You can forget about your boot boy Glam of Guida or any other pretenders who think they have their finger on the pulse of ’70s glam rock vibe because there can be only one at the top of the pile and quite frankly that’s Gyasi. From the opening intro and lyric come the wise words “if you can’t hide it hang bells on it, Baby!” Hell yeah! we’re off.
With a trashy tempo ‘Colourful’ is up and running. The title track is up next with its big strumming acoustic guitar holding the rhythm along with handclaps and some sweet organ toots its glam alright like when the 60s turned into the 70s and it was all about the music. Excellent stuff.
As the record goes from a fruity early Joe Perry like riff or the Zep inspired ‘Young Love’ to the out and out glam of ‘Tongue Tied’ the band kick back and mix up some classic Lower East Side rock and roll al a Lou Reed stylings on ‘Blackstrap’ its got some lush horns and matching riff which makes for an interesting and enjoyable cocktail for sure.
To be fair this album has ten really good tunes it might not necessarily make album of the year it is full of solid rock and roll songs that are well written and well played and borrow bits and pieces from the good and the great from a bygone era – given a dust down and remodeled with extra feathers is always going to go down well around here. I do like what they bring on ‘Bring Your Love’ mixing up the acoustic and electric guitars and summoning the spirit of prime time Robert Plant draws on some classic trippy rock as well. ‘Nightcrawl’ has a cool organ rasping away on the intro like John Lord in platforms and feathers with a nice line in nail polish and listening to classic Iggy Pop when he went to Berlin for inspiration.
Saving the best until the end ‘Kiss Kiss’ is a piano tonkin’ sax blowing romp that the Dolls would have been proud of and ‘Little Tramp’ is sitting crossed legged with only ‘Hunky Dory’ for companionship atop of a mountain. great record go pick it up glam slammers.
Born Mark Feld on 30 September 1947 at Hackney Hospital, the son of Phyllis Winifred (née Atkins) and Simeon Feld, a lorry driver. Was inspired to get into Rock and Roll by the likes of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry.
Before becoming Marc Bolan he had the stage name Toby Tyler when he met and moved in with child actor Allan Warren. He signed to Decca Records in August 1965. At this point his name changed to Marc Bolan via Marc Bowland. There are several accounts of why Bolan was chosen, including that it was derived from James Bolam, a contraction of Bob Dylan, and – according to Bolan himself, that Decca Records chose the name.
He recorded his debut single “The Wizard”,with session musicians playing all the instruments. “The Wizard”, Bolan’s first single, was released on 19 November 1965. It featured Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan
Whilst Marc was alive he recorded and released twelve studio albums Made a film ‘Born To Boogie’ and a tv series. He was there at the birth of punk and was happy to take The Damned out on tour with him. When people think of Glam rock and I mean real Glam rock, not the insipid tripe that came in the ’80s I mean real flamboyant Glam Rocks with great songs by the bucket load and Album after Album that shaped the ’70s and became a staple of TOTP and had kids fainting all around the UK at the sight of his flowing curls and glitter eye shadow.
In ’71 he released ‘Electric Warrior’ that spawned ‘Jeepster’ and ‘Get It On’. The band consisted of Mickey Finn, Steve Currie and Bill Legend. It was followed up a year later with the awesome ‘The Slider’ that spawned the hits ‘Metal Guru’ and ‘Telegram Sam’ then to complete the Hattrick the band released ‘Tanx’ but the biggest hit was ’20th Century Boy’ which didn’t make the album and was recorded in Japan whilst on tour.
Bolan recorded a further six albums before driving his Mini 1275GT driven by Gloria Jones as the pair headed home from Mortons drinking club and restaurant in Berkeley Square. After crossing a small humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, southwest London, the car struck a fence post and then a tree. Bolan was killed instantly, while Jones suffered a broken arm and broken jaw. There is a memorial where the crash happened where fans leave all sorts of notes, flowers and messages. Bolan was survived by a son Rolan Bolan who recently recorded a video for 20th Century Boy Which we featured last week at RPM.
T rex as well as releasing some Twelve awesome albums also managed to knock out a paltry Twenty Nine singles From ‘Deborah’ in ’68 to a posthumous release of ’20th Century Boy’ that reached number 13. 71 to 73 was the purple patch with no less than four number-one singles inc ‘Hot Love’, Three number twos and several top-fives. T Rex and Bolan really were at the top of their game with chart success second none. Still an influence on bands and songwriters today Bolan will always be a legend and he might well be gone but he’s most certainly not forgotten.
The third video from ‘beauty re-envisioned’. This NEW version of the T. REX classic features the late Marc Bolan’s son, Rolan Bolan on lead vocals along with The Mission UK’s main-man Wayne Hussey.
Rolan Bolan: lead vocals
Wayne Hussey: guitar and harmony vocals
Michael Ciravolo: guitar, vocals
Tish Ciravolo: bass
Michael Rozon: drums
Scarlett Perry: piano
LA-based collective Beauty in Chaos presents their new single ’20th Century Boy’ feat. Rolan Bolan and Wayne Hussey, with a fun-filled retro-inspired video, created by Industrialism Films and directed by Vicente Cordero. Here Bolan onoring the legacy of his father Marc Bolan, along with The Mission’s main-man and Beauty in Chaos mastermind Michael Ciravolo.
This track is off the new Beauty in Chaos album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’. This rendition definitely sounds more like T.Rex than the industrial-fueled version featuring Ministry’s Al Jourgensen that appears on Beauty In Chaos’s debut ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’.
“Once Rolan (son of Marc Bolan and singer Gloria Jones) agreed to be part of this, I wanted to recut the track with much more of the sultry swagger from the original. We added a growly sax and some cool Mott the Hoople meets New Orleans honkey-tonk piano to enhance the vibe we wanted. I probably would not be playing electric guitar if it was not for Marc Bolan. This is my big thank you … and I have been blessed to be able to enlist some great company to help me say it,” says Michael Ciravolo.
“Getting to record and perform this song with Marc’s son and Wayne Hussey is one of those oft-mentioned surreal moments in BIC.”
Rolan Bolan explains his involvement in the project: “When Michael came to me about Beauty In Chaos and doing ‘20th Century Boy’ , I first thought ‘here we go again, another T. Rex cover, but once I heard the track and talked with him about the love and respect he has for my father’s music it just made sense. It was great timing for me as I was just beginning to get back into making music and we just clicked in the studio. My Dad was so influential to so many, and at times it’s been hard for me to understand what that really means. I’m really proud of what we’ve done here and I believe he would be too.”
“It is, of course, a huge pleasure to be playing guitar and singing on ‘20th Century Boy’, one of Marc Bolan’s best-known songs. And a transcendent honour to be doing so behind Rolan Bolan, Marc’s son. When Michael Ciravolo told me that Rolan was going to be involved I virtually begged Michael to let me be involved in this project. Bless him, despite being more than capable of handling all the guitar parts himself Michael did deign to let me have a strum, and a yodel, along. There’s another one off my bucket list! Cheers, Michael. And Rolan,” says Wayne Hussey.
Hussey’s love for T. Rex and Marc Bolan runs deep, as detailed in his recently released ‘Salad Daze’ autobiography, out now via Omnibus Press.
“I was reborn. It was a Thursday evening, early January 1972, getting on for 8pm. I was 13 going on 14 years old. That evening the course of my life was changed irrevocably forever. I saw my destiny in a blinding flash of glitter, a touch of mascara and dark curls. From that moment I knew I was pre-ordained. I was gonna be a rock star. Well, somebody has to be, don’t they, so why not me?
I had just watched Marc Bolan and T. Rex dazzle the nation on the institutional British TV show, Top Of The Pops. Miming to ‘Telegram Sam’, the new number one single in the charts, Bolan pranced and preened across our TV screens and straight into the hearts of teens, dividing the generations for perhaps the first time since The Beatles had done so almost ten years before.
That was it for me. In one fell swoop I no longer wanted to be Kevin Keegan, I wanted to be Marc Bolan. Bolan had better hair than Keegan and was far prettier. It looked like a really good job to me, playing guitar and singing, being on TV and being screamed at by girls. And even some boys. And a darn sight more agreeable and easier than all the dedication, training and physical exercise required to become a professional footballer.
Switching allegiances as easy as finding sand in a desert, down came my posters of Keegan, Ray Clemence, Tommy Smith (!) et al and up went centre page pull-outs from Jackie and Disco 45 of dear beloved Marc. Marc Bolan was my first and, still to this day, an enduring love.
I was T. Rex crazy and, like a million other kids, I would pose in front of the mirror with a tennis racket, pretending to play guitar while singing along to Bolan. The first LP I ever bought was Electric Warrior, maybe a month or two later after saving up enough money from my paper round wages. Electric Warrior is a fantastic album and it’s still high on my list of best albums ever. I love the earthiness of its sound, the funkiness, the otherworldly mystical lyrics, the simplicity of the songs, the instrumentation, the guitar playing, the backing vocals of Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (better known as The Turtles), but most of all, it’s that voice, that extraordinarily fey, quivering, tactile Bolan voice that just oozes sexual exuberance.”
Beauty in Chaos’ also involves numerous other music luminaries, including Simon Gallup (The Cure), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), producer Tim Palmer, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).
‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ is available on deluxe CD, limited-edition heavy-weight colored vinyl, and digitally, with a Spotifyversion to appear later. CDs and vinyl can be ordered directly from Beauty in Chaos at www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store. Apart from the 14 core tracks, orders placed via the website also come with 11 bonus remixes.
One of the best debut albums I’ve heard in quite some time happens to be ‘Out Of My Head’ it’s jam-packed with influences ranging from the good to the greats and the passion and energy poured into every groove of the LP is evident to the listener. I tapped Matt up for an interview with RPM and he was happy to oblige. If you’re lucky enough to have the band roll into a town near you I suggest you cancel whatever it is you’re doing and get down to the Rock and Roll show. But hey check em out then support them and Dead Beat Records because we need more bands like this making music on labels like that. So lets cut the crap and get down to the chatter that mattered Ladies and Gents boys and girls Matt from Poison Boys…
When did the band form and let us know a little about where you grew up and what inspired you guys to pick up an instrument and play Rock and Roll?
I grew up right outside of Chicago in Northwest Indiana, about 1 minute from the border of Illinois. Been obsessed with rock n roll since I was a kid. Me and my friend Mike Lippman had been playing in punk bands together since we were young teenagers and finally decided we wanted to start a rock n roll band. I played drums throughout those years but wanted to play guitar if it was a rnr band so started figuring out Ramones songs and went from there.
Can you remember what the first songs you wrote as a band was?
Mike and I collaborated on nearly all of the early songs, he’d write riffs or I would, and I’d write vocals and he’d help me with the lines sometimes. First ones we wrote were Been Here All Night, Out of My Head, Cut Right Out, Bad Mouth, Without You and a couple of others. Unfortunately, Mike passed away before we could complete a lot of other songs which I ended up finishing later like Headed for Disaster, Got to Tease, and Up to the Sky among others. We always wanted it to be a well rounded rock n roll group, not just one specific sound the whole record or anything. But not to stray too far outside of the rock n roll spectrum.
You’ve released a couple of singles before the album came along with the first two being on the excellent UK label no front teeth. How did that come about? How did a label out of London pick up some guys in Chicago? Is the line up stable now? your almost in Spinal Tap territory for past members already
I found out about No Front Teeth from reading a PORK magazine and either seeing an NFT ad or a record review with NFT as the label it was released on. Just emailed Marco and he was super down to help us get our first (and second) 7″ out. Really I could not find any snotty punk labels in the states at all. Even now I only know of like 2 or 3 and that’s it. And if they aren’t interested or are too busy or whatever you turn to labels elsewhere that’s all.
As for the lineup… When people don’t wanna play rock n roll anymore or move out of state what do you do? The band hasn’t been around long enough to make much of an impression with anyone lineup, hasn’t had an LP or anything out prior to now so it didn’t matter to me. Granted I don’t exactly enjoy having members flake out or whatever but it is what it is. We’ve had a pretty solid lineup for about a year and a half or so with Matt “Chainz/the Chainblaster” Chaney on drums and Steve “Stevsie/Stevie Poison” Elfinger on bass at home/guitar on the road, and touring members Nico Bones on bass and Julius Lange on guitar. It’s been pretty killer getting to know and hang with all of them.
The first single was back in 2016 then ’17 then you got White Zoo to release the last one last year. Had you already signed up to dead beat to do the album by then? How come you switched for the album?
Dead Beat came about through me asking them earlier this year if they’d be interested in releasing the LP. They were very stoked especially after hearing the record, so we just had to finish up art and final mastering for it and it was a go. The 7″s were released on the other side of the pond, we were just looking for somewhere closer to get the records released by and knew Dead Beat had put out records by some of our favorite newer rock n roll bands.
Is there a chance of a European release for the record? What about touring Europe and the UK?
We’d love for it to be released by a European label! Haven’t heard anything about that yet but time will tell I suppose. We plan to set up a European tour for hopefully next year.
As far as the album goes I was really pleased to hear plenty of influences in there and some choice covers. Obviously, I have to ask why those covers? (apart from them being great songs)
Well, I was listening to a Beatles singles comp called ‘Past Masters’ and heard a banging rocker called ‘Slow Down’. Knew it had to be a cover and found out Larry Williams was the original and sounded killer!! I figured we could pull it off and should give it a go. It delivers well live so we figured it’d be a good way to help open up the album and add more bitchin’ piano to it which we love big time. As for the Dead Boys cover… that one’s always been relatable to me and it fits with our style really well I think. It’s, of course, a tribute to them and our influences getting into punk at an early age.
I love the album and think it’s one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in an age and the attitude in the songs is superb – really authentic sounding. Is there a plan to tour then record some more? are you someone who writes all the time?
Thanks man I really appreciate it. We worked hard on these songs and it’s good to finally let them have their day. Really nice to hear that people like them. We’re leaving for our “Out of My Head” East Coast/Canada Tour 2019 this week and beginning recording for our 2nd LP this week as well. Plenty still on the horizon for the Poison Boys. I write all the time even if it’s just little pieces and put them together as I go. Show ’em to the guys and get opinions and we work em out from there.
How has the reception been at the live shows? How would you describe the scene over there in Chicago? is there much of an appetite for real rock and roll?
The live shows are killer and what we love the most. People seem to love it too and get down to our set so that’s cool. I think people need this type of rock n roll but just aren’t getting it much from bands these days. Not a lot of people go to rock n roll shows around here anymore unless it’s the Stones or KISS or something. A lot of bands around here either play washed out reverb’d out psychedelic shit or shoegaze or grunge or a mixture of all that. There’s like 3 bands in Chicago that don’t do that. As with many bands, the reception on the road is way greater than at home.
There seem to be pockets of superb music coming out of America right now – any chance you cats hooking u with bands like Wyldlife, Ravagers and The Sweet Things and stealing over here for a package tour? Are there any bands you hear about currently tickling your fancy so to speak?
We generally like touring alone but are open to whatever if the situation’s right. One of our first shows ever was in Indianapolis in 2014 opening for Wyldlife. Alex from Ravagers does a lot of our artwork and we have a gig with our boys the Sweet Things coming up at Coney Island Baby in Manhattan in a couple weeks, Friday 8/02. Yeah favorite bands going on right now in the states are mostly in California, like Black Mambas, the Crazy Squeeze, the Flytraps, Dr. Boogie (although they just broke up), and also bands like Terry and Louie, our boys Jonesy from Montreal, the Rubs, our buds Big Blood from out here, stuff like that. And of course the Sweet Things out in NY. There’s a good amount of rock n roll going on elsewhere and I think it’s growing thankfully.
Listening to the album I hear some obvious inspirations from the likes of Dead Boys, Thunders, then I hear classic Stones and Faces – you guys have some of the swagger that made early Guns N Roses shine (tear Me Apart) and I love the confidence of songs like ‘Up To The Sky’ but you can also mix it up like Hanoi Rocks on songs like ‘Desperado’ it opens up options for you to go in any direction what’s on in the van currently? What are you listening to?
We listen to old protopunk shit like Berlin Brats, Hollywood Brats, Razor Boys, Nervous Eaters, Rockpile, Flamin Groovies, Stooges, all that. A lot of Johnny Thunders and Dolls stuff of course, their solo stuff right after the Dolls broke up too. Hanoi Rocks, Dogs D’Amour. But also stuff like the Nuggets comps and other more obscure comps like the Bonehead Crunchers comps and shit like that. A ton of old punk bands like Menace, the Only Ones, Teenage Head, the Saints, Chelsea, Testors, Slaughter and the Dogs, Gen X… Then Mott the Hoople for 24 hours straight, Lou Reed, Kiss, T Rex, Motorhead, the Faces, Stones. All the goods all the time. Oh yeah and the RAMONES.
If there is anything you guys need to get off your chests here’s your chance. Anything you’d like to add?
Come see us on tour!!! Buy merch, support rock n roll and keep us on the road. If you play rock n roll start a band get a shitty van and a mechanic friend and go tour. Keep this shit alive and growing and spread the love not shit talk and hate. We’re too small of a scene to be separated all the time by trivial cool guy bullshit and life’s too short to waste energy tearing each other down. It ain’t like the old days, we all know that… Rock n roll is so unimportant to modern society and we’re all we have left. We’re all in this together. Be inclusive there’s no room for hate against each other.
The brainchild of Human Drama/Gene Loves Jezebel guitarist Michael Ciravolo, Beauty In Chaos is a goth-tastic supergroup project that brings together legendary names from the likes of The Mission, The Cure, Gene Loves Jezebel, Cheap Trick and Ministry to contribute on their debut album ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’.
Influenced by the like of My Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins and Lush, the LA-based guitar slinger hooked up his delay and reverb pedals joined forces with Ministry producer Michael Rozon and set about creating soundscapes rich in gothic goodness. Then enlisted the help of various musical acquaintances, such as Michael Aston, Wayne Hussey and Al Jourgensen, to add their own unique talents.
Opener ‘Road To Rosario’ sets the scene. With Michael Aston taking lead vocals, it unsurprisingly comes on like a lost Gene loves Jezebel cut as haunting, effect-ridden guitars weave in and out between a pounding bass line and lush distinctive vocals. A crisp production job ensures no sound goes unnoticed as guitars and vocals build in unison to create a killer opener.
Up next, ‘The Storm’ is the first of a trio of tracks to feature The Awakening main man Ashton Nyte on vocals. Atmospheric and emotive old school Goth, just the way we like it, baby! Later on, he opens his dark soul on the nomadic, Eastern tinged ‘Bloodless & Fragile’ and the moody closing title track. These tracks would not sound out of place on The Crow soundtrack.
Al Jourgensen lends his dulcet tones to an industrial tinged take on T Rex’s ‘20th Century Boy’ and pulls it off with ease, while the unmistakable vocals of The Mission main man Wayne Hussey are perfect for ‘The Long Goodbye’ and the simply enthralling ‘Man Of Faith’ (also featuring the talents of The Cure bassist Simon Gallup), possibly the stand out tune of the day for me.
Human Drama vocalist Johnny Indovina adds ethereal Bowie textures to ‘Memory Of Love’ and Ville Valo romanticism to ‘Beauty Lies Within’.
There’s a couple of unexpected diamonds in amongst the black ashes that permeate this collection of dark, gothic goodness. Namely, the power pop of ‘Drifting Away’, featuring an on form Robin Zander and top backing vocals courtesy of a certain Michael Anthony amongst others. Then Dug Pinnick and Ice T pump up the volume to industrial levels for ‘Un-Natural Disaster’, a song that retains the de-tuned, grungy feel of King’s X, while the spoken word rap of Ice T takes things down a darker street.
Collaborative musical projects run the risk of losing direction and focus, but Ciravolo takes the signature sound of each vocalist and adds his own textures to create an outstanding work of art that is both dark and cinematic and flows as a complete album.
‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’ is an album that celebrates the alternative late 80’s and puts a modern, edgy twist on a genre that has a place in the dark hearts of rockers, ravers and lovers the world over.
Every now and then I vanish down one of those wormholes on this here internet and several hours later with my ears ringing, I’m several pounds lighter as paypals til is ringing due to places like Bandcamp where I’ve happened upon some band or other. Well, I’ll be honest The Dahmers name raised an eyebrow and then another once I heard the first three bars of ‘Down In The Basement’ it was obvious to me that this was a band I had to contact and hear the rest of this brand new album.
These cats aren’t from The northern states of America or some sickos from California or Noo Ywk their from the sleepy town of Bromölla, Sweden. Ah, it makes sense now, of course, their from Scandinavia. There is a spooky vibe as album opener ‘Blood On My Hands’ is like a Gatling gun firing off in all directions at a rapid pace with a sound not a million miles from The Hives with a frantic 12 bar riff and great hook. This is a fine opener and as the song breaks down and the drums sound like an out of control Keith Moon I’m already sold. Third album? fuck me where have I been hiding? I feel embarrassed as ‘Murder Ride’ kicks my backside from the opening lick we’re off like Hanoi Rocks going out of control these punks have really got it going on.
With eighteen songs on the album, they have a sackful of energy and hooks aplenty. It’s catchy as hell, on ‘Street of The Dead’ it’s like an unheard T Rex number that’s got a modern edge upgrade and it’s so damn good I’m loving it. Drunken sing-a-long choruses and with a real raw Rock ‘n’ Roll bite. There isn’t anything new here but they’ve obviously found that secret formula and I congratulate them on that. Either that or they sold their souls to a snake oil salesman in exchange for some magic Rock ‘n’ Roll beans that need to be nurtured in the sweat of another five kids from backwater nowheresville who just want a good time and are happy selling some vital organs to get there.
I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite song because there’s so many there are enough tracks here for two albums let alone one and songs like the frantic piano tonking ‘The Ripper’ just sound so fresh. I mentioned earlier that there is Hanoi vibe happening maybe ‘self-destruction Blues’ era and when the band mix up the melodies and backing vocals on ‘Howling’ its a simple formula but damn it’s so good.
They touch on early Hellacopters flair on ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ and who wouldn’t be down with that? The sax on ‘Creepiest Crawl’ is inspired as is the breakdown. Pulling these spooktacular tunes together from recordings over the last two years sounds inspired. The backbeat of the pop-tinged ‘Man Obsessed’ shows that they have variety with its almost 60’s jangly guitar is the sound of a band who haven’t got boundaries and if it sounds good for them then it’s going in and it’s not just crash bang wallop (although they do that really nicely too). ‘November’ could certainly be a Bolan inspired strum. and they even end the album with a late 70’s early 80’s horror flick synth spookout and that makes me smile. The Dahmers are my new favourite band and I can’t get enough. Is there still time to write to Santa to send me all their records? I’ve been a bad bad boy and totally deserve their records and I suggest you click the link and join me.
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