The DeRellas – ‘Somethings Gotta Give’ (Rockaway Records)

The DeRellas – ‘Somethings Gotta Give’ (Rockaway Records)

23The mainstays of The DeRellas Timmy and Luca decided before Covid hit the world that the band must evolve and a shake-up of personnel was undertaken.  It was both a brave and bold move considering how well the lineup was producing the goods in the studio and on stages up and down the country but you snooze you loose and so we entered Lockdown 2020 with plans afoot for The Derellas to enter the studio to follow up the excellent High Rise Supersize single.  A successful Kickstarter campaign ensued and the band entered Perry Vale Studios with the legendary Pat Collier to begin work on the ‘Somethings Gotta Give’ album and finally, in August of 2021, it will hit the streets with a bang! Crash! & bit of a Wallop!

 

Right from the off it is fair to say the production is top notch and a fuller more hard edge to the songs takes DeRellas 2021 in a different direction maybe less Glam punk and more focussed punk rock sounding DeRellas.  Sure the song topics are about the down n dirty, Glam Punk staple diet of love, life, booze, one night stands and rolling from day to day enjoying life.  ‘Don’t Tell Me What I Did Last Night’ has Timmy delivering a sympathetic vocal and to be fair he does it very well and its the one or rather one of the most notable things is the vocals suit the songs very well and the Subs influenced tones sit very well on this record.

 

Its got a dash of early Manics very mich in evidence on songs like the sleazy ‘Underground LUV’ which is an excellent laid back ode to love L-U-V. Lucas tone and solos sit very nicely in the mix and to be fair is the shining star on the record.  Its like the DeRellas coming of age album and finally after all the line up changes have finally cracked the code for whatever it was they were searchign to destroy.  ‘Emergency 2020’ deals with the current times in a nutshell with a great Stonesy riff and melody up to the Sonic Temple like solo leaving just enough headroom for the Sweet like breakdown to take this one back to the chorus.  Great stuff.

I guess fitting in all your influences and whats in your DNA into a decent song is what every artist is searchign for and whilst this isn’t perfect its the best thing the DeRellas have naild onto tape by some considerable length.  The flow of the album in its pace of each song is well lthought and the studo shine from Mr. Collier is most complimentry and will give these songs longevity long after the dayglo spray paint has dried and the guyliner has faded.

 

The tip of the hat to the mid 80s glory days when every turn was a Hanoi Rocks or A Lords Of The New Church or a Dogs D’Amour slamming into a Soho Roses and a Cheap and Nasty filled the gaps its been a long time for bands to delve into the best that period had to offer and ‘Lifes Crashing’ fills that void very nicely in style and delivery. ‘Pressure Gonna Get Ya’ is another that sails on the influence of maybe a ‘Holy Bible’ era preachers and Timmys distressed vocal is perfect for this and he delivers it in spades some fo his best lyrics to boot.

 

If you just want snotty punk the ‘Sonic Detonator’ will get you pogoing, along with the wonderfully glamarous Jonesy chug of ‘Soho Hotel’ it’ll give you the chance to join in on the chorus and punch the air and rejoice. One of the albums best songs for me is the laid back ‘Our World Tomorrow’ and as it builds like the bastard child of Stiv and Billy Halo its something that sets this album apart from the previous albums and confirms that maybe this was indeed the right path for the band to head down.

 

The album isn’t front loaded as we head into the home straight and an updated version of a fantastic glam punk stomp of ‘High Rise Supersize’ signs of a really impressive album thats been well worth the wait.  I leave you in no doubt at all that if you were undecided about this then fear not because you wont have any regrets at all because as a listener nothings gotta give because ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ gives everything and more.  Get It!

 

 

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Author: Dom Daley

Play Dead – ‘Skint’ (Blitzcat Records)

Play Dead – ‘Skint’ (Blitzcat Records)

Hitting out of the same ballpark as Chubby & The Gang it’s like these kids have managed to marry Blurs ‘parklife’ with a dash of Supergrass and a lot of noisy punks from throughout the late 70s and early 80s and managed to keep the hipsters on board with some Sleaford Mods attitude.

 

Its in your face brutal both musically and lyrically in as much as they don’t try to dress it up in clever lyrics its Sleaford Mods school of say it as it is and I like that its always refreshing especially when they’re youngsters.  Take ‘Skint’ for example it pulls no punches other than the ones it’s pummelling your ears with.  Give em a few quid their skint as fuck it would appear. Noisy forthright and pissed just what punk rock should be.

‘Brockwell Park’ was the venue for my first trip to see The mighty Damned play many moons ago and I was drinking in the park as well if I remember but I doubt it was Fosters.  It doesn’t paint a pretty picture to be fair but its part of growing up whereas the steady beat of ‘The Drip’ and the perils of doing drugs is a frantic thrash about after a key or two and the band nails it.  It picks you up and puts you down and in between it’ll swing you around like a rag doll this is the perfect EP for kids to reconvene in some sweaty club and throw themselves around for an hour smashed on cheap beers and no doubt a key or two of powders but it’ll shake off the cobwebs of the past year and be a bloody good time as well and Play Dead sounds like the perfect band to do just that – ave it!

 

 

Skint is available on preorder from Play Dead’s Bandcamp.

Follow Play Dead on Twitter and Instagram.