No not the seasonal cheer quite yet but those German Hardcore punk noisemakers, that Christmas. They have a new album out the first week in December and We recently had Max on the phone to talk briefly about the new LP and his band.
‘FEAR OF ROMANCE’ CHRISTMAS, once again, show off all the different facets of their self-created ‘Satanic Rock’ sound. The album is like a nihilistic Schwarzenegger movie: bursting with speed, action, power and humiliation. The protagonist is always the one who laughs last! ‘FEAR OF ROMANCE’ will be released on December 16th as an LP/MC. The album was recorded between February and April 2024 at “Tonstudio 45”. Production, recording, mixing and mastering was done by Michel Wern.
On The Podcast we talk about the new album and the band’s history. Hit the link and give it a play and if you’d be so kind why not share, like and follow the podcast and help us grow.
Bath punks The Setbacks have been busy boys with this album The Labour of love for songwriter Adrian Elliott and the rest of his West Country punk rockin amigos. It gets underway with the sprightly punchy blast of ‘I Will Stand’ with gang vocals on the chorus its Street punk baby and bouncing along with as much energy as they can muster, it freewheels through The title track leaning heavily on American pop punk with loads of melody in the vocals its bright and a lot of fun.
The production is loud and there’s the right amount of light and shade wedged into each song meaning it’s never stifled and muddy which helps this style bounce on. Theres a lot of music to get through with twelve tracks packing this second Setbacks album out. the pace is like a battle cry from the first track until the more melodic ‘Sunday’. If you’re holding out for a punk rock ballad then you’ll be disappointed but the Clash-inspired ‘Lulus Leaving’ but they do leave the best til last, it has a nice bass rundown and a catchy chorus. it might lack originality but they sound like they’re having a blast, it’s tight and honest and they certainly do melodic street punk with heart and soul. It’s not exclusively America that does melodic street punk these Brits can pull It off just as convincingly and The Setbacks are the proof. If writing and recording a tight and fun record was the MO then the mission is accomplished -the setbacks do it with a swagger. Oh, and I love the artwork.
We first got news of Bad Nerves a while back and waited til the wee small hours to see them perform at Rebellion a few years back and caught their support set when The Hives marauded around Shit Island recently with Bad Nerves in tow and they raised their game and kept The Hives on their toes night after night it would seem.
The last live 10″ wet the appetite for what was brewing in the Nerves camp and boom tour finished and record number two was announced. From the much-anticipated blast off Bad Nerves aren’t fucking about here. Time is of the essence and life is for the living so when you get the atomic blast of ‘Don’t Stop quickly followed by ‘Antidote’ you barely have time to catch your breath and I like it – No I love it!
Turn the speakers up because this isn’t for the faint-hearted and it’s rapid. ‘USA’ is a fuckin belter catchy like an STI and just as sleazy and dirty as Rock n Roll should be. The Bass rumble and thrashing guitars of ‘You Got The Nerve’ is exhilarating, sure, they are indeed the torchbearers of honest Punk Rock like The Ramones and they have the pop suss of that first Strokes album but these aren’t merely the bastard children of a Ramones/Strokes broken home, Bad Nerves are snotty like the Dead Boys and cool like Blondie they do play ferociously fast distorted pop songs and I hope they do know it.
We need another band to break through playing guitars, Bass And Drums just like Dee Dee and Stiv did It would appear that maybe the stars and planets have aligned to birth the next big thing
Suburban have a diamond in the palm of their hand and with the right promotion, these Essex boys can blast off to big things. When they take a breather they channel their inner Bolan Boogie on ‘Sorry’ its got a dreamy T Rex quality about it and it wreaks of pop suss.
I get the Ramones and Jay Reatard influences and I can see why The likes of Billy Joe are on board and why The Hives wanted them to tour together and having listened to this album over and over I can also hear why these boys have a big future. It’s music to get your pulse racing and your heart pumping ten to the dozen. ‘Television’ is thunderous whilst ‘Jimmy ThePunk’ is hoping like a cat on a hot tin roof with a wicked lick and Bassline. There are twelve potential singles on here I kid you not. ‘You Should Know By Now’ is simply fantastic and buried deep into the album is like a sleeping giant. Tight and melodic it just soars. Closing the record with the fantastic and punchy ‘The Kids Will Never Have Tier Say’ is excellent rolling on a rapid strong melody its a classic upbeat uptempo album closer – it’s like rockets and fireworks going off left right and centre in celebration of a fantastic album.
I love it when an album you are holding out for arrives and delivers everything you wanted and some. Well, ‘Still Nervous’ is one of those albums. Quite simply don’t fuck about just order it! Superb stuff!
It’s only May, yet it’s hard to keep count of the great albums released this year. As one of my favourite bands is King Salami, it’s no surprise that the debut from Martin Savage And The Jiggerz is up my street, featuring as it does the rhythm section of The Cumberland Three. The energy levels are similar, but this is twelve slices of barbed, garage rock.
‘Between The Lines’ races out of the starting blocks, like early Brian James. ‘On The Run’ doesn’t let up, veering close to the edge of the fretboard, complete with handclaps and police sirens. This, along with ‘Out Of This World’ is reminiscent of the great Larry Wallis, so, if that’s your bag, dive in. It sounds like the album was recorded in a day, a compliment in my opinion. “In, out, put the kettle on” as Monkfish used to say. And, indeed, much like ‘The Fast Show’, there’s no superfluous stuff here; fast, sharp, short songs that fly past.
‘Next In Line’ boogies at a now-expected frantic speed, and it’s on to ‘Eyes Of A Blind Man’ with no time to spare and some wailing harmonica. Put simply, if you like one song, you’ll like them all. ‘Fly By Night’ wouldn’t shame Johnny Thunders. Uncle Dom and I were saying only the other day that very few bands manage to pull off the ‘L.A.M.F’ sound convincingly, but this is an exception.
Single ‘Down The Line’ is slightly more laid back, before ‘Fast And Loose’ is exactly that. ‘On The Corner’ gives Wild Billy Childish a run for his money, and ‘Boomerang’ will hit you in the head.
What more do you want? If infectious, raucous garage rock is your thing, get your preorder in now.
A sold-out Cab in Newport on a Good Friday Bank Holiday seemed like the only place to be as the South Wales punk rock community welcomed Port Talbot neerdowells to the stage for their Newport baptism on this most holy of days as they proceeded to entertain the gathered congregation to the ways of the steel towns finest exponents of what has been best described as pub punk. For the next thirty-plus minutes the band stormed through their repertoire of zero fucks punks rock at an impressive speed. The mostly uninitiated seemed to very much appreciate the music being doled out by these young guns who’ve just recorded their debut album of working-class punk anthems. Ending the set with their party anthem ‘Beer & Gear’ most definitely made everything alright. The Shunkos don’t take themselves too seriously but their music is honest and they do it very well indeed and are a ray of sunshine on any bill. Sadly several of the bands pulled out of the originally advertised show meaning next up were South West punks Split Dogs.
Split Dogs made the short hop across the border to perform their uncompromising street punk and they wasted no time in delivering their blunt yet really enjoyable set kicking off with the stylish ‘Why Does It Hurt’. Split Dogs are the go-to band along this stretch of the M4 and it’s easy to see why. They get on with the job and play uncompromising punk rock – it’s no-nonsense but they do it with a cheeky smile whilst chomping at the bit and snarling like a rabid dog. Songs like ‘Prison Bitch and ‘Lafayette’ land solidly on your jaw and in Harry they have the frontwoman to captivate as she covers every inch of the stage like a fireball, leading the band through their brutal set. Is it hot in here or am I having some sort of episode? Such is the intensity of Split Dogs performance tonight the place is a sweaty den of noise. The band finishing off with an intimidating ‘Tears of a Clown’ which seemed on point and there was no way they could top that – Job done. Another day another really enjoyable set from the impressive Split Dogs.
Headlines Riskee & The Ridicule take no time at all hitting the tight stage of The Cab and get on with the job of following two worthy support bands as they rise to the challenge and pump out the title track of their latest album of Grime meets Street punk ‘Platinum Statue’ and with a half decent sound things get messy as frontman Scott oozes passion and a love for his job of leading the band through what amounts to four albums worth of honest impressive punk rock. Scott engages with the appreciative audience as the pit gets off right from the opening title track of that fourth album. I reviewed Body Bag many moons ago it would seem and have caught sets from the band when they went out with The Bar Stool Preachers as well as sets at Rebellion Festival. After warming up (not that the venue needed warming up) the band hit their stride when they blitzed out ‘Molotov Cocktail’ the excellent ‘Kaboom’ and a splendid rendition of Lana Del Rays ‘Young And Beautiful’ before closing with a fantastic ‘Our Time’.
No bullshit, No encore, No fucking about it was turn up get on with business, do it to the best of your ability and get the fuck out of dodge and tonight Riskee And The Ridicule certainly delivered another excellent set. Top night of punk rock from three quite different bands all doing their music proud and all with new records either just out or on the way, Proving punk rock is alive and well and in safe hands. Also cool venues like The Cab being the perfect venue for nights like this. I love nights like this and I love punk rock – long live the underground! The only complaint would be no ‘Blue Jacket’ not being in the set but hey ho you can’t have everything. Next time yeah?
“Last House” is the third album from Sacramento’s Th’ Losin Streaks. Recorded in their backyard at Louder Studios in Grass Valley, California, with Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, Fucking Champs) in the control room. Green also leant a hand on some finely placed keys as did Anton Barbeau – a friend of the band since their inception.
A proper band, with members – Tim Foster, Stan Tindall, Mike Farrell, and Brian Machado – co-contributing to the songwriting, as well as The Weeds classic ‘It’s Your Time’ making its way onto the record. they even got Bay Area legend Al Sobrente to shoot the cover picture. It’s groovy garage rock baby from the opening hoot of ‘I Mean You’ through the reverb hack and slash of the cover It is authentic and really well presented. It might be 2024 but sometimes you need the authentic analogue reverb and warmth to pull this Garage Rock n Roll off.
When asked the band said ‘Last House’ was about shaking it til you make it. It’s about EKO, Silvertone and Supro, Vox (Super Continental), and the Hohner Marine Band. It’s about 2” tape. It’s about the plague, and politics, and war or the hands of time. It’s about the ice cream man after the apocalypse. It’s a trans-world punk rave-up. It’s about Link Wray, The Sonics, and the Downliners Sect. It’s about The Rolling Stones covering Sam Cooke. That pretty much sums up exactly what they deliver, they absolutely nail it. For some Chelsea boot winkle pickin’ Rickenbacker riffin, they just get it and pull it off.
‘Last House On The Block’ is a super cool laid-back tambourine shakin slice of groovy time and it makes me smile when I hear it done so well. These cats are totally invested and you can feel it as much as you can hear it on tracks like ‘The Slink’ Man, this is oozing authenticity, and it’s an instrumental and do I need to remind you what I think of songs with no vocals? (what’s happening to me?)
you certainly get a lot of bang for your buck on this one with a full fifteen tracks squeezed into the grooves on this record. ‘Cake And Ice Cream Too’ is my pick of the pops with its cool lyrics and rhythm jerking back and forth before its sugar-sweet chorus and wild guitar lick. ‘Rue de Montrail’ is one winkle picker in the Cavern of the 60s whilst the other is Stradlin the early 76 snot of punk in the 100 club or roxy but it pulls you all over the place with that dirty honkin’ harmonica stealing the show from the guitar riff – excellent stuff.
There is time to chill with some good time acoustic strumming on ‘For A While’ easing you out of this time-warping record. With just ‘Mangalore’ to pull off into the sunset with the soft top down and head for the beach it is time to crack open another beer as the sun goes down – adios baby its rock n roll and I like it – a lot!
GagBags are a London/New York project made from the twisted minds of members of the Gaggers and Trash Bags. This debut 12” delivers 6 slabs of ‘77 era punk from the bowels of New York City and London Town that is dripping with snot & bile.
I can’t imagine there would have been many takes of these songs in the studio it would have been a case of – is this mic on? 1-2-3-4 Go! The vocals are in the Stiv meets early GG bag whilst the razor-sharp fretwork of the guitars is suitably abrasive and distorted. There’s no time to fuck about nor warm up its wham bang thank you, mam. They’re coming out of the speakers swinging and with a middle finger in the air for anyone expecting some niceties or soft edges this shit is jagged and dangerous just as punk rock was meant to be.
It’s the Travis Bickle Taxi ride through 1970s LES and the groove and bite of Victorian London with the dirt and grit. From the off ‘Nowhere New York’ captures the excitement of The Gaggers when they kicked off with the guitar riff prowling round the speakers looking for trouble The handclaps add a little Glitter and Glam around the wall of guitars and howling lick. Cool stuff. More of the same as ‘She’s Got’ has a dash of Toilet Boys to proceedings and I like that.
With only six songs on offer there isn’t time for any filler and ‘Creeping Around’ does just that. Like being hit repeatedly over the head with a bat it’s got attitude galore. ‘Downtown Marauder’ has a hint of The Doll’s swagger as it hunkers down in your brain. the guitar lick /solo whatever you want to call it is simple and a lot of fun as you curl your lip like William Broad used to from the subway train and Bass thump its a banger. The penultimate stop on this little jaunt is ‘Judging Eyes’ and it would fit right in with the likes of Ravagers who are cut from the same cloth.
One last hurrah sees the rapid snotty ‘Rules Of Disorder’ that’s dripping with old school back street punk rock and that’s a joy to hear in 2024 there aren’t near enough rock n rollin’ punks making music like this. All power to the Gagbags and fingers crossed for more of this in the near future, Please. Buy It!
Punk rockers latest long player might have dropped a coupple of weeks before 2023 fizzled out but its worth catching up early 2024. Housed in these here twelve tracks of angry (no shit) political (really?) but throughly enjoyable punk rock. The record gets off to a flyer and you don’t need to have a lyric sheet to get the blunt trouma force of ‘The Gammon Riots’. Now I know there are people out there who say you shouldn’t mix politics with Sport or politics with music or politics with friendships but politics is everything everywhere it impacts us all and some people are isolated and insular and closed off selfish people who don’t give two fucks about the wider society and think that it should be all about me myself and I but it didn’t take three minutes to hear that Angry Itch and myself are on the same page politically and by the sound of it we both like some hard hitting punk rock thats to the point and blunt as being smashed in the face by a coppers old wooden batton. Giving it to the tories on ‘Gammon Riots’ is a nice touch and as unapologetic as it is I’m sure the real snowflakes on the right will find it tough to swallow that some oiks from the wrong side of town could record such a thing. Fuck em they don’t like it up em but I like this opener its smashed it and got my attention from the off.
The topics covered are similar throughout and working class street punk is the name of the game with a bit of a more subtle folk edge thrown into the mix to break it up. ‘Beaten To Death’ has a wicked bass line that has got its Doc martin on your jugular whilst the guitar bites like a dog.
Theres a bit of Rancid in here as well and whats not to like about that? Straight down the line punk is their MO and why not it works and the album is most palatable as one song body slams into the next. I’m ok with the tempo being similar as the record unfolds thats who they are theres no point mashing up styles for the sake of it and they’d lose any authenticity if they tried hard to vary it up.
You get some big hard riffs like ‘Echo Chamber’ thats go ta bit of an old school glam stomp in there for good measure (when I say Glam I mean Slade of course). ‘Easily Offended’ is not a million miles from Dirtbox Disco melody wise but it also reminds me of some Bad Religion style US punk. ‘Its Not Right’ is like your conceince tapping you on the shoulder reminding you of some realities happing outside your front door and the garden isn’t all rosey. ‘Too Drunk To Die’ wipes the Steve Jones sweat off its brow on the opening lick before kicking back like a Roger Miret And The Disasters number which is a good place to be if you ask me.
Its not all darkness kids these punks aren’t all Anger and volume they ease up on the final track ‘Happy’ with its open chords before the inevitable snare roll and off like a rocket into oblivion and we’re done. An album I knew I was going to enjoy for simply being what it is unpretentious, in your face polical punk rock and all power to them they do it so well. Angry Itch deliver the goods and kick it like it is. Good on em and keep on keeping on. Punk as fuck!
The undisputed kings of swampy wild n wreckless garage rock n roll from New Zealand are in da house motherfuckers and they’ve brought a brand spanking new long player with them. ‘Ca$h 4 Scrap’ is everything you want it to be and some. It’s not all crash bang wallop (well, Almost) but I wouldn’t suggest for one minute that these four reprobates have lost any of that spark nor would I suggest old age is slowing them down. Songs like ‘Leather Boys’ is more a groovin slice of junk rock done in the best sleaziest way.
Start your record as you mean to go on. ‘Children Of The Dead’ rattles off with the band’s usual vim and vigour with plenty of Thrashing around. A sharp intake of breath and ‘Without You’ is climbing over broken glass to get heard. With a party kicks off in the speakers as Paul Caveman takes a drag from the 40 a day no filter smokes and gurgles neat whisky and broken glass as the boogie rages in support.
Hold onto your strides mates because these cats are grooving hard on the growling ‘Night Of The Demon’ where you can all join in on the chorus. It’s ‘Night Of The Demon’ x3 but clear your throat first this one needs some oomph.
‘Booze Ciggies n Drugs’ might be the thrasher up next but it might just be the band’s shopping list whilst they remember the essentials. Rapid, punk n roll at its dirtiest but finest. Get in the pit and start barking
y’ bastards.
I love the sleazy glam punk of ‘Isn’t Remember Your Name’ It’s trashy and beautiful with a melody knocked off from Los Pepes. Side One takes a kicking on ‘Personal WWIII’. Closing off with ‘Drug Man’ is a case of singing what you know being the mantra. So why not, with the sleazy solo and Iggy piano tonk it’s a beauty. That’s seven tracks in, about ten minutes of crash, bang, wallop! And closing off with a song almost three minutes long is decadent as fuck almost mature proto-prog.
If this was played out in a live setting you’d just have witnessed one of the best shows for ages so get a refill and flip this bad boy over. ‘Hanging Up’ has just done a bump in the toilet and the band comes out swinging complete with Groovy handicaps. Now that’s what I call music. ‘One Leg and a Waterbed’ has some trippy organ squealing throughout behind its fantastic lyrics. And as you head towards the end you realise the Cavemen have bashed you over the head with their club called rock n roll it feels great.
If only all albums sounded this good. Fuck the sound levels, the production, the tightness this is rock n fuckin roll baby and it sounds fantastic. Rough n raw, wild n reckless, and I fucking love it. Go get some Caveman Rock n Fuckin Roll its the way to start off 2024. Buy it!
Legendary punk band Cock Sparrer announce their eighth studio album Hand On Heart, alongside shows in London and Glasgow
Widely considered to be one of the most influential street punk bands in history, Cock Sparrer have been a constant on the circuit since 1972. They can name an enviable list of punk rock royalty who have covered their songs, from the likes of Rancid, Against Me! and The Interrupters to The Aggrolites, Bouncing Souls, Agnostic Front, Grade 2 and Dropkick Murphys.
Back with their latest (and most likely last) studio album, Hand On Heart is their strongest statement yet. Their first since 2017’s Forever, it’s an album full of their trademark anthemic sound; hooks, singalong melodies and strong mob chorus’ are present in abundance and key tracks like With My Hand On My Heart, Rags To Riches, I Belong To You and Here We Stand stands out as some of their finest material to date. That’s not to say there aren’t a few surprises for old and new fans alike. On My Forgotten Dream, string arranger Simon Dobson (Bring Me The Horizon, Mike Oldfield) has added something truly unique that will excite fans.
The band will be the first to admit that the studio budget in the past has usually been spent down the pub, but with Hand On Heart they acquired the production services of James Bragg (BC Camplight, Martin Barre) who worked alongside guitarist Daryl Smith. Also on board was Grammy award winning 2022 UK Mastering Engineer of the year, Kevin Tuffy to do the final mastering.
Cock Sparrer is still the same four guys who started playing punk music 52 years ago – Colin McFaull (vocals), Mick Beaufoy (guitar), Steve Burgess (bass) and Steve Bruce (drums); alongside their new guitarist Daryl Smith, who has been in the band for a mere 31 years! They celebratedtheir 50th anniversary in 2022 with two sold out shows at Camden’s Roundhouse, and 2024 includes a year of headline festival shows booked to celebrate the launch of the album. The shows include the world’s premier Punk Festival Rebellion, Mighty Sounds in Czech Republic and Hellfest in France where they’ll play alongside Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. However, it’s their club shows that show the strength of loyalty and love that their fans have, and to celebrate they’replaying two UK launch shows in London and Glasgow:
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – Saturday 6th April 2024
O2 Academy Glasgow – Saturday 13th April 2024
Hand On Heart is available on 180gsm black vinyl, limited edition colour vinyl with unique artwork, picture disc vinyl, hardback book CD edition and strictly limited-edition cassette.
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