Posts Tagged ‘punk’

There is no substitute for passion in music, technical proficiency will get you so far but it won’t make a good song.   You can make writing a great song seem easy, but it is not easy to write a great song if you don’t believe in what you are doing.   And with that little bit of pomp it leads me onto The Dead Beggars Club and their ‘Do Or Die’ EP.   Arriving with no fanfare and just a hand scribbled disc, all the quality is saved for the five tracks contained within.

Debut single ‘Got Soul’ gets the whole thing underway, a gritty punk number with deliberately rough edges built around the hollering chorus.  It fulfils the brief of an attention grabbing opener.

‘Take My Chances’ starts off like The Supernatural’s ‘Smile’ before being hijacked by Chelsea and ‘Forever We Are Blessed’ is a more restrained rocker, but underneath still beats an anarchic heart.

Title track ‘Do Or Die’ is nestled near the end of the EP and the shouty dual vocals coupled with some frenetic drumming imbue it with infectious energy.

Pick of the bunch though has to be ‘Don’t Go’, with its bouncing bass rattle and ska- punk feel verse matched by the irresistible chorus, this is the kind of song that makes you fall in love with a band.

I am sure The Dead Beggars Club have a well-worn but impressive record collection, there are traces of everyone from The Jam to Rancid in the sound, but delivered with the confidence of a band wanting to do more than just ape their heroes.

With the attitude of The Clash and the indie nouse of The Libertines, The Dead Beggars Club offer some straight up rock ‘n’ roll, no frills but all the better for it.  In these uncertain times it is good to know there are still some real bands out there, hearts on sleeves, playing like they mean it.

Jules says….

To find out more about the band and hear some tracks just click HERE.

The grumpy old men are back with a new EP, seven new tracks of righteous indignation, ‘Be Grateful’ takes up the burning torch lit in ‘Out Of Office Assistance’ and waves it around the stationary cupboard on their way out of the office.

There is still some rage left for the corporate life, ‘Poor Wretches’ is a ‘Them & Us’ tale of the ‘people at the top’ telling us we should ‘Be grateful for what’ve got’ and get on with it but the band have new sources of irritation this time too. 

Upon leaving the confines of their button down lives in search of salvation the band have found a new source of ire; musical fashion.   Both ‘Indie Trendy’ and ‘The Scene’ take a swipe at the style over substance band culture rife right now and the NME followers more concerned with haircuts than songs.

‘Indie Trendy’ particularly takes aim and fires at the scensters  ‘How do they breath, in those skinny fit jeans, where does the penis go, it’s so confusing’ nicely articulates what many of us have been thinking.  There is even some nice ‘Carry On’ style word play with the ‘so you’re in a band, that’s brilliant, doesn’t mean you have to dress and act like a complete and utter cun…..stable, arrest that man, he stole the identity from someone on the cover of the NME’ line raising a smile and no doubt an eyebrow.

Closing the EP, ‘The Scene’ takes a broader swing at the cliquey nature of the current music scene and the feeling of being on the outside looking in, not quite understanding why everyone else loves it and you don’t.  With just a hint that perhaps they are mellowing, our protagonist is left wondering whether the alienation actually does comes from the ‘scene’ or the fact that ‘I was drinking a lot more back then’…

Apart from the charmingly brief ‘Dystopian Ditty’ adding a little percussion, the 3 guitar and vocal format is adhered to and whilst this places a certain limit on their appeal/scope, the strength of the lyrical content dispels boredom.  There is a subtle improvement in the recording of this EP, the DIY feel is still there but the edges are smoother.  Once more the Barefaced Cynics have produced a punk record with an acoustic guitar, nice one.

Jules says….

To download the EP or find out more then click HERE.

On the impress-me-o-meter (patent pending), ‘one of Pete Doherty’s favourite bands’ ranks somewhere alongside ‘as seen on Britain’s Got Talent’ or ‘now available at McDonalds’, it is more likely to put me off then get me parting with my hard earned cash.  But maybe that is just me; Doherty is still regarded by some as the people’s poet after all.

Thankfully though, once initial prejudices have been swept aside, The Skuzzies are actually good, well, really good.  It is almost a ‘does what it says on the tin’ affair, for The Skuzzies essentially are a ‘skuzzier’ version of The Libertines mixed with some Stiff Little Fingers style attitude.  In fact in the time it has taken me to start writing this review I have actually just added the CD to my collection and listened to it every couple of days, almost forgetting it was supposed to be assessed rather than assimilated.

The overall sense of the album is that of The Clash, not so much in a direct comparison but because like The Clash, The Skuzzies chew up a little punk/pop/reggae/rock and spit it out the other side, with consummate ease it should be said.

Setting the pace is the White Stripes on 78rpm opening whirl of ‘Hungry As A Hound’ followed sharply by the straight up punk of ‘More Than This’.   Pulsing bass and chiming guitars introduce ‘The Unknown Principle’ before the stabbing chords and the sneering ‘If blood is bondage, then what is love?’ chorus punctuate the calm.

The ska punk beat of ‘Dissatisfied’ is positively drawled over by vocalist/guitarist Jerome Alexandre before he seemingly strangles a solo out of his guitar.  If by this time you haven’t at least nodded along approvingly then I can only assume you are dead.  You may want to see someone about that if so.

‘Rich Girls’ is insanely catchy, vaguely reminiscent of Electric Six’s ‘Gay Bar’ but only if the Sex Pistols’ had written it.  ‘Rich Girls, they’re so devious’ and ‘You want to talk to me, don’t want to talk to you’ certainly give the impression we are unlikely to see any of the band courting (that’s what the kids call it, right?) ‘The little dogs in handbags’ brigade anytime soon. 

Even with the meandering of the final track ‘Heartache Accelerates’ and its bladder taunting sound effects giving way to ‘On the Corner’ (with added Pete Doherty), this album still comes in at under 40 minutes. But you won’t care about that as you’ll be too busy pressing play and listening again.

Jules says….

Find out more about The Skuzzies HERE.

If Jamie Ramsey, Delia Lawson or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall-Worrall-Thompson were to knock up a “New Favourite Band recipe” it might resemble the following;

Start with some rowdy punk

Add a splash of rock ‘n’ roll

Spice with some black metal

Leave to stew in some classic rock.

Get Jon Baizley from Baroness to design an eye catching album cover and serve with vocals screamed in Norwegian washed down with a cheeky flagon of mead and enough Norse mythology to give a Thor a headache.

Nobody wants to proclaim the second coming, only to be duly revealed as gobbing off about the newest Stiltskin. So it can be difficult to approach a review for one of the bands of the moment without some cynicism. All that went out of the window though by the time opener Ulvetid had successfully cut and shut four reasonably distinct musical genres.  Hefty production values served a crunchy metallic punk that seemingly is not intense enough, demanding instead a step up to the next level through a nifty blast of black metal fury. A comedown is then required and is given of sorts via some rowdy 12 bar blues (yes think Status Quo off their tits on Dragon juice at a Lordi house party) that leads into a post rock outro that almost blissfully gives the listener a chance to collect their thoughts and check their bollocks. All this after only three and a half minutes.

What impresses most is despite the cacophany there has been some thought and consideration put into the song craft here. Having three guitarists can seem for bands a missed opportunity but there is some harmonising and winding riffery, see Offernatt in particular. (Norwegian for Off Her Nut…possibly.) What also impresses is the ready made T-Shirt slogan of track seven...Sultans of Satan…nuff said methinks.

The standout tracks though are the closing two. Ordsmedar Av Rang sees Kvelertak build to powerful yet melodic hooks and Utryd dei Svake swirls with threatening feedback and percussive bludgeon before chugging off and leaving us with a chirpy outro worthy of The Wildhearts.

It’s a tricky subject, genre labeling. Bands hate it, but it’s a necessary evil for a review site. But think  Entombed, think Converge, think Black Sabbath, think the Stooges, think ABBA (kidding), think having a bastard good time of it and you may understand the spectrum of influence at work here.

Seemingly though, Kvelertak are so unfashionable and so unconcerned with being so that cycles being cycles means they are taking music forward. Pleasingly, it’s one of the most uplifting albums you’ll hear as a result. Just ask Dave Grohl, he’s had them out supporting the Foos.

New Favourite Band…Done.

big g.

New Vintage Retro Punk…… if the NME can make up music tags then why can’t we?!?!  Latest offering from the new incarnation of the Heavy Metal Kids.  ‘Uncontrollable’ is the first track from a promised new album, a pure slice of punk-rock.  You can read a review of the single on this very site…