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Are You Really Reading The Sun (The First Year)
50p for 16 A6 copied pages
This is one chap giving you a brief account of his first year of studying for an English degree. It’s kinda informal and had me laughing out loud within just a few pages. I really love the caveats on the last page too. As this is only 50p I think you should take a chance on it!
Tom Brunsdon, 44 Bloomfield Avenue, Oldfield Park, Bath, BA2 3AE
Black Velvet #48
£2 for 40 glossy A4 pages
Another very impressive issue of this more mainstream (maga)zine. Bands featured include Simple Plan, Aiden, Bon Jovi (?), Thunder, MXPX. Zinester Shari is embracing the current trend for outsourcing and has got Beat Union to interview Talking Back Sunday! That bloke from SugarCult has written another column too. One thing that bugs me (only a little bit) is that the reviews are alphabetical, and if I’m having to scrape around to find a critisim that crap then it should give an idea of the quality of this zine!
www.blackvelvetmagazine.com
Shari,336 Birchfield Road,Webheath,Redditch,Worcs,B97 4NG
Bubblegum Slut #22
£1 for 64 A5 printed pages
How on earth can they make this and sell it for just a quid! There’s a glossy nice cover with a furry heart on the front, literally. The content in this issue is a bit more mainstream than usual, including Lacuna Coil (aren’t they just everywhere at the mo), TV Smith, B-Movie Heroes, Dead Kitty clothing and ‘kin loads of others. The interviews and reviews are all interesting reading, what can I say, it’s a great zine! Tiptree is no longer famous just for jam.
www.bubblegumslutfanzine.1hwy.com
Alison B, 27 Stores Lane, Tiptree, Essex, CO7 0LH
Cascade #3
50p for 4 A4 copied pages
Eee gads she’s at it again, and this time she’s taking close up photos! Zinesters Caz and debs are probably the only people that will look forward to incontinence in old age! This zine is full of poems, musings and fantasies based around letting a yellow one rip then ahem ‘pleasing’ ones self. I read something a while ago where a London Underground seat was taken into a lab for examination, and they found (amongst many other things like Jiz) that the average seat contains around 5% human urine, now I’m sure that’s Caz’s handywork! Admittedly a lot of this zine made me curl my nose up and made me feel a little queasy, but not in any way that makes me think less of Caz and Debs, more in that kinda way you cringe when you see someone on a train pick their nose, speaking of which (and following on from last issue’s cinema warning) make sure you never sit in a train seat after Caz has been there! This zine is worth getting just to see a total and utterly unique slice of life, and I’ve been to Wivenhoe and I’m not surprised these two have to make their own fun!
Caroline, 54 The Avenue, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9AH
Debunk #3
£1 for 44 A5 footprinted pages
Hell he’s catching me up! If you’ve never read Debunk before it’s without a doubt Beat Motel’s sister zine. It’s amazing how many people know zinester Mafro thanks to his unique(?) selling method, he gets loaded then sets about asking everything with a pulse if they want to buy a copy! In fact I’ve got vauge recollections of Mafro being so persuasive that he was having a chat with a litter bin on Brighton seafront and it bought a copy! Well okay obviously that never happened but it gives you an idea! This issue is a another massive leap forward for Debunk and has a sort of supernatural theme to proceedings (hence ya man Mafro on the cover). There are some excellent rants in here, one of my faves being the top ten worst things about being a promoter, man I really empathised with that! As with every copy of Debunk there’s at least one column that I can’t tell if it’s for real or not, I think it’s probably funny along similar lines to Brass Eye, you’ll know the column I mean WHEN you buy this zine.
www.debunkzine.co.uk
Mafro,3 Pippin Close,Sittingbourne,Kent,ME10 2QL
Devolution #8
£2.50 for 44 A4 printed pages
Another zine that’s closer to being a magazine and is going from strength to strength. Devolution is as much about the fashion and glamour of rock music as it is about the music itself. It makes a nice change to see a zine that admits that appearance is big part of any music scene. A lot of punks ignore the fact that (more so with crusts) if we’re not too careful we can all end up looking the same, whilst some of it may be involuntary and a way of feeling that we belong Devolution embraces it and celebrates it. Anyhew, I’ve rabbited on for long enough just buy the fuken thing!
www.devolutionmagazine.co.uk
Nickie,137A BRASENOSE ROAD,DIDCOT,OXON,OX11 7BP
Issue #22
50p for 16 A4 copied pages
Not that I even have a telly, but when I did I never found a soap opera that I felt suited me. I think I have now, in the shape of Issue Zine. It’s a Basingstoke scene zine, but calling it a ‘scene zine’ really doesn’t do it justice. The whole zine reads like a wee soap opera! I really like the style of this zine, it will make you chuckle for sure! I really like the way the dude that reviews the cds hates the band that the editor raves about earlier in this issue! In fact editor Neil has had something of an interesting past himself, in this issue he tells us about his old band Mutant Babies, it turns out they used to turn up uninvited at gigs and after first band had finished they’d simply get on stage, plug in and play unannounced and indeed unwanted! Punk as fuck or what! This issue sees the debut of a scene gallery not unlike the one you get in Riot On Your Own, it’s a great idea and I think I’m gonna pinch it for Beat Motel! Issue is fast becoming one of my favourite zines, and at just 50p you should all buy it you tight bastards.
25 Sarum Hill, Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 8SS
Issue #23
50p for 16 A4 copied pages
Bollocks, I think I’ve lost this, but it would have been good!
25 Sarum Hill, Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 8SS
Issue #24
50p for 16 A4 copied pages
Oh no I missed one! This latest ‘episode’ of Issue shows no slacking in the feverish news and gossip output and more photos at gigs than I think I’ve ever seen before! There’s tons of reviews of stuff in the ‘Amazingstoke’ area. And it could just be me, but gig goers in that part of the country seem to be a lot foxier than anywhere else! Love it.
25 Sarum Hill, Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 8SS
Last Hours #13
£2.50 for 155 glossy printed pages
WOW, is all I can say to the new look Last Hours, I’ve become a real fan of this zine and as each issue is so jam packed it takes months to read then it makes sense that it’s now bound properly with a spine, now it will stand up properly and won’t fall off the shelf above my head and surprise me with airborne punk attacks when I least expect it! This issue is a must for comic fans as it’s pretty much the theme of the entire issue. Whilst I’m fairly ambivalent towards graphic novels I do love the artwork and there’s some corkers in here, especially Jeffrey Brown and Alan Martin (tank girl bloke). Weird thing with this issue though is I’m sure there are about five drawings of Chris 12oh5, she’s even yelling down a microphone in one! There’s also a write up on the great fun that was the zine symposium, although I was hoping for a lot more coverage. Also included are the usual smart ‘how to’ pages and interviews with Noel Edmunds haters Pickled Dick, Grinders Born Dead and everyone’s favourite Icelanders Fighting Shit. There are also the results of a punk rock ’census’ that they carried out, Beat Motel came out second in the top ten zines of 2005, I actually let out an exclamation so loud all the cats ran out of the room and someone walking past my house paused and peered through my lounge window! Throw into the mix the top quality reviews and columns as this is truly a zine that everyone should own, love and keep forever. They even liked Beat Motel issue #2 so much they reviewed it twice!
www.lasthours.org.uk
Po Box 382, London, WC2R 0DZ
Maximum Rock and Roll
$4 for bloody loads of A4 printed pages
Quite simply probably the coolest zine there is, I don’t care what anyone else says. You have awesome columns that are full of opinions, you have great political articles and one of my favourite bits are the scene reports with ‘kin loads of smart photos of people fucking shit up. Even the adverts are fascinating! LOVE IT
www.maximumrocknroll.com
POB 460760,San Francisco,CA 94146-0760,USA
Noisy #3
50p for 40 A5 printed pages
Hell, this is coming along in leaps in bounds, I don’t think I’ve ever a zine develop so fast. Noisy already looks like it’s been around for years, this is one seriously well laid out zine, methinks zinester Sophie is a pro! The content is based entirely on the goings on around Essex, and there’s plenty to write about! Don’t be put off buying this if you’re not an Essex girl (or boy) as there’s plenty of other fascinating articles like the 70s/ 80s history of Essex punk as well as a catch up with the Essex Punks of today with a chat with Romford Punx.
Sophia,143 High Road,South Benfleet,Essex,SS7 5HY
Ox Fanzine #65
€4.50 for 148 colour printed pages
Okay so this zine is in German, which I didn’t pay nearly enough attention to at High School. But for some reason that doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of this fine publication! Reading about your favourite bands in another language gives you a whole new perspective on things! This issue has the first interview with NO FX that I’ve ever seen anywhere! Also included are Sick of it All, Anti-Flag, Good Clean Fun, Pelican (hurrah) and believe it or not that old cunt Gary Bushell! Stop being so fucking English and just buy this zine now.
www.ox-fanzine.de
Positive Creed #9
50p + 50p sae for 44 copied A5 pages
Have you noticed a lot of people use the word ‘random’ as a shortcut to actually describing something? Well they do round there, yoofs can be heard declaring pretty much everything as ‘random’, which is a shame as it means I can’t use it to describe Positive Creed. In fact Positive Creed is much like Beat Motel in that while it has punk leanings it covers all kinds of stuff. The fantastic amount of cut n paste images in this zine means it reads as a of a flow of conciousnes; one pair of pages takes us from David Blunkett to CP30 in just 8 moves! Definitely a zine that I always look forward to seeing the next issue of! I’ve often wondered if Steve’s name was some sort of reference to the Sea, I mean isn’t a ‘Sea Stone’ a pebble? Oh dear, what a random review.
Steve C. Stone,17a Chamley Avenue,St Thomas,Exeter,Devon,EX4 1RD
Positive Creed #10
50p + 50p sae for 46 copied A5 pages
Whenever a zine declares they have had a changeround it generally causes me to clench my buttocks and prepare for the worst, I hope the bits I loved are still present. Well Positive Creed has had a wee reshuffle and all they’ve done is tighten up the layouts a bit. There are still the many random photos of stuff like crashed cop cars, puppets and bizarrely what appear to be operation scars! A firm fave of mine in zines is interviews with other zinesters, and there’s a corker of a chat in here with Mitch from Four Minute Warning zine. I assumed Mitch was a bloke, doh! There’s also rants and all kinds of things I don’t have the space to tell you about!
Steve C. Stone,17a Chamley Avenue,St Thomas,Exeter,Devon,EX4 1RD
Punk Rock Confidential #3
£3 for 98 colour magazine pages
Another issue of the Hello magazine of the punk world. There’s been a bit of a backlash against this zine, with accusations that they are encouraging everything that is wrong with the punk world. In fact there’s no mention or discussion of music anywhere in the whole publication. However, I think these naysayers are totally missing the point. Punk Rock Confidential is far more arse than art and personally I love reading about crap tattoos, who has fallen off their bike/ skateboard and gawping at punk rock wedding photos. This zine is brainless and I love it.
Buy it from rikki@knowyourproduct.co.uk
R*E*P*E*A*T #23
£2 for 128 A4 copied pages
The biggest zine in Britain, well in weight anyway! This zine is most like the ‘Repeat Annual’ these days as it only seems to come out once a year, but considering the amazing size of it I’m not surprised! It’s a fine mix of glam-indie a la Manic Street Preachers and Dawn Parade/ Miss Black America as well as some of the most opinionated reviews I’ve ever read, and ain’t that just the best sort! It also contains a great obituary for The Waxing Captors, who were one of my all time favourite bands of all time.
www.repeatfanzine.co.uk
Rosey,PO BOX 438,Cambridge,CB4 1FX
Sad ‘Zine
£1 for 24 A5 copied pages
The great thing about zines (here I go again) is that if done well they reflect the authors personality. Sad Zine has been put together by Catherine from Mute Collective who is also a good friend of mine. So I can vouch that this zine is a an almost flawless mirror to her humour. This zine is funny, slightly surreal and irreverent, if you like the columns that Jammo occasionally writes for Beat Motel you'll love this zine. For a sample have a look at the ‘Beligerant Cat Coversation’ that I stole from this zine and placed somewhere in this issue. This zine is going in my ‘keep and cherish’ pile for sure!
Catherine,southline house,wheatley lane,binsted,alton,hants,gu34 4pg
Sweet Shop Syndicate #2
£1 for 40 A5 footprinted pages
Oh sweet shop syndicate, how do I love thee. This is probably the best non music (perzine?) zine I’ve ever seen. The personality of this zine is huge, it’s well travelled, well drunk and sometimes totally naked. The main characters Chris and Rich really do sound like the two most interesting people on earth. There’s musings on all kinds of subjects in here, in fact I’m slightly at a loss as what to write for this review, I just think you should make buying this zine a priority in your life!
23 Quarry Place, Leeds, LS6 2JT
The Computers Are Turned Off For a Reason #2
50p for 30 copied pages
I was bit worried I’d never see another copy of TCATOFAR after the last one, there’s so much attention to detail in this zine that I thought one issue might wipe zinester Will out! But he’s obviously made of sterner stuff as he’s back with another blinder! The cover this time isn’t hand drawn, and I’m not ‘kin surprised! There’s a great interview with Will’s mates The Motherfuckers and a really interesting chat with Anti-Facist historian David Renton. I also really enjoyed the brief history of Will’s musical career, hilarious stuff! Oh, and there’s an interview with me too. Get it now, but be fast as not many copies are printed.
Will Boisseau, 10 Nightingale Cresent, West Horsley, Surrey, KT246PD
Unpeeled Series 7 #4
£1? for 24 printed A5 pages
This zine describes itself as ‘exactly what the NME used to be’, but I’m not sure when it was like this. This zine reads like a bit newsletter and has a nice dose of humour, I would tell you more but I’ve run out of space so you'll have to buy it.
www.unpeeled.co.uk
102 Clifton Road,Hastings,E.Sussex,TH35 5AP
You Can’t Say No To Hope #7
£nowt for 8 A5 copied pages
No so much small as ‘consise’ this is a great zine that contains how to guides, a list of veggie beers and some smart rants. Self declared this zine is ‘like Bill Oddie on drugs listening to evil hardcore’.
71 Merlin Avenue, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 9JY
Aaron Beatup
Gratitude
CDEP—SELF RELEASED
The first time I listened to this I found it a bit middling, it didn’t
make much of an impact, not helped by the lo-fi sound quality. Then I started
to really listen to it, this is hip-hop with a very punk attitude. Yer man Aaron
seems right on the ball, and some of the sampling on here is inspired, like the
Tracey Chapman sample in the last track. There’s also some instrumentation
you don’t hear often in hip hop, like the mail voice choir in the first
track! I’ve gotta say the ‘call emergency services’ bit in
the first track really reminded me of Goldie Looking Chain, sorry Aaron!
Andrew Culture
Aflightoremember
Is There Anything?
CDLP—SELF RELEASE
This album is a melody fest of inventive lyrics and simple but
effective acoustic guitar work. There are moments of genius in
this album, a great example of this is Track 4 the superb “Monster” an
up beat track with an infectious rhythm and vocal line gradually
building to a great (albeit 3 word) hook of a chorus / outro, but
that’s all it needs. I feel that the songs are finished when
Marc believes them to be, rather than the formulaic lets put a
middle 8 there, bridge here, double chorus at the end writing style
adopted by so many bands / artists today. Other highpoints are
Track 7 “The Machinist” a melancholic emotionally charged
song, Marc’s partner Lauren White adds a joint vocal to this
track and their voices really work well together, also the Opening
/ title track “Is there anything?” has a very strong
vocal melody and some well thought out harmonies and backing vocals
by Marc himself. His voice reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins Billy
Corgan and the style is reminiscent of Saosin.
Aflightoremember is a solo project by Marc Newby, I caught aflightoremember
live recently and Marc is passionate about his songs and when on
stage believes in them totally and puts 100% into his performance,
it sometimes seems Marc gets a hard time locally and has as many
critics as fans, but all I can say to them is, This guy believes
in what he is doing , he wears his heart on his sleeve and is out
there standing up in venues all over east anglia (with just his
guitar for company ) to get himself heard and that in my opinion
takes balls the size of the Deathstar!! So what are you lot doing??
Pardon?? Oh no reply, now there’s a surprise!!
In closing if you get the opportunity buy this album then buy it
and support someone who’s doing what he wants how he wants,
keep up the good work Marc.
Big Daddy
aflightoremember
Is There Anything?
CDLP—SELF RELEASE
For awhile I’ve been waiting to get hold of this CD, about
a year has past since I saw the one Mr Marc Newby at the Vagabonds
café on Princes Street (Ipswich). After two some what mediocre
solo performers “Aflightoremember” came as a refreshing
change from the other two. With more up beat and interesting songs.
So I was very glad to finally hear the man on record and I was
not disappointed. “Is There Anything?” is a CD that
can go from anything from happy, slow and moody to some of the
best melodies you could wish to hear from performers as young as
this. The album starts of with the title track “Is There
Anything” this song starts of with powerful chords in to
a beautiful melodic vocal line. Maybe my only problem with this
track is the amount of over dubbing at the end loses a bit of the
passion of the song. This goes straight in to “The Startling
Truth…” a very epic song with some beautiful harmonies
at the end. The next song is “In Bastogne”, this song
starts with chords being finger picked it then slows down in to
the chords with a soaring vocal melody. Half way through the song
it changes to an up beat poppy section worthy of a sing along.
The next track is an out and out pop song using catchy melodies,
this song has very fast and up beat pace to it. “Wireless” is
a track that appeared on his previous E.P. and the re-working has
done the song wonders. “Stairways & x-rays” is
a bit of an odd one out when it comes to this album using a very
moody tone. The guitar work is pretty aggressive chugging out chords
to make this song work. The next song is an epic “The Machinist” is
a slow ballad featuring guest vocals from Lauren White. With moody
vocals and slow finger picked chords. The last song is the second
part of this epic piece called “The Machinist’s Hand”.
This song is almost the mirror image of “The Machinist”.
All in all this is a top quality album and defiantly worth going
out and getting hold of as he is defiantly doing something interesting
for the Ipswich acoustic scene.
www.aflightoremember.co.uk
James Robinson
Against Me!
The Energizer
CDEP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
I’m not sure if this is available to buy or not as it was
sent by a PR company rather than direct from Fat Wreck. It’s
a collection of four remixes of ‘The Energizer’ from
the new Against Me! Album, you know the track, it goes, “condiiiiiiileeeeeeeezaaaaaaaa”.
The remixes are all reasonable and all but it left me itching to
listen to the original versions again! The phased out swearing
made me chuckle though!
Andrew Culture
Agent Blue
Out With The New
CDEP—FIERCE PANDA RECORDS
(Scream PR)
The first track on this EP starts just like ‘Feelgood hit
of the summer’ by The Queens of the Stone Age, then picks
up like a really poppy version of Milloy. The vocals are like a
mix of Milloy and China Drum. In fact I could sum this EP up by
saying it all reminds me in some way of something else, but that
would be a crap review wouldn’t it…
Andrew Culture
Architects
Nightmares
CDLP—IN AT THE DEEP END RECORDS
The first track on this album gave me the horrible feeling it was
going to be yet another twiddly metal yawnfest. As the album progresses
I was proved totally and utterly wrong. Whilst this band is undeniably
metal, technical and fast there’s another element that I
can’t quite put my finger on. Riffs are lightening fast,
breaks are frequent and tight and in their lighter moments this
band is sublime. If it wasn’t for the growling vocals I’d
probably add this to my cd collection.
Andrew Culture
Atlum Schema
The Final Scene
CDLP—TASTY BURGER RECORDS
Atlum Schema is the solo project of Aphron frontman Andy Mort.
I’d never heard of Aphron so I spun this disc with no preconceptions
at all. This album kinda stumbled into a steady flow over the first
few tracks, it’s like a newly born faun finding it’s
feet. Once the album takes off properly we’re treated to
some wonderfully chilled out tracks in a Massive Attack (but with
no big beats) kinda vein. Recorded entirely by the man himself
this album sounds like a life’s work and has more feeling
crammed into it’s tracks than most bands manage in a lifetime.
This is comforting music without being at all emo, it’s a
quiet conversation in a darkened room with the one you love, it’s
a group of captured memories expressed through verse and chorus
backed by a virtual orchestra or sound. I’d have to listen
to this album about 1000 times to fully appreciate all the hidden
complexities and musical tricks that Andy employs, and I may just
do that.
Andrew Culture
Andy Blade
Treasure Here
CDLP—CHERRY RED
This is an album that I warmed to pretty much right away. It’s
tunefully slightly akward, that doesn’t sound like a great
thing but if you hear this album you’ll know what I mean.
The tunes and even the vocals are akin to Luke Haines and The Autuers
but there are also hints in some of the production of Carter USM.
This album sounds like a life’s work, it sounds like it’s
been made with a great deal of forethought and care. To sum up
it’s diversity track three sounds a bit like ‘Button
Moon’ where as later tracks on the album have a Crowded House
kinda vibe about them. As a total aside Andy Blade was the singer
of 77 punkers Eater, I’ve deliberately not mentioned this
till the end of the review as I think with an album of this quality
what came before it can end up being totally irrelevant. With the
many things Andy has done, I’d say this should be the album
that defines him. ‘Treasure Here; is unashamed, unabashed
and is waiting for your love.
Andrew Culture
Awake and Dreaming
‘Self titled’
CD-LP LA PESADILLA RECORDS
Listening to this record one dreaded word keeps recurring in my
mind….EMO. It’s hard for me to understand what people
mean when they use the term emo to describe music, it often seems
to be just a lazy tag slapped onto a band without reason. This
band is nothing like what I previously believed to be emo, like
Rites of spring or Leatherface. It sounds to me (and forgive this
analogy as I am by no means a fan of the genre) like a combination
of throwaway disposable Americanised pop punk like McFly combined
with the occasional shit 80’s metal sounding guitar.
Six tracks in, and there is absolutely no variation in musical
style and content. This band sounds just like a million other bands,
there is no artwork for the demo I have been sent, but I guarantee
if there was a picture of this band they would all be long haired
androgynous pussies.
God this is shit! It’s unfair for them I suppose that I am
reviewing this, as I wouldn’t cross the road to spit on someone
who made this music, and my personal prejudices obviously have
an impact on my opinion. The lyrics are meaningless to me, I don’t
care about this guy’s failing love life, I couldn’t
give a monkeys! Why is he talking like a bloody Californian? They
are from Canada! Get over your gender and national identity crisis
for fucks sake! What happened to punk rock that this kind of music
is considered in any way relevant to an alternative music community?
I’m going to burn it as good as I can, but its not very flammable.
Ronnie
The Autumn Cult
There Is Still A Riot Going On
CDLP—HIDDEN YOUTH RECORDS
I wasn't sure what to make of this at first. To be honest I thought
'what is a new age ambient CD doing amongst a load of rock & punk
did they even read the zine?'. But on the second listen I thought
'ok so it's actually fairly listenable' and now on the third listen
I am quite warming to it. Whilst it is not something you could
just switch on and listen to and would perhaps be a bit depressing
to study/work to (not the most motivating music), it is very relaxing
without having irritating 'nature' sounds. Good for a come-down
after a busy or stressful day or simply just a wind-down CD if
you are having trouble drifting off to sleep. 6/10.
Jess T
Babar Luck
Care In the Community
CDLP—REBEL MUSIC
Have you seen that film ‘The Fly II’ when they kinda
naff the teleportation process and that horrid dog thing comes
out? Well if they had of got the process perfected and had jammed
Billy Bragg, Finley Quay and (sorry) Eagle Eye Cherry into one
pod then Babar Luck would probably have popped out of the other
end, singing a friendly tune. Babar Luck has hit a magical formula
, his songs are undeniably political whilst being totally accessible.
The whole album has a very relaxed vibe countering topics that
wouldn't be out of place on a Clash album. This album has a fantastic
air of accomplishment to it, you get the feeling that Mr Luck has
been holding these songs under his belts for years. The background
sound is sort of London Reggae, but leaning much more towards pop
than dub. It’s a goodun.
Andrew Culture
Bejebus
DEMO
CDEP—SELF RELEASED
Eee gads, this first track sounds like Mogwai doing a cover of ‘The
Final Countdown’ by Europe! It’s a bit muddly and unsure
of itself, and putting an instrumental track first on a demo is
just a bad idea. The second track is like a really quirky school
fisher price keyboards Muse or early Radiohead, but with weak tinny
guitars. The second track is really the standout track on this
demo and should have been put on first. I couldn’t get on
with the last track at all, it’s a whiney acoustic number
and the singers over-vibrato just really got on my tits, he needs
to have a decent cough to clear his throat or smoke some fags to
get some gravel in that voice.
www.bejebus.com
Andrew Culture
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
CDLP—TEN PAST TEN RECORDS
(Division PR)
I’ve always thoughts brothers have some sort of biological
advantage over the rest of us when it comes to harmonies, and this
band only goes to prove my theory. The only problem is they do
it pretty much constantly for every line throughout the entire
album. They have a sort of Blocko edge to them but they are more
relentless. If could be because I’ve reviewed far too many
bands over the last few weeks, or it could be because there are
a crap load of bands that sound like this at the moment, but I
just couldn’t grab hold of anything original on this album.
I know that’s not what everyone looks for in a band, after
all how would Oi music exist otherwise! They even have duel guitar
parts, but as you will know they were recently made mandatory by
an EU directive, right?
Andrew Culture
Birds of Prestwich
The Final Opus 1.
DEMO—SELF RELEASED
Apparently this band thinks music is ‘pure’, I thought
that about Cathy in Home and Away when I was kid, till I saw those
Playboy photos, yeesh! As far as the title of this disc, surely
you can’t have ‘final opus 1.’ because that suggests
there will be more, therefore meaning it isn’t in fact the
final opus. Gramatical oddity aside this is a damn fine disk. These
tracks carry off that laid back vibe that leaves too many bands
sounding like they can’t be arsed. This demo has that magical ‘something’ that
I pray for as I trudge through my review mountain. They have found
a niche that is genuinely original. The almost conversational vocals
are backed by dead simple instrumentation and some er, ‘odd
noises’. I’m usually very wary of odd noises in songs
as they always sounds crowbarred in, these fit perfectly. They
supplement the song without standing out like a sore thumb. I’m
keeping this cd, and I hope to hear more from this band soon.
Get this demo, it will bring joy to your life
birdsofprestwich@fsmail.net
Andrew Culture
The Bled
American Cowboy
CDEP—VAGRANT RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
The Bled lean very heavily towards the metal end of the hardcore
spectrum and that’s not something I’m a huge fan of.
They have huge backing and a big name producer so I’m sure
you’ll hear them soon enough and be able to make up your
own mind.
Andrew Culture
Bright Eyes/Ambulance Split CD
Insound Tour Support Series No. 12 (Also sometimes known as 'The
Joy In Forgetting The Joy EP')
CDEP—INSOUND
I was quite pleased when I came across this. I've been a big Bright
Eyes fan for a good few years now, but I had started to find his
later work a bit forced. Because of this, I hadn't listened to
him in a while, which was silly really as his early albums were
unbelievable. So when I came accross this and saw it was released
six years ago, I was hoping it would be as good. I was right and
more so. This is slowly going down as my favourite Bright Eyes
release. The four songs Conor offers up here are typical of his
early work. The vocals are pretty much yelped and slurred all the
way through, the recording is piss poor but the feeling is there.
This is espcially noted in the final track 'Untitled', where his
voice peaks pretty much during every line. 'The Joy In Discovery'
is still one of my favourite Bright Eyes tracks, so it was nice
to find it on here as well. The real gem of this CD though has
to be Ambulance (now known as Son, Ambulance). Their three songs
on here, blow my mind every time I hear them. Joe has a far mellower
voice than Conor, and the songs are a more stripped down style
of folk. All three of them (especially 'Asturd, Astrud') are pretty
much as close to perfect as you can get. If your already a fan
of Bright Eyes and don't own this (if you can track it down - it
wasn't easy) then get it. Fast. If, on the other hand, you can't
stand them, this CD really will not do anything to change your
opinion, in fact you'll probably hate him more. A couple of the
Bright Eyes tracks are available on other releases (this CD has
the early versions), but it is still worth getting hold of if only
for the Ambulance tracks.
Marc Newby
Capguns n Coke
Capguns n Coke
CDEP—SQUINTY JOE RECORDS
Rough as fuck teenage pop punk, but in the 1980 sense of the phrase.
Actually to be fair only the recording quality is rough (well and
a little of the playing) but the songs are catchy as fuck. Actually
I’m amazed they managed to find a wax-cylinder to record
this EP on, they could at least have had it in the same room as
the band. The fact that the artwork concept on this EP is fantastic
shows this band has far more spark than most bands pushing out
the Ramones, Screeching Weasel style punk at the moment. Mind you,
the fact that are two track fours confused the hell out of me.
www.myspace.com/capgunsandcoke
Andrew Culture
Chaser
Best Seat In The House
CDLP—PUNKTASTIC RECORDINGS
Chaser aren't half bad, with their 'of the moment' indie-rock sound
with hints of electro in there too. Quite like them, but I think
this would more greatly appeal to, as their press release suggest,
fans of Panic! At The Disco, Bloc Party and the likes. It's not
the most exciting CD but they are good. Not much else to say about
them really..if you like the aforementioned bands, check them out.
If not, probably not your thing. 6/10, standout
tracks: 'Ride', 'Best Seat In The House'.
Jess T
Champion Edition
Robot Sgt. Activate
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
The ‘Champs’ are just two people; John on drums and
Dave on unwieldy bass. For just two people they make a huge sound,
the bass sounds like it’s about to leap out of the lad’s
hand. This is riffing, squealing, frantic and oddly melodic. I
don’t want you to get impression that Champion Edition are
in any way inaccessible or art house, I’d say the appeal
is pretty broad. I’m really pleased I’ve written this
whole review without mentioning Lightening Bold, DOH!
Andrew Culture
The Comb-Overs
Emergency Response
CDLP – SELF RELEASED
I first stumbled across this man on purevolume and from that point
on, I fell in love.
The Comb-Overs is just one man – Peter Davis. He plays all
the instruments on his CD’s (which range from drums and guitar,
to accordion and cello), recordeds them all at home and almost
never plays live. In fact, not many people get to hear his music,
which is a shame. This (his sixth release), has picked together
the finest aspects of his older releases and molded them together
in a collection of 14 new, beautiful songs. Some songs are played
acoustic, others are with a full band (well, Peter adding more
instruments). The point is though, there is not a poor song on
offer here.
A beautiful singing voice, blended together fantastically with
superb guitar work and fascinating melodies, there are moments
when listening to this CD that my jaw nearly snapped of my head.
Seriously. His lyrics are something which continuously get me as
well. His knack for storytelling is something which you don’t
come across very often.
It’s hard to sum up the appeal of The Comb-Overs, without
naming the obvious comparisons. I’ve tried to think of someone
he sounds vaguely like, but I really can’t. He is the most
original singer-songwriter I have heard in a couple of years. The
best way to experience his work is to listen to this album and
his others.
You can download them all for free (another brilliant factor) from
his website, www.combovers.net.
Absolutely superb.
Marc Newby
The Council
The Council E.P
CDEP—EMPIRE PRODUCTIONS
This is ‘acid blues’ apparently. The singer has an
amazing voice with tons of range and soul, but then so does my
mum and I wouldn’t pay to see her. I love the Hammond organ
in the first track, I’ve always wanted to have one in my
band, but they’d be a bugger to transport. By half way through
the first track I’m starting to get irritated with the lyrics,
they are more repetitive than an EastEnders story line. These are
certainly accomplished musicians but to me it just sounds like
a pub blues band.
Andrew Culture
Crime In Stereo
The Troubled Stateside
CDLP—NITRO RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
Just as I was starting to thing the current hardcode scene only
had one sound along came Crime in Stereo. Sure enough this is hardcore
alright, but the tuneful singalong type rather than the ape trying
to clear razors from it’s throat type. This is intelligent
hardcore (IntelliCore?), with oodles of thought put into every
song. A drawback of hardcore for me has always been that a hardcore
album tends to sound like the same song repeated over and over.
This album has 12 standout tracks and is going straight onto my
iPod!
Andrew Culture
Criminal Class USA
Echos in the Street
CDLP—GMM RECORDS
I think I picked this up when this American band turned up and
played unannounced at the Railway here in Ipswich, that kinda thing
seems to be happening a lot at the moment! This album came out
about five years ago in 2001, so when I did my zinester blagging
they obviously didn’t have much faith that I would actually
do anything with it! Well it’s very well played American
street punk, with just the right amount of fuzz at the edges. Pretty
much every song is a shout along gang vocals type deal. Very listenable
and some kicking tunes.
Andrew Culture
The Cutters
My World Turns All Around Her/Come Around
CDLP—?
(Manilla PR)
The press release states that these guys 'will instantly be your
new favourite band' - hmm, maybe not. Whilst they are not awful,
they are pretty average. Perhaps the NME-kids will like them, but
I get the feeling that this might have been more popular in the
90s with their breezy summer easy-rock grooves. According to another
press card they have been compared with The Kinks, The Coral, The
Jam and The Who but I feel that to say that is an insult to those
bands because I don't hear those influences. Not feeling this one
at all, sorry. 4/10.
Jess T
Dakota
DEMO
CDEP—SELF RELEASED
Some bands spend years trying to sound like a band, some bands
just gel and work as a band right away. Dakota is one of these
bands, they play early 60s beat pop with a slight modern slant
and sound like they’ve been together 30 years. If retro indie
pop is your thing check these fellas out.
www.thisisdakota.co.uk
Andrew Culture
Dead Next Door
Time To Fight
CDEP—PRISON RECORDS
(Manilla PR)
Sometimes all a band needs to stand out is a really good voice
out front, sometimes even if the instrumentation is lacklustre
a decent set of lungs can make a song a classic. Whilst the voice
of the singer of Dead Next Door has more character than a compendium
of Dickens he is let down by the sub U2 ‘safe rock’ of
the rest of the band. By the end of this 6 track EP I’d forgotten
I’d put it on and wandered out of the room.
Andrew Culture
The Dead Pets
The Revenge Of The Village Idiots
CDLP—VILLAGE IDIOT RECORDS
It's hard to believe these guys are English due to the very apparent
Boston-punk sound reminiscent of Dropkick Murphys & Street
Dogs (who, in both cases, they have played with in the U.K) and
the likes, but also with hints of Bad Religion. What adds to this
band is the background horns which are not quite predominant enough
to be considered a skacore/ska punk band but still a nice touch.
Whilst it could be argued that the album is much of a muchness
if you're not into their sound, it is worth a listen.
Particularly catchy is 'Dreams For A Crook' which is a great uplifting
singalong track. Everybody now: "here I go here I go like
the littlest hobo, singing hey ho..." Overall 8/10, standout
tracks: 'Dreams For A Crook', 'Mother's Ruin', 'We're Coming Back'
(make sure to catch the hidden track at the end - i recommend fast
forwarding unless you fancy waiting 30 mins or so). If you like
these also check out River City Rebels for a slightly similar sound.
Jess T
The Dead Pets
Too Little Too Late
CDLPVILLAGE IDIOT RECORDS
I hear that The Dead Pets are rated highly and I can see (hear)
why. This is the first of two albums by TDPs according to their
website, the other being 'The Revenge Of The Village Idiots', a
review of which can be found elsewhere in this section. I have
quite taken to this band and it is a shame that I missed a show
they did with Street Dogs, who I also discovered after the aforementioned
tour. This album is personally my preferred one of the two, if
only for the greater prominance of the horns in places & a
bigger hint of ska in certain tracks. Still, not enough for them
to be considered a ska-punk band - but this makes for a good sound
in my opinion. In terms of the sound overall though it is not much
different from the other CD, which shows they are sticking to their
roots well. Most notable about this CD are the song intros on certain
tracks, which are bits of spoken word by various types of people.
So yeah, check the other review for a further explanation of the
sound and buy this CD! 8/10 (as it is only personal preference
that makes me like this more), standout tracks: 'King Albert',
'Bad Attiude' & 'Plodding Along'.
Jess T
De Waonzin/ Nuestros Derechos
Split ‘Em All
CDLP—SELF RELEASE
I actually thought this band was huge when I looked at the photo
on the back sleeve, then I actually bothered to read the press
sheet, it is of course a split album. Both bands (for I can’t
tell them apart) play a sub Iron Maiden growly screechy metal,
that I really can’t be arsed to write any more about.
www.nuestrosderechos.nl
www.dewaonzin.nl
Andrew Culture
Demeter
Addict
CDEP—POST MODERN RECORDS
This cd came with the coolest hand written press sheet ever, but
as you can’t see that I won’t go on about it. When
most bands are referred as coming from a ‘stable’ it’s
normally metaphorical, from the sounds of it Demeter singer Anna
really did come from a stable. She grew up on a farm with a studio
that was used by the likes of Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters!
The music reminds me of Denim and is nice enough plodding part
electronic, with Kate Bush type whimsical vocals.
Andrew Culture
Dowina
Brezalauspurch
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
It’s amazing how far and wide Beat Motel is know these days,
this band send me their EP all the way from Batislava! I was a
bit dubious when I saw the predominantly black artwork and pages
of medieval imagery, with song titles like ‘Betrayed Warriors’ I
was expecting something like a Slovakian version of Three Inches
of Blood, and the battle sound effects at the start of the cd did
little to change my opinon. But the music started and I was pleasantly
surprised! The music is like a mix between 77 punk and early Iron
Maiden and the vocals are more Oi than anything, especially all
the gang shouting. The fourth track ’Endless Blue’ is
a Viking call to arms if ever I heard one, it’s like a cross
between Scarborough Fair and something off Led Zeppelin III I really
like this ep and I reckon you will too,
Andrew Culture
Dude on a Mission
Moments Erased EP
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
This Cambridge band remind me a lot of some the bands that were
on Orange Peel Records about four or five years ago especially
The Berlin Project. It’s poppy and punky, but it’s
sure not pop punk. They have some good tunes but the singer doesn’t
sound like he was giving his all in the studio and could do with
taking leaf out of the backing vocalist’s book. The singing
is a little clumsy but doesn’t have enough character (yet)
to carry that off. All in all Id like to see this band live (they
are fairly local to Ippo being from Cambridge) and I look forward
to hearing their next release.
Andrew Culture
Exene Cervenka & The Original Sinners
Sev7en
CDLP—NITRO RECORDS
This is the 15th album Exene has released! I must confess I never
heard her original band X but this album has a certain cuteness
too it. It’s slightly retro 1950s sounding with a slight
Juliana Hatfield slacker type slant to it. This album has more
swing than a Tory wife swap party but I’m going to resort
to lame review excuse #1 and say it’s not my thing.
Andrew Culture
Fahrenheit451
The Catastrophe EP
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
In general when I get sent a cd by a political band I tend to let
out a sad sigh and put the cd in the player and listen to what
is almost always sub-par Crass rip-off with sixth form politics
crow-barred in. Fahrenheit451 are a fantastic exception to the
rule. They get their message across in a similar way to Anti-Flag
without resorting to their lazy trick of breaking down to a single
bass note while a lecture is read over the top. Fahrenheit451’s
sound isn’t as hard as Anti-Flag, indeed this band wouldn’t
sound out of place on the Radio1 daytime playlist. The duel vocals
are both excellent, both with a really strong individual character
that is a perfect snug and complimenting counterpart to it’s
opposite number. If the two singers aren’t brothers then
this is further proof that the cosmos has conspired to bring this
band together for the greater good and entertainment of all mankind.
This is going straight on my iPod, I’m signing up to their
mailing list and will wait with baited breath for an album. Incidentily,
when I first picked up this cd I read it as ‘The Catasroprophet
EP’ which would have been just too perfect as a title! This
release just shits coolness and urgency.
Andrew Culture
The Fire Line
Downplay
CDLP—RUSSIAN MISSION RECORDS
The vocals on this album must have been recorded with the singer
in another room, while he was being attacked by wasps, and was
unable to escape due to all the muffling foam everywhere. The songs
are reasonable, nothing exceptional I don't think. I say ‘I
don’t think’ as they are so fucking badly recorded
I struggled to get through the album without getting a migraine.
They are sort of Britpop with slightly more country instrumentation.
The stand out track by miles is the fifth one ‘Armed Forces’,
the beginning and end are really excellent, partly because they
remind me of the soundtrack to Young Guns II. Apart from that track
the whole album has a definite air of incompletion about it. I
shall sit back and wait for the angry email from the band.
www.thefireline.co.uk
Andrew Culture
Fizzgig
Fizzgig
CDLP—FIZZGIG RECORDS
Smart little mini-album from this Cincinnati band, they are a sweet
cross between Weezer and Blink 182. I’m not really a fan
of either band and on first listening I found this album a bit
too sickly, but I had some spare time so I listened through again
while I was getting frustrated with PhotoShop. And then I listened
to it again, and again and now I can’t get the damn thing
out of my head, and I’m perfectly happy with that. Fizzgig
don’t really break any new ground in the pop punk genre,
but there’s nothing wrong with being damn good at what you
do, and Fizzgig are very damned good. One oddity, there’s
a passing resemblance to No Use For a Name in the second track ‘Angela’,
maybe it’s the same Angela that No Use For a Name sung about?
Andrew Culture
From First To Last
Heroine
CDLP—EPITAPH
(Scream PR)
Everything about this release screams money at me, the packaging
and design is really nice, the production is flawless and even
the guitars sound expensive! From First To Last play to their own
unique genre, they are too heavy for EMO, too tunefull for thrash
metal and have too many production tricks to be flat out punk.
Their sound is undeniably seriously heavy, there are many metal
breaks and punches used. The singer sounds like a mix of Brian
Moloko of Placebo and whoever that first Saosin singer was. Each
track on the album has it’s own unique feel, but by about
track 8 that voice was getting just a wee bit too whiney for me,
maybe my disposition is just too sunny for me to really get into
this band. The final straw was the opening line of track 10, “I
can’t eat without shoving my fingers down my throat”,
okay so maybe this is just EMO after all.
Andrew Culture
Fuck Off Machete
What’s the Signal
CDEP—JAM RECORDINGS
Imagine The Raincoats if they could actually play, imagine Bjork
going back to doing light hearted indie, imagine a female vocalist
who sounds equal parts cute and violent. This is Fuck Off Machete,
I was promised ‘pulverising hooks’, but they never
really materialised. I don’t get it. If you like Queen Adreena
then maybe you will.
Andrew Culture
Glyder
Glyder
CDLP—TRUE TALENT RECORDS
(Work Hard PR)
Wow, The Darkness really opened up the traditional rock market
didn’t they! Glyder play unapologetic good time rock and
party like it’s 1987. Rythyms and vocals are very Iron Maiden
and if you’re in the mood for Biker Metal then check this
band out.
Andrew Culture
GREENLAND WHALEFISHERS
STREETS OF SALVATION
CDLP - ?
To say there’s no resemblance to the Pogues would be foolish,
however the Fishers do have a certain sound of their own and if
you like the Pogues (and who doesn’t) then you’ll love
this. Their thanks list reads like my (currently) fav bands list,
Real McKenzies, Porters, Dropkicks, Blood or Whisky etc. Oh yeah
and Arthur Guinness. Can’t get better inspiration than that.
Back to the music, there’s some fantastic whistle playing,
also the fiddle playing is top notch. The whole feel to the album
is very Pogue-ish and although they come from Greenland they have
an incredible Celtish feel (although this is probably due to the
proximity to Scotland which lies just the other side of Iceland).
I think most of the songs are originals but there is an interesting
version of ‘Fields of Athenry’, not as fast as the
Dropkicks’ or Necks’ or even Whisky Chasers’ for
that matter but really quite moving (as it should be due to the
subject matter). The instrumental track ‘When the insane
came marching in’ is a corker and shows the skills of the
musicians off really well. A really charming thing is the pronunciation
of the words, their accent is ever present.
One of my favourite moments is the accordion intro to ‘The
great exercise day’ (track six). It’s difficult to
pick a fav track but I really enjoyed ‘The night Rick Holler
died’ (track eleven) and any song called ‘For bitter
and whiskey’ (note the E in there Doog) is bound to be a
corker.
I play this album a lot and have given up trying to read the lyrics
from the CD inlay, it may be my eyes but white hand written text
on black is almost impossible to make out. So I make up the words
to sing along with “The party’s over, there’s
a bunch of demons in my head” are a feel of how they go.
Great stuff to drive to, bop around to or just sit back and listen
to. However I challenge you to not have a smile on your face whilst
this album is on (unless you have no taste in music at all).
Cheers and I’m off to drink some Whiskey and Guinness.
Fanny
Hatch
Demo
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
All bands need a unique selling point, good or bad. Sometimes the
sign of a good song is if it reminds you of something else, but
the second track on this IS ‘Come as you are’ by Nirvana
with just a couple of notes changed, granted the guitar isn’t
the same but the slightly bored sounding vocals aren’t a
million miles away. Hatch sound slightly lost, kinda like they’re
not prepared to take any massive risks, and whilst that obviously
works for some (Status Quo) it isn’t doing the trick just
yet for this band. Haven’t said that, the lyrics made me
laugh, “you’re still wet and I’m still horny”.
Indeed!
Andrew Culture
Hidden Fortress
10 Re-mixes To Pay For Our Love Hotel Bills
CDLP—HIDDEN YOUTH RECORDS
First up, I’ve never heard of any of the bands remixed on
this album so I’m going to treat this is largely original
as I have no way of telling what impact the remixes have had on
the original tracks! The album starts of with some very sugary
but bloody intense and heavy Pitzicato Five style pop techno with
odd noises. A lot of the album is quite intense bass, fantastic
bass(ish) melody lines and it’s not till the last track ‘Love
For Sale’ that we get anywhere near what I would traditionally
called Techno. My favourite tracks were the Frottage remix for
it’s retro 50s washing powder commercial vibe and track 9
for it’s sublime Aphex Twin style smooth vibe.
www.myspace.com/hiddenfortressmusic
Andrew Culture
Isaws
Burnt Offering
CDLP—SPIRAL ARCHIVE
In 1977 there must have been hundreds of bands up and down the
country like Isaws, they were heavily infludenced by an exciting
new band called The Sex Pistols and felt compelled (in the case
of Isaws) to play gigs at their school. Sadly the first few tracks
on this album lack any of the cheeky ferocity of The Sex Pistols
and are plodding badly recordered nasel shite. By the 5th track ‘Feather’ they
had apparently started to also be influenced by X-ray specs. This
album is compiled using tracks from the band’s two ‘tape
only’ albums and you can see a sort of progression. The last
few tracks show a noisier more experimental side to the band and
hint at something great happening just around the corner, but they
split up and never managed to release anything good. It’s
probably not a bad thing that a lot of first wave bands like this
never got round to recording. Oh, and the fucking abysmal cover
of ‘20th Century Boy’ on the end of this disc only
goes prove they didn’t quite get what was going on in the
punk world around them.
Andrew Culture
Karmakops
Creatures
CDEP—NEWMEMORABILIA RECORDS
(WorkHard PR)
The press sheet claims that this band is going to change the face
of Rock and Roll, but then don’t they all! The first track
is a misplaced tuneful little number reminisant of something off
Ziggy Stardust, and bizarrely Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles! The
singers voice really reminds me of someone but I just can’t
place it. The second track is a fairly standard rock track that
wouldn’t sound out of place at a wedding reception and I’m
afraid the acoustic noodling of the last track lost me totally.
I don’t think I’d buy this, but I’ll definitely
lean over and turn up the radio when (not if) it comes on.
Andrew Culture
Kerbslider
Highs and Lows
CDEP—CROW FOUNDATION
Well about bloody time, we finally get to hear the band that this
mysterious producer Ian Crow is in! He’s producing everyone
worth listening to round these parts at the moment. Very few producers
manage to pull off actually sounding cool with their own stuff,
normally falling into the trap of over producing themselves al
la Garbage. But Kerbslider sound total natural and powerful. This
is one of the most together and polished sounding bands (that hasn’t
sold a million albums) I’ve ever heard. Their sound is somewhere
along the lines of Semisonic with some of the bigger sounding elements
of Muse but ultimately, and as with any shite review I write I’ve
gotta say they sound unlike either. Get it, sing it in your head,
play it to your friends and dream of a faraway day when your band
could be as good as this.
www.kerbslider.com
Andrew Culture
KILLING JOKE
HOSANNAS FROM THE BASEMENTS OF HELL
CDLP - COOKING VINYL
Gggreaattt! Just what the Doctor ordered - a new Killing Joke album!
I fucking love this stuff! Absolute intensity, absolute sincerity,
inventiveness and glorious apocalyptic tribal rhythms. Geordie’s
guitar sounds as great as ever (albeit a bit heavier than the early
days), Jaz’s vocals are disturbing (that goes for his lyrics
too), repetitive tribal drumbeats and bass provided by Youth’s
replacement Paul Raven. Standout tracks are the title track (also
a single), The Tribal Antidote, Majestic, Invocation, Implosion,
hell, the whole fucking album is great. Funnily enough given the
current political climate and war in the middle east Killing Joke
seem to make more sense the longer they go on. Jaz’s lyrical
apocalypse and the tribal music (permeated with orchestral style
keyboards ) really gives Killing Joke the sense of menace that
keeps old punks (like me), new age thrash metallers and paranoid
conspiracy theorists jumping to the WARDANCE! Yep, KJ remind me
of the musical equivalent of the geezers who used to walk round
with the sandwich boards reading ‘The End Is Nigh’.
Approach with caution. 10/10.
Graham Culture
King Kurt
Destination Zululand
DVD - CHERRY RED
Accept for a brief piss-take of an interview at the beginning This
DVD consists entirely of footage of King Kurt plating the Marquee
club in London in 1983. I have seen King Kurt live, and enjoyed
myself, but that gig doesn’t compare to the footage captured
in this DVD, of a gig that happened before I was even born.
King Kurt enjoyed a fair bit of success in the 80’s with
a few top 40 hits and an appearance on top of the pops, with their
irritatingly catchy sing-along party song ‘banana banana’ they
are noticeably different to other Psychobilly bands with their
unique display of speed induced Saturday morning television style,
scooter riding, egg throwing rock n roll.
The gig shown on the DVD is a clear example of the chaotic atmosphere
for which the band have become infamous for creating at their shows,
in which large amounts off eggs, flour, foam and baked beans amongst
other things are launched around a venue. Whilst some people dance
around like hyperactive children, others throw their fists around
in a good old fashioned brawl in the wrecking pit. One couple spend
the majority of the gig getting off with each other in front of
the stage, oblivious to the surrounding insanity.
The music, is tight and all good natured party music, although
the music can at times seem a bit much (how long can you be in
a happy party mood?) it is undeniably well structured, and although
the band members appear to be drunken fools they are by no means
un-talented. Show highlights include the legendary Psychobilly
songs “wreck-a-party rock” and of course “destination
Zululand”
If you don’t like King Kurt, Psychobilly, shirtless men with
stupid hair, saxophones drunken idiocy or the general type of mess
making and tomfoolery associated with television programs like ‘Dick
and Dom in da bungalow’ then you will by no means enjoy this
DVD. Anyone else however will not regret seeing this awesome band
on top form.
Ronnie
Hanoi Rocks
Another Hostile Takeover
CDLP—DEMOLITION RECORDS
(Work Hard PR)
Holy shit I’ve travelled back in time! Snares have more reverb
than a Phychobilly convention, the drummer is a muscleman wearing
white leather gloves and there’s more leopard tights and
fake hair than a whore’s starter kit! This album has more
cock than Ron Jeremy’s portfolio,,, You can see where I’m
going with this can’t you.
Andrew Culture
Hayze
In the Box Seat
CDLP—HI TOM RECORDS
Hayze don’t want to fit into any genre, they want to be taken
without pigeonholed prejudice. Their sound makes this pretty clear,
I mean they are obviously not bangra or swing but their sound is
hard to pin down much further than that, so I’m not going
to bother. This is an album of well constructed and fairly easy
going songs, choruses are memorable and the instrumentation is
kept interesting at all times. Having seen this band live a few
times this album had more diversity in it than I was expecting,
that’s no criticism of their live act, more a commendation
for making the most of the studio time they spent on this album.
In overall vibe I’d say this album would be good for driving
or relaxing in the evening. The stand out track for me is the last
one, ‘Eleven Years’, purely because it is a proper
album ender. My only negative criticism of this album is the use
of fade outs in some of the songs, the band have more than proved
their technical prowess so why do they resort to such a musical
short cut?
www.worldofhayze.co.uk
Andrew Culture
Heresy
Face up to it!
CDLP—BOSS TUNEAGE
Another in the Boss Tuneage retro series. Heresy were a fast as
fuck hardcore band, and this remastered album dates from 1988.
The lovely digipack that all these retro releases are getting includes
a meaty booklet giving the history of the band, which is this case
is largely a complaint about this album! If you like noisy shouted
badly recorded hardcore then this is your cue.
Andrew Culture
Hokum
Leave a Trail
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
Okay so I’m always on about nobody doing anything new, well
Hokum have proved me wrong. The first track ‘Superman’ sounds
like a really odd reworking of Hey Joe by Hendrix. That’s
not where the Hendrix influences stop either. One thing that did
catch me out is the synths and samplers, but some of the best parts
of this EP are when everything is stripped down to the basics.
I must admit I cringed a bit at some of the lyrics, the singing
needs to hold more melody, but mainly because it has to compete
with some top notch playing from the guitar and bass. Something
else that took me by surprise is the dirty dirty bass sound, it
sounds like the bass amp has been hit by a truck, fucking excellent!
One criticism on the mastering though, go steady on that compressor
lads, everything cuts down when it should be explosive in the first
track, don’t compress it, let it fly! This is a good sophomore
ep, I’d say the next one will be a blinder, Hokum have a
ton of ideas but the overall impression I get from this EP is that
they are trying to use them all at once. And as for the noodling,
we know you can all play very well, no need to dwell on the noodles.
www.myspace.com/hokum
Andrew Culture
I Farm
IV
CDLP—GO KART RECORDS
I like it when bands work really hard, we all know too many bands
get signed when they’ve only just formed to have a bunch
of cash chucked and them, leading to ultimate failure and a fast
route to a sacking by aforementioned heartless major label. I Farm
have gone the long route to signing to one of my favourite labels.
Unfortunetly all I can hear in the music is bog standard hardcore.
There’s a slight metal edge, but then aren’t all hardcore
bands doing that these days? I listened to this album about four
times in a row, to see if it would grow on me, sadly it just ended
up annoying me.
Andrew Culture
The Inoculators
Dropped Their Brains
CDLP—SELF RELEASE
Without opening that age old debate I’m gonna start by saying
the majority of American bands really know how to do the DIY thing.
This release looks fucking brilliant and the artwork is top notch,
original, gripping and memorable. The music sounds more English
than everything else, it’s like they’ve taken all the
good bits from the last 30 years of brit punk and rearranged them
into something new and interesting. I winced a bit when the second
track started with a jinky jinky ska guitar but thankfully before
too long I was saved by another flat out big tune. If you like
fast punk played bloody well then you’re gonan love this.
Only criticism is that like with Anti-Flag the political content,
whist insightful and relevant does get a bit tiresome. If you go
to their webshite you can get this on tasty green wax.
www.theinoculators.com
Andrew Culture
Jaed
My Way
CDEP—
(Division PR)
I’d heard good things about this band before the cd even
dropped through my door, which makes a nice change. Jaed is unapologetic
proper modern punk. Vanessa’s vocals are frank, a bit shocking
and actually pretty funny in a slighty sick way. The music is like
a progression of Hole and the marvellous Veruca Salt. I really
like this and can’t wait to hear the album which is out in
March.
Andrew Culture
Last Stop China Town
Just Ashes
CDEP—?????
(WorkHard PR)
There’s more cock in this rock than Ron Jeromy’s photo
diary. Standard commercial metal, cheesy lyrics and the singer
sounds like Simon LeBon from Duran Duran! Last Stop China Town
rock like it’s 1988. Heard it all before.
Andrew Culture
The Lawrence Arms
Oh! Calcutta!
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
12 corkers from our Chicago counsins. I really hate the term ‘pop
punk’ as it’s been totally abused by the likes of Busted,
but this really is pop punk! It’s more intelligent than Green
Day, and with political sentiments that are believeable but not
too preachy. This is a really strong album, if you’ve not
heard The Lawrence Arms before get this album, if you’re
already a fan then this is a must have. Stand out tracks for me
were the opener ‘The Devil’s Takin’ Names’, ‘Great
Lakes/ Great Escapes’ and there is a great deal that pop
punk wannabes could learn from genius tracks like ‘recovering
the opposable thumb’. I’ve just realised I was about
to list the entire album, so I’ll stop here!
Andrew Culture
Love Equals Death
Nightmerica
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
I like Love Equals Death but this CD is a little disappointing.
From the couple of tracks I had already heard, I was excited for
a full lengther, but it could have been so much better. Some tracks
are more exciting than others and some just aren't up to par, lacking
something I can't put my finger on.
Pretty much your average punk band, nothing special in this CD
unfortunately but still reasonably listenable and enjoyable all
the same and of course there is the token acoustic track to show
a softer side, which is nice. 7/10 standout tracks 'V.O.C. (Voice
Of Change)', 'The Broadcast', 'When We Fall'.
Jess T
Love That Kills
To Cruel Nails Surrendered
CDLP—IN AT THE DEEP END RECORDS
Another release from the increasingly heavy IATDE. Whereas some
bands like Send More Paramendics are what I would consider to be
thrash punk with a metallic edge, Love That Kills are flat out
thrash metal. The vocal growl isn’t quite the sonic bowel
shifter that normally gets on my tits in modern metal and some
of the half spoken/ sung parts in tracks ‘Razor Blade Smile’ and
the title track expose a pretty decent voice, although I’m
not sure what part of Kent this band comes from to get an American
accent. This is one of those metal bands that use that discordant
guitar bending noise that goes right through me. If the object
of this mini album is annihilating brutality they succeeded, it
was a feat of stamina to sit through all six tracks.
Andrew Culture
The Loved Ones
Keep Your Heart
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
I love getting new albums through the door when they come from
strong labels like Fat Wreck, you know whatever it is it’s
not going to be total shite even if it’s something I don’t
like. The Loved Ones sound like 60% passion 40% ability, which
I’d always say is the right way round. All the ingredients
are there to make this a classic punk album, it just sounds a tiny
tiny bit immature to me. There are some really strong stand out
tracks like ‘Sickening’ that show a different side
to the band that really suits them… I’m going to hang
onto it as I get the impression there are hidden depths that will
reveal themselves to me over time, and I look forward to it!
Andrew Culture
Lovemat
Between The Lines
CDEP—DISTURBIA RECORDS
(Workhard PR)
To get the guitar sound used at the start of this single I can
only assume they used an amp that they spent days dragging around
the country behind a van. This is good time rock, silly solos,
big riffs, but a very indie vibe to the whole thing. Imagine the
Darkness without the gayness. The singers voice sound like that
chap that sung ‘My Woman’ years ago, I can’t
remember his name! The second track is a massive Cougars style
track with a horn section and a oddly Britpop sounding chorus.
Lovemat have one foot in the past and a fist in your future.
Andrew Culture
Lower Forty-Eight
Apertures
CDLP—MONOTREME RECORDS
(Scream Promotions)
The PR sheet with this album mentions ‘math rock’.
What on earth is that? I’ve listened to the lyrics and can’t
find any mention of hypotenuse triangles or complex algebra. I
didn’t even notice any lyrics along the lines of ‘If
Akbar has two apples and give Debbie one,,,’ Anyway, enough
of my gibberish. Lower Forty-Eight play a heavy sometimes discordant
but definitely angry brand of punk along the lines of Jimmy Eat
World and play it very well. It’s an emotional album alright,
and maybe that’s what’s putting me off, I’m just
too vacuous, I don’t feel intelligent enough to get this!
Gotta love the riffing though!
Andrew Culture
The Mercy Suite
Crestfallen
CDLP—BOMBED OUR RECORDS
(Division PR)
Competant northern punk in the vein of Milloy. There’s nothing
technically wrong with this album, it just sounds a whole lot like
a lot of other punk doing the rounds at the moment. I may be missing
something, but it just didn’t get me hard. The clank on the
bass got on my tits after a while, you’ve got new stings,
we get it already! The artwork is fucking awesome thought.
Andrew Culture
THE METEORS
SEWERTIME BLUES
& DON’T TOUCH THE BANG BANG FRUIT
CDLP - ANAGRAM RECORDS
2 old LP’s ( 1986 & 1987) that have been given the remastered
and bonus track treatment from Anagram. This is original ‘Psychobilly’ if
you’re wondering. Basically it’s just Rockabilly with
a bit of Punk energy thrown in. The Stray Cats with a hard-on.
Quite refreshing and relatively timeless (as long as you think
50’s rock is timeless!) Both albums sound exactly the same
so buying either should give you a perfect idea of what 80‘s
Scooter boys were slamming to. Some decent tunes and cracking party
music.
Graham Culture
The Meteors
Stampede
CDLP—ANAGRAM RECORDS
The latest in the nicely done Anagram digipack reissues. The Meteors
are original Phychobilly from the early 80s so this album is all
jangly bouncy guitars with more Tremelo in them then Chesney Hawks
(now that’s an obscure joke!). It’s all very lighthearted
rock and roll, and even although I’m going to have a thousand
Phychobilly’s after me for saying this, when you’ve
heard one you’ve heard them all, and the same goes for this
album. It would be good as background music at a party, but that’s
about it.
Andrew Culture
Milk2Sugars
How's It Working Out For You?
CDLP—PUNKTASTIC RECORDINGS
I've heard a lot about this band and to hear this CD I am a little
disappointed. Although it sounds as though they have a good live
show, this E.P is just not enough to go out of my way to listen
to. It is ok as light, listenable background music but there just
seems to be something lacking.
They are not bad as such, they just need a bit of oomph and possibly
the live experience gives this. I'd say, worth listening to but
don't buy it straight out. 6/10.
Jess T
Moneen
The Red Tree
CDLP—VAGRANT RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
Whilst it’s undeniable this band has a punk edge they are
way more mainstream than that and not in a cheesy irritating way
either, Songs are thoughtful without being EMO, instrumentation
is intelligent without being wanktastic. I’ve had this album
on a few times fairly low while I’m working and it fits the
bill perfectly, I’m just not going to be driving to it in
my car flashing the lights and punching the air with my fist. Mind
you, maybe if I listen to this in the car I won’t hit as
many kerbs, sign posts, pot holes or elderly folk.
Andrew Culture
Nebula
Apollo
CDLP—CARGO RECORDS
(Division PR)
If someone asked me what my dream stoner rock band would consist
of I’d probably ask for members of Kyuss and Fu-Manchu to
be melded together in some sort of dirty grinding way. Well that’s
(kinda) what Nebula are, two parts Fu-Machu, one part Kyuss (well
Scott Reeder used to be in the band, that’s close enough).
Nebula don’t have the crushing heaviness of Kyuss but they
do have the Californian cool and swing of Fu-Manchu. The vocals
are more like Unida but not quite as husky and strong as Garcia.
This album comes with a nice intro and outro that link together
if you listen to the album on repeat, which you will want to when
you hear it. This album isn't just flat out rock there’s
all kinds of other coolness going on, even a lounge moment or two!
Basically if stoner/ desert rock is your thing then there will
be a big hole in your life till you buy this album.
Andrew Culture
NoFx
Wolves in Wolves Clothing
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
Wa-hoo! It seems like an age since the last NoFx album. I really
didn’t want to write this review with a list of comparisons
to NoFx’s massive back catalogue, it’s a fair challenge
but I’m gonna give it a go. If you’ve never heard NoFx
(firstly where the hell have you been?) they are undeniably punk
in attitude but not always what you might think of as traditionally
punk in sound. A lot of this band’s output is really pop
and commercial, which is maybe more of a cause of their success
than their ethics. NoFx could well have ruled the world in a Green
Day fashion but choose to concentrate a lot of their energies on
trying to say unknown. In fact one of their older albums even has
notices to MTV and Major labels ordering them to leave the band
alone! This album cements NoFx’s reputation for tight harmonies,
some tongue in cheek moments and more important (to me) than anything
else, totally unflinching originality, although saying that the
beginning of ’Getting High On The Low Down’ does sound
like the kinks. Subject matter leaps from the social commentary
in ‘60%’ to singer Fat Mike wistfully waxing lyrical
about assassinating George Bush in ‘The Man I Killed’.
This album will make you think, make you wink, and will definitely
leave you with a smile on your face. Whilst some bands make use
of secret tracks to put out a song that wasn’t good enough
to go on the album properly, NoFx give you what sounds like the
demos for the entire album! Oh, and just so you know your copy
isn’t fucked when you buy it, yes track 14 really does fade
out after 30 seconds!
Andrew Culture
None More Black
This is Satire
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band on Fat like this,
they have the passion of bands like Against Me! But aren’t
quite as shouty. This sure ain’t hardcore, it’s much
more on the poppy side of punk but definitely aren’t pop
punk. I’m not going to pigeon hole them any more, I’m
just going to tell you that if you like slightly mellow well written
intelligent music with guitars you should check this out.
Andrew Culture
Pistolita
Oliver Under The Moon
CDLP—MONTALBAN HOTEL
In short, this album is a treasure. If you like a bit of passionate
indie, piano rock or are just open minded then this is for you.
Going from beautiful melody to almost screaming passion (no this
isn't screamo), this CD is one of those that you can put on after
a while and once again go 'wow'. An example of the shift between
beauty and passion is 'Fadawhite', starting with soft piano and
gradually building up the guitars and drums exploding to a steady
pace but then building up again and crashing back to the soft piano
and the steady pace. Definitely one of the favourites. A bit of
variety comes into this album with the fast-paced 'Metronome' that
you could almost mosh/circle pit to in parts. In places, the vocals
take a lil getting used to but overall, you should check these
guys out - stream the cd at purevolume.com/pistolita first or just
go for it and buy it from interpunk.com. 8/10, stand out tracks:
'Bení Accident', 'Fadawhite', 'Metronome'.
Jess T
Pio Mazzotti
Teenie Fantastic
CDLP—A COTTAGE INDUSTRY
This is the kinda band that is DIY and proud, and boy do they give
DIY a good name! They play slippy noisy drinking music, the sound
is really polished and slides between early Dinosaur Jnr and A
slightly more indie spazzy Sex Pistols kinda sound. There’s
a shit load of personality in this band, and some of the humour
and ‘odd bits’ are right up by back passage, or should
that be alley. Me like, shame the album is so short.
www.piomazzotti.com
Andrew Culture
Protest the Hero
Keizia
CDLP—VAGRANT RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
First thing to say about this CD is the damn copy protection. I
mean, fair enough, but it's set up so computers won't even play
it which for people like me who rely on their computer as their
music player means you're buggered. Anyway I did not let this stop
me from giving it a go and took someone's CD player over. What
strikes me about this CD is the vocals - sometimes with metal the
music starts up and songs are ruined by growls but these guys actually
sing which is a bonus. This is a 'concept' album but the songs
could stand alone and it's not too bad. However, I got bored of
the CD fairly quickly and could not listen to it straight through.
Possibly due to personal preference, but it is the better side
of metal. Best for fans of Avenged Sevenfold and the likes, for
general rock fans...or for emo kids.
5/10 for getting bored and for not being able to play it on a computer.
Jess T
Protest the Hero
Keizia
CDLP—VAGRANT RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
If you thought Three Inches of Blood or Megadeath were a bit over
the top on the solos then this band makes them look like they showed
total restraint. Protest the Hero play quite simply the most insane
music I’ve ever heard. Imagine At The Drive In if all the
crack the took effected their music a bit more, imagine Iron Maiden
if they had 30 guitarists instead of three. A couple of the tracks
on this album are even like Muse but MORE complex and musical.
Protest the Hero have no restraint and ultimately no shame. Buy
this album if you like metal that makes your head melt.
Andrew Culture
Power
Cowboys of the Apocolypse
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
I wonder if they know they’ve named their EP after an episode
of Red Dwarf? Power are a new Ippo band that have been creating
one hell of a storm round these parts. In an age of countless American
ProtoPunk bands (hell, just check out these review pages) Power
play good time music with the edge of happier days about it. The
first track (complete with battle sounds) would sound perfect sat
round a fire in the dank night air of the Reading Festival circa
1983. Power are quite simply daft, everything is overblown and
taken to the extreme. But where bands like Three Inches Of Blood
lose out big time by taking themselves far too seriously Power
have found a middle ground between the aforementioned band and
totally lampoonery a la The Darkness. There are more solos than
the Iron Maiden back catalogue, more motoring clichés than
an Aerosmith fan club and it’s a fuck sight more fun to listen
to than any so called metal band that I’ve heard in years.
They really have taken ever idea every metal band has had over
the last 30 years and crammed them into one short but perfect E.P.
The singing is bloody excellent and I was amazed to learn that
all vocals were by front man Buzz Grogan, including the deeeeeeep
bits on the second track. This was produced by blossoming legend
Ian Crow, and he even lends a few licks on a track or two. Get
your ripped jeans and faded black tee shirts out, wrap a bandana
round your head and through up them horns, Power are here to rock
your world motherfucker.
www.myspace.com/powerband
Actually don’t take the MySluts versions of the songs as
a fair representation, they are compressed to fuck and sound shite!
Andrew Culture
Queen Adreena
Live at the ICA
CDLP—ONE LITTLE INDIAN
(Work Hard PR)
Remember Daisy Chainsaw? Well this apparently is the band they
evolved into, I say ‘apparently’ as I seem to be the
human in this green and pleasant isle that didn't know that. This
band is everywhere right now, it’s impossible to pick up
one of them posh glam/ metal zines without seeing them featured
somewhere. I’ve gotta say I don’t get it, the music
plods and whilst is does have a slight scuzzy feel there’s
nothing there that grabs me. The vocals are cutesy sure enough,
but that just kinda got on my tits after about seven tracks. I
actually had to take this CD out of the player as is put me in
a really bad mood.
Andrew Culture
Resonate
Sonic Collision
CDEP—LONE SHARK RECORDS
I imagine a lot of reviews this band gets mention their young age,
well I’m not going to dwell on it as I’d only see that
as patronising and too close to sounding like I’m just surprised
that they’re not shit. And believe me they are FAR from shit,
they take the Refused type mold and totally mess with it. There
are moments on this EP that sound sublime and light and the whole
disc has a very staccato energy to it. At times it’s a shade
too stop start to grab hold of properly but on the whole this is
a cd that I’m very glad plopped through my door. The artwork
is smart too, it’s kinda stamped on with some sort of pencil,
very punk! They also have a bit of The Misnomer about them. Bollocks,
I’ve just realised I missed them, they played in Ipswich
a couple of days ago!
www.myspace.com/reso
Andrew Culture
Rezurex
Beyond the Grave
CDLP—CARGO RECORDS
(Division PR)
Gawd there’s a lot of Phychobilly about at the moment, thing
is this one ain’t half bad. Rezurex are a supergroup made
up by Nekromantix and Tiger Army. That should give you an idea
of the subject matter on offer here too. Songs like ‘Devil
Woman from Outer Space’ set the tone of the album. It’s
lightening fast tight complicated rock and roll with a certain
south of the usa border influence. If you’ve been wondering
where the actor that plays Lister in Red Dwarf is these days, well
according to this cover he’s in Rezurex.
Andrew Culture
Ruby Tombs
Those Who Can’t
CDEP—ART GOES POP RECORDS
If my dad could hear me listening to this he’d probably say
something like, “what is this crap?” Ruby Tombs play
a shouty akward largely undefined scratchy mess. The vocals are
like an angry Bow wow wow and the rest of the instrumentation appears
to have been recorded in different rooms, and is as if the band
never actually met. So why does it work so well?
Andrew Culture
The Sainte Catherines
Dancing for Decadence
CDLP—FAT WRECK CHORDS
Apparently this is the first French-Canadian band to sign to Fat,
but the looks of it they are also the first band to sign to Fat
with a pirate theme. The vocals sound like a nicer, more polite
and ultimately less gruff version of Sick of it all but their sound
bares no relation at all. There’s a very slight metal edge
to this band, but that sounds more like it’s coming from
the production that anything else. This is actually the first band
I’ve ever heard that reminded me of LoveJunk, but only for
the silly soundbites inbetween some of the tracks! Songs are all
hard punches, riffs are kicks and the THREE guitars are Chinese
burns. If you figure out what I mean by that please email me and
let me know. If you like this band then check out the Fanny Pads
at www.thefannypads.co.uk
Andrew Culture
Saves The Day
Sound the Alarm
CDLP—VAGRANT RECORDS
(Positive Nuisance PR)
Saves the Day are a real life cautionary tale when it comes to
major labels. The major they were on collapsed when Saves the Day
were poised to take over the world, but they carried on and managed
to sell 150,000 copies of their next album with no label support,
now that’s a whole lot of envelope stuffing! This album is
easy going guitar music, I don’t want to call it punk but
there’s a definite element of punk in the mix. Maybe if I
had to force myself to make it fit into a genre I’d invent
a new one and call it ‘RadioPunk’. This is a quality
band, I don’t particularly like them but I can appreciate
talent when I see it.
Andrew Culture
THE SECRET LIFE OF A TEENAGE PUNK ROCKER
THE ANDY BLADE CHRONICLES
CHERRY RED BOOKS - 200 PAGES.
Andy Blade was the founding member of Eater who were at the forefront
of the exploding UK Punk scene in 1976. This is his autobiography.
This anecdotal and lighthearted look at 1976 Punk isn’t bad
- no deep delving into ‘Situationist theory’ or anything
else really. Having Johnny Rotten throwing piss over him for accepting
a blowjob from Nora is about as deep as it gets. Joe Strummer thought
the Damned wanted to be Black Sabbath, Sid Vicious was a bully
(although you can’t hold it against him when it’s Billy
Idol he’s bullying), Lou Reed was weird (no! really?), Johnny
Thunders introduced smack to the UK Punk scene and lots more. After
the demise of the first wave of Punk Andy turned into a Hippy Stoner,
tried some transcendental meditation, reformed Eater in 1996 for
the Holidays In The Sun hair and cider festival in some cheesy
seaside place and had a run in with a clearly demented (and dishonest)
Bob Dylan. Then he had some fucked up relationships and that’s
it really. To my mind it’s OK, not essential but pleasant
and amusing enough for a couple of nights. Worth getting if you
know jack-shit about ‘76 Punk and you want a slice of unbiased
tales from then.
Graham Culture
Seventy Three
Mad Professor
CDEP—BUNKERUK RECORDS
(Manilla PR)
Imagine a cross between the Brand New Heavies and that chap with
all the hats (Jamariquoi?) but with some cockney humour. That’s
what you have hear, disco groove easy listening tracks to don your
tracksuit and head down your local nightclub to. All pretty funky
and despite the fact it’s not my bag, I could see myself
drunkenly dancing and falling over to this at a family wedding
or something.
Andrew Culture
Skrewworm
The Worm Has Turned
CDEP—SKREWDOWN RECORDS
This is a really odd mix of Phychobilly, Crust and late 80s Anarcho
sounding stuff. It appears to work though, there’s tons going
on to keep things interesting, not least the smooooooooooooth female
vocals. There’s a very loose vibe to the whole recording,
it does suit the band though.
www.skrewworm.co.uk
Andrew Culture
Shmoo
She Machine/ Plaything
CDEP—FAT NORTHERNER
(Manilla PR)
Hell, this really reminds me of some games my mates used to have
on Spectrum. When this first starts it makes lots of electronic
farty noises and belches and sounds like a million crappy electronica
bands that have recently sprung out of the woodwork. But then it
actually evolves into something pretty damn palateable. The press
sheet mentioned ‘raunch’ when describing the vocals,
which is normally an indicator that some lass is going to be huffing
and puffing like chain smoking monkey, but I’ve got to say
that for once the press sheet has got it right! If you like AIR
then you’ll love this, not to say it’s identical, but
considering it’s described as Electronica there’s a
shit load of depth there. My only slight cringe was the middle
8 where they take all the treble off the mix then bring it back
in, that Ibiza trick is getting a bit cheesy now ain’t it?
Andrew Culture
The Slackers
Peculiar
CDLP—HELLCAT RECORDS
(Goldstar PR)
I love the artwork for this album, it’s all laid out like
some sort of Victorian funfair, complete with freaks! The Slackers
are a New York band that sound like they grew up on a West Indian
plantation. I can just imagine them sat under palm trees, cheeb
in hand, playing their laid back roots Reggae. There’s the
commercial element in this band that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
had, this is Reggae made accessible. Apparently they put down the
rhythm tracks for this album live on stage, which is pretty impressive,
and I swear it’s given it a real smart vibe. Roll on summer!
Andrew Culture
Sofa Head
Pre-Marital Predicament
CDLP—BOSS TUNEAGE
Sofa Head are a female fronted melodic punk band formed out of
the ashes of 80’s anarcho punks ‘DAN’ they also
have members of ‘Leatherface’ and their sound is best
described as a combination of 80’s anarcho like Rudimentary
Peni and 90’s melodic emotional punk like Leatherface
This is a double album combining the albums “what a predicament’ and ‘pre-marital
yodelling’ The music is generally sombre and negative in
atmosphere, with the exception of dodgy funk track “this
town” I like the duel male/female vocals, it reminds me of
Becky Bondage sharing a stage with Lemmy from Motorhead.
The lyrics are outraged, intelligent feminist social comments,
Ranging in subject matter from media representation of women to
child abuse. The lyrics are mostly focused on issues of gender
equality, this becomes quite tiresome after awhile, especially
since there are 30 tracks on this double album, alright women have
a hard time! I get it!
My favourite track is ‘one for the road’, where the
duel vocals are used to full effect in a tune that reminds me of
Amebix. The style of music is varied, from metallic to funky, even
including a cover of The Doors ‘break on through’ and
an embarrassing cover of Suzanne Vega – ‘my name is
luca’ but most songs are simply melodic feminist anarcho
punk., and if you like that sort of thing you’ll enjoy this.
Ronnie
The Spheres
Phoenix Soul/ My Baby By Me
CDEP—BUNKERUK RECORDS
(Manilla PR)
The Sphere play laid back commercial soul, they sound competent
enough but this isn’t a music contest and it’s all
a bit Simply Red for me.
Andrew Culture
Squad 69 Vs She Said Shit
Bastard Squad!
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
This is a split E.P between two Bridgwater bands. I can’t
tell which of the three tracks were by which band, or indeed if
they were a collaboration (which I suspect, and if it’s true
then that’s unspeakably cool). All tracks are backed with
a Jesus and Mary Chain style 80s drum machine and metallic guitars
whilst the vocals veer towards Prolapse (female vox) and Chuwumbawumba
(make vox). There’s definite humour to this lo-fi bunch,
and the stand out track by far is the last one ‘Goldie Lookin’ Groover’.
Squad 69 are something of an all out assault on the senses, check
out there website for tons of smart videos and whatnot. I didn’t
think I liked this when I first heard it, and then I realised I’d
just listened to it about six times over! I’ve just noticed
Beat Motel mentioned on the back of this Ep, no idea what that’s
about! Seems far to easy to get mentioned in thanks sections on
stuff these days!
www.squad69.co.uk
Andrew Culture
The State Addiction
The Manhattan Project
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
No the Manhattan project isn’t some sort of loft conversion
kit from Ikea. So many bands that try and capture intensity just
end up sounding kinda like they are trying to fight their way out
of a deflating bouncy castle, well The State Addiction sound more
like they are charging at a 10,000 strong army carrying just those
wooden forks you get free from chip shops, and I mean that in a
good way. Proper intense slightly screamy punk in the vein of The
Refused. Good stuff.
Andrew Culture
THE STRAPS
THE PUNK COLLECTION
This CD features the Straps singles and their live/studio LP. Dates
from 1980 - 1982. New Age is great and Brixton was OK. Other than
that not too much to recommend it. They sound like they missed
the 1977 boat and just sounded dull in 1982. For collectors and
family members only.
Graham Culture
Summerslide
Lessons on how to detach
CD-LP LAPESADILLA RECORDS
Not more of this shite! The band describe themselves as pop-punk
on their website. The word pop-punk makes me think of amusing high
energy childishly offensive punk bands like The Toy Dolls or The
Briefs, Unfortunately this lot sound more like Simple Plan. The
American accents are so thick it makes me sick, I’ve had
enough by track three, where they bring out the acoustic guitars.
Stand out tracks? HA! They all sound the same to me.
I’ll summarise without going into too much detail, if you
like slow, boring melodic pop punk emo stuff with lyrics that sound
like they were ripped off of Boyzone then you’ll love this.
If you, like me, are tired of hearing this watered down, irritating,
meaningless crap being played in every music venue in the Western
world, with endless hordes of side parted hair sporting wankers
throwing away their parents hard earned cash on girls clothing,
then you will be appauled by this crap. Im trying to think of a
well balanced and less emotionally charged criticism to put forward
in this review, but the best I can think of is I hope they get
Aids and die!
Ronnie
Swellmaps
Wastrels and Whippersnappers
CDLP—OVERGROUND RECORDS
Take four or the oddest looking Brum kids and give them the worst
equipment in the world (including army surplus speakers), kids
toys and kitchen implements. Give them a primitive reel to reel
recorder and see what happens. This is pretty much the story of
this Swellmaps album, it’s a collection of (very) lo-fi recordings
from mid-seventies. Pre-empting punk, hip hop and maybe even industrial
music this album has a real charm to it, maybe it’s from
the ‘no rules’ attitude of the band, maybe it’s
the off key out of tune vocals. This album captures the exciting
formative years of the band and is obscure enough to appeal to
collectors as well as being accessible enough to appeal to anyone
that has never heard the Swellmaps. I’ve gotta say this also
reminds me of 1994 era Junk Culture!
Andrew Culture
Telford Mining Disaster
Rodeo Wine
CDLP—TAPEWYRM
(Manilla PR)
Gawd, all these bloody retro bands about at the moment, makes me
wanna puke. Telford Mining Disaster are the only so called retro
band that actually sound at all retro. The tracks on this long
player actually sound like they were recorded in a shared session
with The Small Faces. Maybe this is what the Monkees would have
sounded like if they were actually cool. Just to chuck a few more
obscure references at you, think The Stairs, The Cling and maybe
even Love. As the album goes on it develops a sort of charming
sloppyness, it’s cute but gets a bit tired though and ends
up making them sound like Hanson. The singing melody in the second
track does sound like the theme tune to Rentaghost though.
Andrew Culture
Textures
Drawing Circles
CDLP—LISTENABLE RECORDS
Predictable metal bollocks
Andrew Culture
THE HISTORY OF NO FUTURE
HE VIOLATORS : THE NO FUTURE YEARS
CDLP - ANAGRAM RECORDS
Double CD compilation of No Future Records singles. All this stuff
was released 1981 - 1983. Pretty good actually. There is , of course,
some drivel - ROSE OF VICTORY (cack Bowie cover), ATTAK (Blitz
played by 8 year olds), SCREAMING DEAD (proto goth), ABH (dullards),
CRUX (just shit). But the good outweighs the average here with
some sterling UK Punk rock from PETER & THE TEST TUBE BABIES
(Banned from the Pubs, Up Yer Bum), THE VIOLATORS (Summer of 81 & Gangland
- both classics), THE BLOOD (Megalomania - bit like the Damned
circa ‘79), RED ALERT, THE PARTISANS, CHANNEL 3 (I’ve
Got A Gun - a fantastic proto US hardcore band), THE SAMPLES, THE
INSANE (El Salvadore) and probably the most famous - BLITZ. Not
too sure about the titles of the Blitz tunes (Someones Gonna Die
Tonight & Razors In The Night) but, by fuck, the music is fantastically
paced steam hammer punk! All in all this 54 track compilation is
well worth the cash. Good informative booklet too. Which brings
us neatly to THE VIOLATORS compilation. As I said above the two
tracks Gangland & Summer of 81 are great punk classics from
1982 but then the band folded and went shite. This 16 track compilation
features those 2 tracks and maybe another 3 that are any good then
a pile of filler shite. Theres an hilarious live version of Summer
of 81 (someone from the crowd is singing ‘ACAB’ throughout
- clearly a true fan). Funnily enough the No Future comp features
the 5 good tracks which makes the Violators CD totally redundant.
Graham Culture
Things Found in Sharks
Splinters
CDEP—SELF RELEASE
I’ve been looking forward to getting my mits on this for
a while. I’ve been a fan of the band for some time but their
old recordings have failed pretty miserably to capture the spirit
of the band. In the past, and without a decent producer the sheer
power and energy this band kicks out live somehow translated into
a barely reasonable jangly indie mumble. Thank god they found the
fantastic Ian Crow and Amblin Man studios. This release is Things
Found in Sharks arriving in the world fully prepared, polished
and kicking fucking arse. Live this band cuts a slice through any
venue, and although it’s said about far too many bands these
days they really ARE emotive. First track ‘So Hard So Far’ features
the band’s trademark breaks, wandering (in a good way) lyrics
and slight Dinosaur Jnr vocals style and bounding instrumentation
stuck together with the strongest possible musical glue. Each track
spews out it’s own unique personality. In a lot of ways each
song is like a chapter in a novel. Starting with the character
intro ‘So Hard, So Far’, settling into the pace