First up is the first single off the excellent Pardon Us. ‘Undertow’ sees the band release their lockdown social distanced video for the first track off their ‘Seamless’ album due out towards the end of August.
Another band we a loving here at HQ is Indonesian Junk who also have a new album ‘A Life Of Crime’ out on Rum bar records
Finally, we bring you Stay Voiceless who also have a new record ‘Lies To Tell Your Children’ and the review of said record will be online this week
If you suddenly have the desire to collect The Hip Priests 7 inchers, just forget it already! That’s tantamount to saying you are gonna start collecting Star Wars figures or Kiss merchandise…there’s just too damn many, they’re too expensive and you won’t find ‘em all! But lucky for you, those fuckin’ boys have saved you the trouble and gathered together the lost gems, the hard to find cuts and the curios for all The Hip Priest fanboys and fangals to salivate over.
Yes, if you are a fully-fledged member of the Spasm Gang or even just a casual fan, (ie you don’t wear black denim every fuckin’ day!) then you probably already own the comprehensive double album ‘A Decade Of Disdain’. An album that brought together the best of The Hip Priests singles released over 2 pretty coloured records. And if you don’t, then give yourself a slap and get it sorted before we have words!
Well, ‘Solid Gold Easy Option’ is The Hip Priests strike back! 17 hard to find tracks from singles and EPs released between 2017-2019. That’s 6 cover versions bastardised by the band, sandwiched between 11 glorious original jams previously unavailable to mere mortals until now.
If quality, high octane garage rock is your thing, if you dig sonically seductive sounds delivered with more filth and fury than a Johnny Depp/Amber Heard weekend bender, then ‘Solid Gold Easy Option’ is right up your street. The dirty, the clean and the truly obscene rub sweaty shoulders and bloody knuckles in a defiant “fuck you!” to society, with no hint of socially distancing going on.
The epic ‘No Time (Like Right Now)’ is present and correct. Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, it’s their punk rock masterpiece, channelling the power of the MC5 with the horns and suss of Rocket From The Crypt, while they rant a diatribe about political skulduggery and post Brexit fuckery. It’s a punk rock anthem for right now. The other 3 tracks from that EP are present and correct, but the punk and belligerent ‘All My Rowdy Friends Are Dead’ and album closer ‘I’m Too Good’ seems to pale in comparison to the overly cool ‘She’s A Queen’. It sounds like Ian Astbury jamming with The Hellacopters, with one finger piano stabs, overly fuzzy guitars and vocals delivered straight from the crotch. It could be my favourite Hip Priests song right now.
Covers-wise, the likes of Motorhead’s ‘The Hammer’ and Demons ‘ Hot Running Blood’ are perfect Hip Priests fodder and stay pretty true to the originals. The Stooges ‘Loose’ is suitably ramshackle, sped up and delivered with guts and glory. Saxon’s ‘Play It Loud’ follows the same path and sounds epic. It’s only Adam & The Ants classic ‘Press Darlings’ that doesn’t really benefit from the Hip Priests rough n’ ready, punk rock treatment for me.
Just because this is a b sides compilation, it doesn’t mean the quality has to suffer. ‘Nihilist Twist’ is a brutal, chanting 2 minute assault on the senses. ‘Dead By Sunday’ literally out ‘copters The Hellacopters and ‘I’m In Exile’ is all killer no filler. Wah-wah infused guitars fight with power chords as newest recruit Gentle Ben fills the right speaker and Austin the left, or is it the other way round? Who knows! But what I do know is the twin guitar attack sounds mighty.
27 singles, 3 EPs and 4 albums since their inception in 2007. It’s true to say that ‘Solid Gold Easy Option’ is more than just a stop-gap collection of odds and sods to keep their fanbase happy until album number 5 drops later this year. This is a quality collection of songs from shit island’s best-kept secret, and any self-respecting punk rock junkie should have it in their collection. The only trouble is do you choose green or blue vinyl?
Buy ‘Solid Gold Easy Option’ Here
Author: Ben Hughes
So Who the heck are Mother Vulture?
Bristol based four piece Mother Vulture have been making a name for themselves in the pits and dives of the South West music scene with their incendiary live shows over the past couple of years. In packed, claustrophobic venues, music fans watch jaws agape, as they witness guitarist Brodie Maguire and bassist Chris Simpson jerk about the stage like some invisible demon is prodding them with a red hot poker. Centre stage is a diminutive whirlwind of corkscrew hair, armed with just a microphone and the biggest voice this side of Mike Patton or even Rob Halford in his prime. I say centre stage, but take your eyes off him and Georgi Valentine is gone. Into the crowd, on his back on the dance floor singing his lungs out while his bandmates seemingly defy gravity, making a cacophony of noise as intense and brutal as anything you could wish for.
This is the world of Mother Vulture. But all this is inconsequential right now, as Coronavirus has put pay to this band taking off in 2020. So what does a band like Mother Vulture do while they await the go-ahead for their return to live-action? They only go and release a live album on an unsuspecting world!
Recorded live at Rockfield Studios in Wales, ‘Doing It Live’ comprises 10 tracks of high octane, rock ‘n’ roll music that captures the chaos and intensity of a Mother Vulture live show.
The singles are present and correct. Album opener ‘Tell Me’, ’Mr Jones’ and latest release ‘Fame Or Shame’ are all delivered with the confidence and bravado of seasoned pros. The musical chops of Rage Against The Machine, the bluesy howl of Wolfmother and the raw, punk intensity of The Stooges combine to create a glorious musical orgasm that leaves you longing to witness them in the flesh.
The between-song banter serves as a reminder that this album was cut in one take, live in the studio. Shit, this band is tighter than a duck’s arse! Tribal beats and big guitars are the order of the day in ‘Habits Die Hard’, Brodie’s inner Ron Asheton comes to the surface as cool lick follows cool lick. The playing is confident, the rhythm section of bassist Chris and powerhouse drummer Matt West deliver with precision throughout. Larger than life beats, a crackle of distortion and feedback lead off ‘Big Teeth’ before retro riffage and screamo vocals take it to another place entirely. In ‘Bleeding Feet Blues’ they take the genre and turn it upside-down. Not so much a blues lament, as a ‘rip your head off and shit down your neck’ kinda vibe!
Epic closer ‘Objectify’ shows a depth and maturity to a band greater than their years. Finger-picked guitar chords and haunting vocals lead the listener into a false sense of security before the band kick in with a wall of distortion and soaring vocals to make your ears bleed one final time before the (virtual) record stops spinning.
‘Doing It Live’ is not Mother Vulture’s debut album, they’ve not even got around to recording that yet! This is their career-defining live album, they just decided to release it before their career has been defined!
You want a reminder of the intensity of a hot and sweaty club show? You want a snapshot of a young, crazy and talented new band that are hungry to get back at it? Well, what are you waiting for? Hit the link and order this record. But be quick as there are just 100 copies up for grabs. You snooze, you lose, mofos!
Buy ‘Doing It Live’ Here
Hailing from Oxfordshire and Berkshire, the Suicide Notes ooze gutter-trash rock n’ roll. With low-slung buzzsaw guitars and raw nicotine-soaked vocals, they play rock ‘n’ roll with a swagger. The illegitimate sons of punk and sleaze, conceived on a bed of red wine, cigarettes, and back-alley attitude, in their ranks they featuring ex-Black Bullets vocalist Billy Tee and signed up with a management company in 2019 like most things it sort of ground to a halt with the Covid-19 Virus but they did manage to sneak out the very popular Acoustic EP before everything was locked down. But they’d already banked the Electric EP and with the UK currently unlocking humans from the pandemic its time for The Suicide Notes to get back to business and let the world know what they have to offer. 
How did the band come together?So we did, we wrote a bunch of Suicide notes disguised as songs. It’s the only way I tend to write. I’ve spent a long time-fighting depressions and mental health issues, all of the band do, mine was brought on by long term substance abuse. I’ve been clean two years but I’m still one step from falling off the wagon, I can bloody taste it still, but things are looking good I’m keeping my head down and concentrating on the music and my art anyway …
Recordings so far?
We released our first single ‘Smoke It Like A Cigarette’ for our acoustic four-track EP, ‘Pleasures Of Despair’ (Acoustic Demo’s Vol One) then we released the full EP as our debut (like you mentioned already) We then went into the studio and recorded a full almost live electric set.
Post-Pandemic Plans?
We’ve written a bunch of new tracks while in lockdown, Alex and I throwing stuff at each other via the wondernet. The plan is to pretty much start from scratch again, literally, we’d only managed four gigs before the whole ‘shithouse went up in flames’ but we had a solid year of festival appearances booked, so hopefully we can get back on the horse in 2021, record an acoustic E.P vol 2 from the new songs and try and find our feet and hopefully we ( all the bands and promoters and venues ) all find some kind of normal again.
As the bells chime on the dark ‘Black Dog Howlin’ it sleazy alright. it’s right in that pocket of early LA Guns sleaze but without the American polish this is genuine Sleaze with attitude from the rolling dirty riff to the chorus where the gang joins Billy Tee for the call back its good stuff. A well-timed guitar solo fits right in the pocket as the three minutes fly by which is exactly as it should be. Not for a second does it outstay it’s welcome and like a donkey punch you know its happened.Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Author: Dom Daley
Armed with a venomous swagger The Heat Inc. release their debut single ‘Raptors’, a caustic slice of vitriolic rock’n’roll through Melted Dino Records.
Here we have the second outing from The Blinders, definitely one of the brighter stars of the modern day Post Punk revival. ‘Fantasies Of The he Stay At Home Psychopath’, the follow up to the fantastic 2018 debut ‘Columbia’.
buy ‘Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psycopath’ Here
Riskee and The Ridicule honour New York singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey with their own unique take on her hit ‘Young And Beautiful’.
Not a band you can second guess, unpredictable Kent punks Riskee and The Ridicule follow-up their first lockdown release in May, the seething anger of the Brexit-baiting single ‘Blue Jacket’, with their own respectful take on New York pop singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey’s award-winning 2013 smash-hit, ‘Young And Beautiful’. This, however, is no guilty pleasure for the band, who are longtime fans of Lana’s work.
“Lana Del Rey is one of pop music’s best storytellers,” states frontman Scott Picking. “There’s something about her music that is so intense and descriptive that it’s movie-like and in these times of being locked down, that type of escapism has been a personal paradise. In choosing this song, I knew I could bring something different vocally and musically, we were excited about changing the song dynamically while staying true to the emotiveness of the original.”
Despite being isolated from each other at the time, Riskee and The Ridicule were able to create a video for ‘Young And Beautiful’ by recording their individual parts at home, allowing their former bassist David Thomas to collate them together with footage from one of the bands early hometown gigs.
“The video feels like a nod to both our early days as a band, just us and our own motivation, as well as where we are all at in this unique moment, one that we’re not likely to be in again any time soon (hopefully). ‘Young And Beautiful’ is a song I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” confesses Scott.
2019 was an amazing year for the band and saw the highly anticipated release of their third album ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ well received by both fans and critics alike, with their sets at Rebellion and Boomtown proving to be real highlights of 2019
Body Bag Your Scene was written and recorded at breakneck speed, a reflection of its reactionary nature to the daily uncertainty projected upon us. Taking aim at the powers that be (“Our Time”), sexual exploitation (“Sex”) and the barrage of contradictory news (“Black, White & Grey”) it’s a record that holds a mirror to the world with simultaneously acerbic and humorous analysis.
Growing up in Kent, Riskee and The Ridicule have always been a staple of the UK DIY scene, but their fervent attitude and unique “Grime-Punk” rallied troops of dedicated fans across the world. Musically, the band meld their genre-spanning influences with their intent to challenge preconceptions. On the surface they may appear easy to read, when in fact Scott Picking (Vocals), Jimbo Aglony (Guitars, Vocals), Jordan Mann (Guitars, Vocals) and Matt Verrell (Drums, Vocals) are a gang of progressive punks who form a powerhouse of change. Full of fierce energy, the Kent quartet have motives resting among The Clash with relentless streams of wit, literacy, and observational accuracy akin to The Smiths and a background in the UK Grime scene.
There is much more to come. You can be sure that Riskee and The Ridicule will be back onstage as soon as the world allows.
Buy ‘Young And Beautiful’ Here
Find Riskee and The Ridicule online at: Bomber Music / Band Website / Facebook / Twitter
Its been a while. No doubt about it.
This is the Eleventh studio album from Pretenders and I can honestly say I’ve not felt a real buzz off one of their records coming out since the second one came out way back in 1981 almost forty years ago! Gulp. sure they’ve hit paydirt in the pop charts since but they’ve not really dished out a record bristling with top tunes, until now that is. Damn, On the second single off the album ‘The Buzz’ shes even managed to recreate the vibe of ‘Kid’ on that guitar break. It appears that the past might have been embraced and maybe explored in order to strip back those past forty years to create ‘Hate For Sale’ which seems an odd title because there seems to be an overwhelming “love” going on.
The other noticeable feature is a sparkling production that lets everything breathe where it needs to and the crunchy dirty bits are backstreet dirty and not polished into oblivion fake dirty.
Hyndes vocals are as good as they ever were sounding fresh and captivating and at times comforting.
In the first four tracks, you have everything that made the original line up such a great band. A roaring call to arms on the intro track and album title followed by the more pop-friendly ‘The Buzz’ Something different and maybe a little risky in ‘Lightning Man’ and the rock-solid handclap heavy ‘Turf Accountant Daddy’ then to close off side one the retro pop ballad of ‘You Can’t Hurt A Fool’ which might be the weakest on side one with its soul trappings but Hyndes vocal is exceptional and delivers a stunning performance that elevates the whole song which is anything but tokenistic.
It’s great to drop the needle onto side two and hear the power chords clash and strut on ‘I Don’t Know When To Stop’ enhanced with some great gob iron blowing and a bowery staggering solo. Then to bump straight into ‘Maybe Love Is In NYC’ which makes a great dive bar buddie maybe not as strong but great to hear those guitars being rinsed with passion and some attack.
Chrissie Hynde might well have found her Mojo and really delivered a great record. there isn’t one weak track on offer and whilst side two might lack the variety that you have on the opening few songs they are immensely enjoyable like the punky hand jive of ‘Don’t Want To Be This Lonely’. To be fair the piano balladeering of the albums closer ‘Crying In Public’ had to be and the strings and big chords make it listenable without becoming lush or too polished and it retains the feel of the rest of the record and has grit and charm.
Pretenders have turned back the clock and knocked out one of 202s finest records without any shadow of a doubt. It’s short, sharp and exactly the pick me up needed during this oddest of summers. Something new with an old feel that’s comforting and downright bloody entertaining. ‘Hate For Sale’? Yes please.
Buy ‘Hate For Sale’ Here
Author: Dom Daley
Since their 2018 masterpiece ‘Here Come…’ Tommy and the gang have been knocking out their impressive Hooligan pop. I like that, I like that a lot and I like Tommy & The Commies a lot as well and they play Hooligan pop for sure, its a perfect genre for their sound and captures what it is they do to a tee.
‘Hurtin’ 4 Certain’ is their time capsule to the global lockdown and kicks the shit outta any blues one might have for normal life being put into quarantine for the time being. The opening track whilst the inevitable comparisons to Buzzcocks and The Jam ring out and so they should there is a real vintage Undertones clang happening here as well. It’s like Tommy has slipped on some magical snorkel jacket and in the pocket there’s a magical mixtape to those that paved the way back in the ’70s & ’80s. but if you’re going to start your EP off with intent then ‘Hurtin 4 Certain’ is a bloody barnstormer.
‘Impulse Action’ is a snotty pogo with a chorus you want to punch the air too and lace up your martins and turn up the volume this is a blast. From the Gatlin gun guitar chords being churned out the gang vocals are easy to remember and a lot of fun. ‘Power On Standby’ has a bit of a mod vibe about it imagine walking into a house party in Brighton in the ’60s and these goons are holding court in the backroom and ‘Power On Standby’ is churning the room as sweaty bodies cut loose. Great stuff! This EP is shaking off any cobwebs or misery a pandemic can leave after three months.
Finally taking this bad boy home is the juddering riffola of ‘One Arch Town’ and I’m hearing early gen X going on as the song unfolds towards the chorus it’s a beautiful thing hearing a bunch of hooligans kick up a shit storm of Rock and Roll like this. sure it’s nothing new and it’s not groundbreaking but you know what? Sometimes, it’s nice to just kick out the jams motherfuckers and this hooligan pop lark has got me a buzzin’ Check em out they deserve that much at least.
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Author: Dom Daley
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