinclair

Lou Barlow elaborates: “It was odd going back to Harvard Square for the Sinclair show, lots of closed shops, less car and foot traffic, my first time back in a big-city since it all went down. I had lived in Boston for about 10 years from the late 80’s-90’s and the bustling square was a common destination to look for records and meet with friends. The empty pandemic feel spooked me.

“Playing for a livestream is like pushing a rock up a hill trying to recreate the vibe of a real show. The isolation of the last year had made me nervous about performing again, especially in the context of Dinosaur Jr. where I typically rely on the energy of our crowd. Playing to an invisible audience and a real-time sparsely populated room of people doing their jobs (running lights, sound and staring at screens) was something different and, again, weird.

“Despite all my lockdown doubts once we started playing things clicked. My mind didn’t highjack me and it quickly began to feel like a real show. Having a few decent gigs on the Sinclair stage before, it began to feel familiar and, for lack of a better word, friendly.  It will be much more of a relief to get back on tour but, this Sinclair show was a good band-aid, so to speak.“

Dinosaur Jr.’s European tour begins in Dublin on March 27th at Vicar Street and run through April 13th where it culminates at Berlin‘s Columbiahalle before a return in June for dates at Barcelona and Porto‘s Primavera Sound festivals respectively. Tickets are on sale now.

UK/EU Tour Dates:

Mar 27th | Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Mar 28th | Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz Manchester
Mar 30th | Hull, UK @ Asylum
Mar 31st | Glasgow, UK @ QMU
Apr 2nd | London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
Apr 3rd | Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
Apr 5th | Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Apr 6th | Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Hamburg
Apr 7th | Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
Apr 9th | Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
Apr 10th | Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo
Apr 12th | Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
Apr 13th | Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
June 2nd | Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
June 11th | Porto, PT @ NOS Primavera Sound Festival

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The Cheap Cassettes – ‘See Her In Action’ (RumBar Records)

The Cheap Cassettes – ‘See Her In Action’ (RumBar Records)

Try not to be too disappointed that this is only five tracks and not the new full-length new album but I’m sure that isn’t too far away so see it as a bonus that’ll tide you over nicely.

 

This offer is suitably snotty and it chews out a rhythm like fellow well-crafted power poppers from their neck of the woods The Exploding Hearts.  Its guitars below the belt buckle, leather jacket on with the collars turned up,  Some creepers or cons and turn those amps up a little bit louder than you think they should be and let’s go!

‘See Her In Action’ the song kicks things off and with all the vital ingredients present and in situ it’s all systems go.  There’s a dreamy vibe to the melody as the band just eases into the rhythm.  They’re not reinventing the wheel here they’re just having a good time hanging out and kicking out the jams and it sounds like they have the best of times.  ‘Only Lovers’ tweaks that Chuck Berry riff a little and the guitars just roll with it. It’s a timeless lick and it’s been used by many far and wide the good and the great and sometimes the not so great but The Cheap Cassettes know how to handle the string bending and put it to great use.

 

‘Lil’ Bit Everyday’ is the last of the three studio recordings and for me it’s they’ve saved the best till last and with a hint of mop-top mod melody in the chorus I like it a lot and the solo just hits the bullseye in the sweetest way.  Now to get a good idea of where bands like The Cheap cassettes work best there are a couple of live recordings thrown into the mix and the first is the epic ‘Valentine’ originally by The Replacements (obviously) and The Cheaps do it justice and sail pretty close to the original and another of the bands they are clearly inspired by being nailed to the mast.  Job done!  then to sign this impressive EP off they power their way through ‘Red Line Blue’ and my appetite is suitably whetted for the next long-player.  Bring it on.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Introducing… The Dangereens

Introducing… The Dangereens

Its been a while since RPM first made contact with Montreals The Dangereens who describe themselves as,

“The most elegant-decadent rock n’ roll unit of the 21st century”. which is quite some boast, However, when we heard their long player ‘Tough Luck’, it was obvious they actually have the tunes to back this up. When everything settles down maybe the world at large will finally have the chance to see for themselves if this just a case of idle promises or The Dangereens are indeed the real deal.  What the world needs right now is some glamorous, decadent Rock and Roll so we reached out to lead singer Hugo to find out who the hell are The Dangereens and why should we check em out and for Hugo to introduce us to the world of The Dangereens.  So, Read on and get excited for The Dangereens…
Firstly, ‘Tough Luck’ (the album) was recommended by one of the writers here at RPM Online, and when he said the magic words “there is a hint of Hanoi Rocks in here” I knew I had to order the record.  I did and he was right. So with that in mind where would you say you sit musically on ‘Tough Luck’?
Quite frankly I don’t believe that Tough Luck should be examined as a whole (in terms of musical genres), but rather as a collection of songs that draw from various influences. There are touches of 70s glam rock, punk, power pop and southern rock, 60s garage rock, 50s R&B and rock’n’roll, 40s boogie-woogie… So, you know… I guess I’d describe it as a “glitter rhythm and punk” effort… Then again, I’m not too good with labeling my own shit. I’m sure you’d do a much better job at it 😉
How long have you been together as the Dangereens?
About 4 years
What about influences and what you wanted to achieve with the ‘Tough Luck’ long-player?
Our influences are as numerous as they are scattered… Some of the guys like 80s hard rock, heavy metal and other types of mustache music that I know nothing about. Personally, I like 3 chords, light-hearted love songs, tear-jerking outcries and obscure rock’n’roll moronities… Anything that moves and grooves, you know? One thing we all agree upon is that it’s gotta be soulful, it’s gotta have that swing, and it’s gotta sound like us. I guess my role as the leader of the gang is to take that harder edge from the other guys and make it snap, crackle and pop so that at the end of the day, every song’s a groover. I really focus on a song as a song, and not as a part of a concept or anything like that. How our album ended up sounding like an album (with a common thread and a continuation in the themes) really beats me! I still don’t know how we pulled it off…
What was the process for writing the record?  Is there one main writer and how does it roll as far as jamming the songs in a rehearsal room or is there a set method?
There is a main writer: me. Now is probably a good time to introduce myself. I’m Hugo and I’m the singer. I also play rhythm guitar on the album. That being said, I’m not alone in this band, and I cannot overstate the importance of the role that the other guys have played in the writing process of this album. I like the idea of working really hard in the beginning of a project on elaborating an aesthetic and a sound that gathers (or at least tries to) a common side of every member’s personality. Once you’ve built that core, then you can start slacking and drinking, and still the songs will come pouring like it’s the monsoon.
About the writing process now… So I come up with the words, the chords and the vocal melody and I show it to the guys, and I guide them roughly towards a certain way of approaching the song. Once I see that everyone understands how the song should be approached, it’s really not mine anymore… As long as we all respect the song, I’m happy. Sometimes one of the guys will come up with something brilliant I haven’t even thought of. This is proof to me that the song lives and that it can speak, and that is always a good start. Oh, and this all has to happen in this crappy (but cheap) room we use as a jam space, and as quickly as possible. If too much effort or talking is required to get there you probably oughta let this one slide until the time is right.
As far as the process for recording the songs is concerned, we really focused on how that “core” should sound by jamming 3 times a week and by trying to build it with raw-live-off-the-floor energy. Even there, we still got to the studio unprepared and had to deal with a bunch of last minute freak-outs, but we pulled through gracefully (in my own opinion). How we managed to do that is beyond me as well. I believe in my heart that rock’n’roll is about sensibility, and that’s not something you can prepare or train. I guess that what I really mean is that rock’n’roll is about laziness (haha).
How have you dealt with the release with touring being off the agenda?
We had absolutely no idea things were gonna freeze like that… We figured we’d release the album a bit later than expected (May instead of April), but still in time for the summer. We thought we’d be out of this shitshow by then… we were wrong. I guess that’s why we’re musicians and not global medical analysists… analysisticians?… analysts? (haha)
Is there any music written for a follow-up?
Oh hell ya! If there’s anything good about this pandemic, it’s that it pushed me to write new material. We’ve got about 10 new songs now that we can’t wait to share with y’all!
You preceded the album with a pair of tracks ‘Lucky In Love and Holy Water,  why were they left off the album?  They are two totally different numbers and show a real maturity in the writing and I love a saxophone in my Rock and Roll and Jay plays a major part in the sound?
The label we’re affiliated with for distribution (ALIENSNATCH! Records) suggested to take them out. They were initially supposed to be on the album. I agree with you that they add a certain depth to the band’s repertoire as they are slower songs. We might reissue the album including the 2 singles one day…
 
Blue Jay is a wonderful guy. We love working with him. He comes from a jazz background and everything he added on the album came out naturally. We hope to work with him on future recordings.
The album has a classic feel to it but also sounds fresh and versatile.  Do you have a particular track that you love?  If I was to tell someone about this new band I’m playing called Dangereens what would you suggest I play them and how would you describe it?
Thank you! We love working with old-school material like tape machines and 60s transistor soundboards because they force you to commit to decisions. The entire album was recorded on analog devices and I guess it gives it this naturally compressed and warm sound which we now consider “classic”. I don’t want to get into the details of analog recording because it bores the daylights out of me, but I can say it also made the recording and mixing process a whole lot faster because we’d rarely go back to fix mistakes (mistakes are a crucial part of the Dangereens’ sound) and because we didn’t need to colour the sound with a bunch of VST’s or anything like that. During the mix, it was mostly a matter of making certain things shine a bit more and leave other things in the background and Ryan Battistuzzi made a phenomenal job at that.
 
About my preferred numbers, usually, my favorite song is the last one I wrote. Having let some time pass now, I’d say my favorite ones are Microwave Boogie for the story-telling type of lyrics and the general delivery of the band, Love Jive for the pedal steel arrangements and guitar works, and Hearse Driving Blonde for the simple, uplifting vibe. Tomorrow I might say something else though.
The band is quite different from the one that released that first EP back in 2018 even if those songs are excellent again showing the versatility within the band both being able to just Rock and Roll on ‘Reign Of your mind’ and then the acoustic side as on ‘Libertine’ and the two tacks you released on Bandcamp that covered show you delved deep into the back catalogue of rock and roll.  Why those two tracks in particular?
Yes, the EP marks a different era. As a matter of fact, we were another band back then, literally. We were 4, Yan, who plays piano on the record, was our drummer, and we had another bass player, Miles. After Yan and Miles left, they were replaced with Olivier (actual drummer) and Jordan (actual bass player). As I was saying before I like to write/compose for the band I have. These new cats have different artistic orientations and tastes, and I feel it is my duty to represent that in the songs, you know?
 
About the cover songs, it’s very simple… We initially booked 2 days of studio to record the 14 rhythm tracks (the 12 Tough Luck songs + Lucky In Love and Holy Water). Thing is, we were so hot on the 1st day, we ended up canning 12 of them, leaving only 2 for the second day. I then decided we’d use the remaining time to record live-off-the-floor performances, 50s style. Break Up was already part of our live set and High Blood Pressure is just a song I love so I showed it to the guys on the day of the recording and off we went! 
As for live shows, how long has it been since you last played and what are the plans?  Is Europe a possibility when it’s safe to do so?
When the pandemic hit us, we had just come back from a 3 days mini-tour in the US. We played Brooklyn, Manhattan and Boston. All three shows went incredibly well and we made awesome friends (shouts to Muck and The Mires who rocked our socks off)! Man, were we riding high…  Also, we were planning a Europe end of summer tour so you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll come around as soon as borders open!
What about promo videos any more planned?
We made the one for Streets of Doom (it’s on our Youtube channel, Dangereens Official) and another one that should be out anytime soon! I can’t tell you for which song though 😉

 

Going back to the album.  I love songs like ‘Thieves’ and ‘Worried Mind’ and would love to hear them played live.  When I’ve been playing the record I hear bits of inspiration from bands like thin Lizzy and some traditional boogie-woogie mixed with the likes of Hanoi or a bit of Bolan boogie the whole thing just rocks, and a whole bunch of others that jump out to me, in a sound or maybe a chorus or melody.  the way you mix up the influences on ‘1003’ with the sax and some fine piano playing whilst keeping it fresh is something not a whole bunch of bands are doing right now it would be great if success on a big scale was around the corner.  They do say it comes in waves and we’re just about ready for Rock and Roll to dominate the charts again. How was the album recorded?  songs like ‘Little Uptown Girl’ sound like they were one live take would that be a fair assumption?
Aww, now you’re gonna make me blush (haha)! I don’t know about rock’n’roll dominating the charts, but it doesn’t really matter to us anyway… The way I see it, this band is all about good times, and good times never go out of style (although we all may feel that way these days). All those bands you’ve mentioned are definitely up there in our spiritual altar, but we also listen to more recent stuff. To me, a good song is a good song. It doesn’t matter if it’s rock’n’roll or new age, you know? When I write a song, I think of the melody and rhythm first, then I lay words on it. The fact that they end up sounding the way they do is because of the way we naturally approach music as a band. Rockin’ and rollin’ is part of our daily routine.
 
About the recording process, we start by recording the rhythm (drums, bass and guitars) tracks altogether, then we do overdubs for vocals and other instruments (saxophone, trumpet, piano, organ, strings, etc.). In my opinion, the more elements you record simultaneously, the better it sounds. Giving that we were working with a 16 tracks tape machine and in a small basement room, it would’ve been impossible to achieve recording everything all at once, but at least we got to work off of our live rhythm tracks, without using a click. Saying that our songs sound like they’re live takes is possibly the best compliment you could’ve given me!  A song is like a picture, you know? It’s about capturing that unique moment in time. You can always take a snap of some willow tree by a lake, then photoshop Kate Moss kissing you on the cheek underneath it later, but eventually someone will figure out that shit’s not sitting right…
Ok enough of me waffling,  what plans have Dangereens for the future?  the next record?  Singles?, Tours?  and where is the best place people reading this can get the album in physical format from obviously digital copies its Bandcamp right?
It sucks because I can’t tell you much about the future since we are in the midst of negotiations and I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve got BIG plans… All I can say is you’re gonna see a lot more of us in 2021 going forward!

To get a physical copy of our album, you can go through ALIENSNATCH! Records‘ Bandcamp page. They’re also available through Green Noise Records for North America. Otherwise, if you’re in Montreal, hit us on Facebook and we’ll come and deliver it to you. We have black and clear red vinyl. They look and sound amazing! As for digital, you can find us on all platforms (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.) or buy a digital copy via Bandcamp.
So there you have it, The Dangereens ladies and Gentlemen now hit up some of the links and check out the music.  Thanks to Hugo for being so generous with his time.