The Dirty Denims – ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ (Ghost Highway Records)

The Dirty Denims – ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ (Ghost Highway Records)

Dutch rock ‘n’ rollers The Dirty Denims follow up 2017’s ‘Back With A Bang’ by releasing their brand spankin’ new long player ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’. It sees singer/guitarist Mirjam and guitarist Jeroen joined by a couple of new, denim-clad players aka Marc on bass and Suzanne on drums.

Continuing their tradition of releasing their albums in stages, 5 tracks were released as singles over a period of 6 months, this they entitled ‘Part 1’. Now, July sees the band release their full new album on CD, download and of course lovely vinyl.

 

This Eindhoven based band has been at it for a decade now and sound-wise they follow on where The Donnas left off. The Dirty Denims combine the traditional rock ‘n’ roll sound of The Runaways, Suzy Quatro and The Sweet with a slew of AC/DC riffs thrown in for good measure.

They claim to play ‘Happy Hard Rock’ and don’t take themselves too seriously.  Lyrically, we ain’t talking ‘The Wall’ here, the likes of last year’s single ‘Last Call For Alcohol’ is a testament to that. What they do deal in is upbeat, powerhouse rock ‘n’ roll with a sound and energy that makes you want to turn the dial up a notch and party with the best of them.

With its powerhouse 80’s drums, rumbling bass and tongue-in-cheek lyricism ‘Thunder From Down Under’ tips its hat to AC/DC in more ways than one and they even throw in the riff to The Cult’s ‘Wild Flower’ for good measure. ‘Roll The Dice’ follows a similar path, with killer riffs emanating from each speaker, stabs of piano, high-powered hollerin’ and cool, gang backing vocals.

‘Turn off The Radio’ will incite you to do just that and put a damn record on! Today’s radio tunes are boring anyway, right? The Dirty Denims know that and so do you!  Here, we are in prime power pop Donnas territory. Urgent, anthemic and melodic, just the way we like it. Elsewhere, ‘Creatures Of The Night’ is not the Kiss classic, but it crunches nicely and powers through, a solid traditional 80’s rocker that stands on its own two feet.

‘Band Not a Brand’ is killer, bubblegum pop full of handclaps and organ riffs. It’s their Saturday morning kids TV theme, a  middle finger to high street stores that sell Ramones shirts to Instagram influencers who wouldn’t know ‘Road To Ruin’ if it smacked them in the face. It’s also the best and most commercial song they have released to date.

‘Messin Around’ adds cool handclaps and percussion to the sound. This mixes well with Mirjam’s high octane hollerin’ and Jeroen’s token AC/DC riffage to give 70’s footstomping glam nostalgia.

They like ‘Last Call For Alcohol’ so much they played it twice! The album closes with a ‘Hangover Version’, stripped back and laid bare with acoustics and percussion, it’s the Sunday morning hangover remedy to the Saturday night party.

 

‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ is a fun, party record that does exactly what it says on the tin. The Dirty Denims are doing nothing new, they aren’t here to change the world or preach a message in these uncertain times.  But if you want escapism, if you desire something old school to kick your ass into next week and to blast from the stereo while you hit the highway to Hell, then you could do no better than visit Eindenhoven Rock City for 40 minutes or so.

Buy ‘Ready Steady Go!’ Here

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Author: Ben Hughes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Joan Jett

Happy Birthday Joan Jett

Joan Marie Larkin better known as Joan Jett was born on this day in.1958. Parents James and Dorothy had their daughter in Pensylvania at Lankenau Hospital  Joan is the eldest of three children. Joan was fourteen when she got her first guitar then her family relocated to California and soon after moving her parents split when Joan took her mothers maiden name Jett and the legend was born after taking in Rodney Birgenheimers Disco where she was exposed to glam rock and nothing would ever be the same again.

Jett teamed up with drummer Sandy West. Jackie Fox, Lita Ford and Cherie Currie and The Runaways were born. Jett was originally the rhythm guitarist and occasional singer but took on songwriting credits the girl group got support slots with the likes of Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Tom Petty and also toured the UK and Japan where they became massive stars. The band managed to fit in five albums in their four-year reign at the second half of the ’70s.

Jett also got into punk rock in the late ’70s producing the Germs one and only album before singer Darby Crash lost his life.  the band also had one Pat Smear playing guitars who later went on to play with Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. Jett managed to team up with Cook and Jones when the Sex Pistols fell apart and managed to get them in the studio to record some classic tracks when in London with the most famous being the version of The Arrows classic ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ which would go on to become the one song Jett would be known for more than any other. after shooting an iconic video to accompany the tune.

When Jett was a solo artist she also added the band The Blackhearts who managed to recruit some class players in the line up over the years but the original included, Gary Ryan (Bass), Ricky Byrd on Lead Guitar, and Lee Crystal on drums. One Track from the early years that has seen itself pop up over the years in loads of films is ‘Bad Reputation’ which appeared on that debut solo album along with the classic ‘You Don’t Own Me’ that also features the Pistols Cook & Jones. It was a record that showed many sides to Jett and what she was capable of performing. the album missed out on entering the Billboard top 50 by one place but it was indeed a start.

 

hot on the heels was the album ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ whilst it never managed to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Charts it has managed an impressive ten million copies sold in its life. it did however spawn the singles ‘Crimson And Clover’ that hit the top ten and Jett had her first number one with the Arrows track that carried the same title as the album.  Jett is known for being happy to put a cover song on her records but this album was 50/50 original songs. Later Jett would pen and produce a lot of her records.

Jett still makes records and released ‘unvarnished’ in 2013 that was co-produced by Foo Fighter Dave Grohl who also co-wrote.  Also, it’s notable that Jett wrote and co-wrote nine of the ten tracks on the record. this time sneaking in the top 50 as well is no mean feat for a rock record. It was also Jetts first album since 2006s ‘Sinner’ and prior to that was the Japanese only album ‘Naked’ which also featured RPM favourite Sami Yaffa on Bass guitar.  Of the sixteen tracks Jett penned thirteen – one was a cover of the Replacements ‘Androgynous’ from their ‘Let It Be’ album.

Jett’s has her own model guitar which is a white Gibson Melody Maker, which she has played on everything since 1977. In 2008 Gibson released the “Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker”. which is some reward for being such an icon, not something Gibson hands out to just anyone. Jett is also happy to talk about animal welfares and is a big supporter of PETA, as she has been a vegetarian for over twenty years and is a supporter of environmental issues.  Still making music and touring Jett continues to play with a biography and an excellent documentary being released last year (entitled ‘Bad Reputation’), as well as continued interest in The Runaways her legacy, will forever be passed down through time as a real pioneer for women in Rock and judged for her music and not who or what she is Joan Jettalong with Debbie Harry are rightfully regarded as legends and all Joan Jett needs now is one of those flunko statues and my work here is done.  Put another (Joan Jett) record on the jukebox baby and raise a glass as we wish Joan Jett a happy birthday and here’s to another year and who knows maybe another album? That would be good.

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At The Movies – Joan Jett Bad Reputation (Dogwoof)

At The Movies – Joan Jett Bad Reputation (Dogwoof)

So everyone loves Joan Jett right? Of course they do, what’s not to like? With a reputation that seems to grow on a daily basis, Joan Jett has endured several musical climate changes and still remained cool, respected by her peers and adored by her fans.  It seemed only a matter of time that a film in her honor would be made so ‘Dogwoof’ decided to take it upon themselves to carry that torch and just get it done in a shade over ninety minutes her life is there for all to see on the silver screen or in your living room as is now the case.

So popcorn at the ready dim the lights and let’s turn on and tune out its time for ‘Bad Reputation’…Some big hitting talking heads as we go back to day one with Jett. Back in the ’70s when Jett started The Runaways I guess u blokes won’t have a clue what it would have been like for an all-girl group it must have been twice as hard and must have taken some resolve just to survive let alone thrive but Jett comes across as single-minded and driven and then punk came to town and was a real game-changer for lots of reasons.  I loved seeing the footage of early Blackhearts gigs and hearing the news from the band which was very cool. Even Joan Jett got twenty-two rejection letters from record companies even at that time they didn’t do it for the money they just wanted to get a record out there. It seemed like an industry that was and possibly still is obsessed with sexuality and Jett has had to fight against that all her career.  Some of those interviews and their banal line of questions seem so out of step today and they should have been then as well.  Footage of the early JJ&TBH playing on Sunset Strip is so raw and in your face.

Releasing their own records and selling out through reputation and just being good at what they do is such an inspiration even now it gives you goosebumps.and the iconic video for I Love Rock N Roll and the look was inspirational and it seemed like all of a sudden the stars aligned and the band took off.  Great moments in Rock N Roll history and all of a sudden it seemed the world had forgotten she was the frontwoman and kudos was beginning to be shown. Maybe the UK wasn’t so obsessed with what sex a singer was as much as it seemed to matter in the States and Jett took hold on this island with the likes of Bowie jumping up on stage and being taken seriously by the radio and music fans alike.  I think the movie captures this for sure and having the likes of Billie Joe, Iggy and Dave Grohl all having a say shows the huge respect she has from her peers in the industry.

I also forgot Jett tried her hand at acting I guess ultimately shes as punk as it gets from starting a rock n roll band to starting her own label to acting she did what was true to herself and was honest and comes across as sincere and a loyal ally but ultimately she will be remembered for being a rock and roller, not a bird in a Rock n Roll band or some chic with a guitar.  The movie does tell her story in 90 minutes even if it was a lot to tell shes had some amazing musicians around her her whole career and that’s no accident either it might not be the most incredible or outrageous rock n roll story but it is certainly one worth telling and makes great TV.  The only downside is the lack of extras and I guess these days it would have been easy to tag on a rare live show or one from her own archive or complete videography, bloopers who knows just a little more bang for your buck I guess.  Fans will watch it and just get it and non-fans can kiss my ass Joan Jett is da bomb and one thing I know for sure is ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ just like Joan does.

Author:Dom Daley

Buy Bad Reputation Here