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

The Cutthroat Brothers ft Mike Watt – The King Is Dead (Hound Gawd! Records)

The Cutthroat Brothers ft Mike Watt – The King Is Dead (Hound Gawd! Records)

The album “The King Is Dead” by The Cutthroat Brothers and mike watt (recorded by Jack Endino; with artwork by Raymond Pettibon) right off the bat is an absolute fuckin’ joy from top to bottom, start to finish its wall to wall bangers.  If the king is indeed dead this’ll wake him up!

I’ve been a fan of the cutthroat duo so far and loved everything they’ve done thus far and the lockdown live release well needs a vinyl press considering how bloody good it was and sounded.  Then this banger creepy crawls without bells and whistles or fanfare with added Mike Watt delivering some low-end power that really elevates these tunes into the something special category.  Basically it’s the last studio album but with the Watt factor that was lost in the interweb ether but turned up after the album had been cut.

 

As soon as ‘Killing Time’ kicks in with a swagger and a truckload of attitude, these boys come out swinging like the wanderer’s gang with baseball bats lashing out and jumping like a cat on a hot tin roof and before the second chorus has passed you’ll be joining in on the “killing Time”.  After such an energetic opener that swagger turns into a strut as ‘Medicine’ is buzzin like a lunatic on class A’s.

 

The title track is a throbbing brooding throwback to better times. Watt adds a phat sound that is a sonic jump and an already big-sounding band goes supersonic.  It adds something special and the loose blues of the menacing title track is epic in sound and feel.  When the band raises the tempo it raises the menace and my speakers start to shake rattle and roll.

These guys go through the gears and show off a play on the variations of what we call Rock and Roll and the melodic catchy ‘Out Of Control’ has a slice of power pop with its main course for what is one of the records high points as it did on the bands sophomore record but as it was meant to sound.  Released for RSD this is a fantastic slice of Garage Rock n Roll that any self-respecting rocker will want to hear.  If you can find a copy then do so and play it loud!

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Author: Dom Daley

The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt Release New Track From Upcoming Record Store Day Release 

The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt Release New Track From Upcoming Record Store Day Release 
Hound Gawd! Records recently announced the new album by The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt. Titled ‘The King is Dead’, the album will be available as vinyl LP on Record Store Day, June 12th, 2021, followed by a digital release on July 9th. The venomous blues-punk, swamp-rock sounds of The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt conjure bands like The Gun Club, The Cramps, The Stooges and The Hives. You can check out a new single called “Wrong” now and download/stream the album for review below…
No Echo says “Basically, if you love bands like The Cramps and X, you’ll be an instant fan of what these fellas are cooking up.” adding, “Mr. Watt’s mind-fucking bass lines colors the material in a beautiful way that makes you go, “Yeah, this is sick.”
This collaboration began when Mike Watt interviewed Jason and Donny on The Watt from Pedro Show. When the real-life barbers casually asked Watt to play bass on their next album, they didn’t expect to hear ‘yes’.
Mike Watt added his magic and is now an honorary Cutthroat Brother barber by blood. Watt’s gritty, powerful playing will blow your greasy black pompadour back like a jet engine.
Hailed as ‘the Sweeney Todd’s of punk’, The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt are a mean and murderous match made in hell.
World-renowned visual artist Raymond Pettibon (Black Flag, Sonic Youth) contributed the cover art, making ‘The King is Dead’ packaging hotter than a wet shave and twice as slick.
Take this blood-soaked bash-a-thon and file it where it fits: right next to punk rock greats like Misfits or The Damned.
Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney) produces, mixes, and masters again (his 4th collaboration with The Cutthroat Brothers in only 2 plus years since the band was formed), honing ‘The King is Dead’ to a razor sharp point.
‘The King Is Dead’ opens with the aforementioned ‘Killing Time’, an anthem for miscreants everywhere. Up next is the rockabilly and drug influenced ‘Medicine,’ finding Mike Watt in a fuzzed up bounce reminiscent of The Minutemen’s ‘Corona’.
The third and title track ‘The King is Dead’ is a spooky blues burner that slips into the room like a night stalker, then slashes everything into a brash, bluesy bloodbath. The rest of the album pummels forward in the gritty, grimy, grinning fashion that leaves the listener sliced, shaking and twisting on the barbershop floor wanting more.
The Brothers and Watt enjoyed working together so much that you can expect further collaborations in the future!

RPM at The Movies – Desolation Center

RPM at The Movies – Desolation Center

A brand new movie about the untold story of Reagan-era guerrilla desert happenings now recognized as the inspirations for Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella including Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten, Redd Kross and more.

what a great captivating movie.  With unique footage taken from the ideas inception this documentary  takes you through a journey of discovery of how the desert festivals came about how they began with their mystery tours taking Californians out into the desert and how they powered up the sound systems and time on time it grew into what we have today with the travelling circus tours of Lollapalooza.

 

Man how hip were these cats? from the get go they had some of the best bands and performers on board and seeing the likes of Perry Farrell photographed at the first one and no doubt went on to inspire the Janes Addiction frontman to front his own festival.  The talking heads of Thurston Moore and Farrell are crucial and interesting but its the stories from the likes of Redd Kross that make me smile with the innocence and spirit of adventure.

Imagine buying a ticket for a show meeting up at a rendezvous point then getting on a school bus to be driven out of southern California for three plus hours into the dessert for to be met with guys blowing up metal drums or explosions and hearing some cool as fuck music from the likes of Minutemen or Sonic Youth.  We take it for granted these days and some even go Glamping at their festival of choice but None hold the energy or excitement of what they captured on these grainy films way back in the early ’80s.

Remember this is pre internet, pre mobile phone, pre satellite link up pre saturation and copy cat events this was the real deal a hidden underclass of art and music that was thriving and I guess the inevitable happened as more became aware and more wanted in the festival moved and changed  its a fascinating insight and a really enjoyable flick through time.

The film makes you smile at the DIY of rock and roll and how anything is possible and art can and will make a difference. If you love the music its a bonus but if you just like a really well shot and captivating subject then its a no brainer.  Get the popcorn in sit back relax and enjoy ‘Desolation Center’

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Author: Dom Daley