OK, kids let’s go for a ride. Strap yourselves in and wear your glad rags oh and bring a bottle. Twelve tracks of pure garage punk rock 100% proof. Highly inflammable and intoxicating. ‘Johnny’ is first up and as the tune sets the tone it creepy crawls into your ear and away we go.
‘Dallas Texas’ is like one of those bull rides in a pub in Benidorm as the music gets louder you spin around and around out of control but having the best of times and you don’t know why but as the beat gets faster and louder you’re enjoying it more. Hold on to your chaps because ‘Motorbike’ is a snare-rolling motherfucker over a scratched overdriven guitar and a howling good time. Like taking a load of drugs and trying to maintain dignity and appear sane and sober but inside you’re dancing like a crazy fucker and Thee Headshrinkers are making you do that.
The music twists and turns down dark alleys and all without the aid of a safety bat. ‘Derivative’ is exactly what it says on the tin. With a dank echoing guitar lick that is not second-hand but bought and sold over and over but tied into a Cramps echo and deadpan vocal it’s a real buzz and the solo is mesmerizing.
At times this Rock n Roll lark is a simple beast that just requires you to follow your heart and go baby go. Thats what Thee Headshrinkers do. I love the grunt and bottom end of that bass chug and the guitars are just overdriven six strings with a little effect whilst the drummer is fighting to keep up the tempo and sounding like any minute he could keel over but doesn’t.
Let some good-time Proto Punk – Garage punk rock n roll into your life and loosen your strides and cut loose because records like this can set you free and restore your faith in Rock n Roll. It’s loose baby and it’s all about the songs and how good they can make you feel – even in shitty times.
The single ‘Sunday Driver’ is a total banger. At times the vocal reminds me of a more with it Mark E Smith which isn’t a bad thing at all. But don’t think that Sunday Driver is an outlier there are plenty of twists and turns here that are equally as banging. Now can I go and see these live and in a small sweaty dry ice filled dive bar I promise to bring my own skimask. There’s even a song entitled ‘Mutha Fucka With A Chainsaw’ which is nice. In fact Iggy should get these on the bill next summer for Ally Pally I’m sure they’ll pick him up and drive him around old London town it’ll be a perfect match. Buy It!
Keeping it short and sweet. This month’s singles club is made up of a broad church of entries from raging Glam Rock to some Synth pop and the usual mix of Garage fuzz n hard rockin, one thing is for sure the digital pool of entries is never boring and we like to think we know a top tune or two so have this half dozen for starters…
Gyasi – ‘Sweet Thing’ (Alive Records) Unapologetic 70s Glam stomper from Gyasi. What a thumping beat it is too. Just the way a single should sound in 2024. Teetering around in stack heels and with a Bowie-soaked chorus it’s memorable and easy to sing along to. I expect big things from the new album when it drops and shall be shouting it out from the rooftops (or RPM HQ at least) Feb 2025 write it in your diaries kids and use your best lipstick.
Head Noise – ‘I Was A Teenage Video Nasty’ (Self Release) The brand new single ‘I Was A Teenage Video Nasty’ came out on 31st October (Obvs)! A love letter to the banned BBFC video nasty movies of the 70s/ 80s, also with b-side ‘80% Proof Apparition’ a song about people in the early 20th Century, holding seances at parties but only seeing ghosts because they are so hammered. It’s a synth throbbing slice of 80s synth scuzz but don’t be fooled by the quaint keys or gang vocals its a sleazy old school to rival SSS (or Sigue sigue Sputnk if you didn’t know) To coincide with the new single they will be releasing a LIMITED run of 7” singles on white vinyl with a special b-movie cover, inserts and label. Some bands do things properly and Head Noise certainly do that loud through a pumping PA this is the mutts nuttz.
The Briefs – ‘High Society’ (TKO Records) Been doing this for a quarter of a century The Briefs are elite top-tier punk rockers. That’s it folks in a nutshell they write banging tunes and they have the energy and suss to never put a foot wrong. Imagine that kids being that fuckin good well, that’s the Briefs. High Society is rapid with barking guitar solos and uber cool riffs and another perfect single. Released to coincide with a support tour it’s three awesome tunes. But if you think the A side or lead track is good wait til you hear ‘You Can Move Me’ in all its swaggering sleazy glory. Power Pop Punk n roll is the sound and these cats have got a tonne of swing to go with it. The final track is a rough mix of Ramones mid-paced punk rock, ‘I Gotta Go’ is cool as fuck and I hope it’s the precursor for the following long player because ‘Platinum Rats’ was awesome and the next is gonna be just as good. Buy It!
Chuck Norris Experiment – ‘The Knife’ (Self Release) The latest single release from the 2024 THE CHUCK NORRIS EXPERIMENT album “20”. The album version has this old-school almost trash metal-sounding acoustic intro but this edit comes straight in with the riff before breaking out old school with guitar noodling exploding everywhere. The band stay true to their wall of noise with big Riffs everywhere and a sonic overload CNE keep rotating the wheel not reinventing it but managing to sound fresh on every record. A top tune from a top album.
Thee Headshrinkers – ‘Sunday Driver’ (Property Of The Lost records) Buckle up kids this odd bod trio are about to head out on a garage rock scuzz outing and you’re invited along for the ride. from the album ‘Head Cheese’ this is a swaggering slab of Garage rock fuzziness with a heap of The Fall to boot it shifts through the gears very nicely and hits the breaks hard just to mess with your head. Get involved kids it’s a banger folks and the album is due in a few short weeks as well.
Gene Champagne – ‘Rock N Roll Boy’ (Rumbar Records) Sounding like a cross between ‘end-of-the-century’ Ramones and classic Boys this is an end-of-summer banger. Lifted from the album ‘Let’s Jet’ it’s got plenty of authentic swagger and a retro-tastic backbeat. Get on board boys n grrrls it’s happening. With a name like that, we raise a glass to his success and excess without his unteens this kinda tune always makes me happy.
Thee Headshrinkers (Shrink Ray Records) slap on some reverb and hit those cymbals Thee Headshrinkers are here to ‘Save Your Life’ with a groovy lick on the guitar and a song that indeed lies somewhere between Mark E Smith fronting The Cramps and poison ivy joining The Fall and just rocking out without a care in the world. To flip this bad boy over you get more of the same with ‘Head On’ sounding like it was recorded by Ron, Scott, and the Iggster, and even they were too fucked up to remember where they left the tapes. Excellent songs and a great vibe coming out of thee Headshrinkers I particularly like ‘Head On’ they should tour with Thee Hypnotics when COVID fucks off they’d be a lot of fun methinks. get it Here
WARRIOR SOUL – ‘Elected‘ (Livewire/Cargo Records), the track is taken from their covers album called ‘Cocaine and Other Good Stuff‘, out in November ‘Elected’ is the first peek into the album and to be fair to Kory who is no stranger to a cover after tackling some quality songs previously taking on the ‘Coop is a no brainer. Maybe bludgeoning down the smoother edges of the original Warrior Soul have left in those cool horns and knocked out a very decent ‘Elected’ to be fair. Kory turns in a very tidy vocal as well to be fair. If you want to hear it before you pick up your copy of the album stream it here
Zodiac Panthers – ‘Black Leather Heart’ (Bandcamp) Cheeky artwork to accompany a gloriously bubblegum Poppin slab of loud, fun punk rock n roll. Zodiac Panther sounds like Turbonegro when they were kings of everything sleazy and garage punk rock. But there’s a healthy dose of Ramones going on as well but these cats have got it going on and if there is an album heading our way that pulls together this along with the Hexray Vision stuff then they are onto a winner and its something we would need to hear otherwise what’s the point this stuff could very well be the magic potion that fights off this pandemic. Rock and Roll baby and we fuckin’ like it!
Teen Creeps – ‘Seeing Shapes’ (Pias) Harking back to a sound that filled every student uni certainly in America with the likes of Dinosaur Jr or Buffalo Tom with a healthy dose of mid-period Lemonheads thrown in for good measure. Teen Creeps have absorbed the lot and gone down the Teenage Fanclub route of writing a decent song with what they have and ‘Seeing Shapes’ is what spilt out in the studio. this is the first single from the album ‘Forever’ that’s set for an early 2021 release and if this is the benchmark then I’ll be having some of that along with many others. top tune. Facebook
Mad Caddies – ‘House on Fire’ (FAT WRECK CHORDS) 25 years and still standing this Californian band had some big plans for this year (Pre Pandemic) it’s not all bad though because the band were able to work on this EP (their first new music in six years) and finally they finished recording and got the damn thing released. Opening track is a gentle commercial number. The band refers to it as punk rock turned ska and that’s about the size of it. With one eye on the commercial success, they’ve hit a winning formula and the band’s horn section run riot here ‘Waiting For the Real Thing’ is pure pop. I think they’ll be adding a whole heap more to their half a million sales with this. In these dark times, it’s a little ray of sunshine for sure.
J. Graves – ‘Deathbed’ (Illumin Records) Call me lazy call me what you like but J Graves reminded me of PJ Harvey. Certainly on first play but there’s more to this than sounding like someone else because ‘Deathbed’ is a gutsy introduction from the repetitive guitar lick to the guttural howls on the chorus to the trashy drum beat its got something and I like it.
Portlands Jessa Graves has the talent and the post-punk rattle of ‘Time Travel’ has a real vibrant DIY feel to it and the X-Factor of it being a bloody good song. ‘Lo The Morning’ is the third offering and proving that the first two are no flunk. wrapping up the EP is ‘331’. interesting, experimental and above all good. pick it up here at Bandcamp
GILBY CLARKE ‘Tightwad’ (Golden Robot Records) ‘Tightwad‘ is the latest single from Gilby Clarke, and the follow up to his recent singles The Gospel Truth and Rock n’ Roll Is Getting Louder. It was written around a guitar riff he wrote while trying out a new fuzz pedal. Lyrically, it was inspired by deceit, treachery and the creative extremes people will go through to get ahead. Tightwad features Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx on bass and Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction) on Drums. Facebook
KING BULL – ‘What Happened Here?’ (Riot Records) Boundless energy and guitars that are louder than everything else x 10. Nowt wrong with that for us. Canada’s King Bull has got a pocket full of catchy hard rockin’ tunes born in the ’70s and fueled by a fuzz box guitar and a bad attitude. ‘Secret Sauce’ reminds me of another tune but I can’t quite put my finger on it. This EP gets better the more you play it and the songs get better as the EP wears on ‘Dontcha Know’ is wonderfully flamboyant from the guitar lick to the vocals its a ripper. I’m only disappointed there isn’t a full-blown ballad on here but these five will keep me going as they save the best ’til last with ‘B Side Baby’ being the pick of the bunch and makes you want to punch the air in some arena wearing the silk scarf you picked up off their merch table. Thoroughly enjoyed check em out! FacebookPre-order/save What Happened Here?HERE
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