COLT 45 - Chasing Yesterday EP

COLT 45 sound like the Manic Street Preachers meeting The Gaslight Anthem at an 80's Rock Disco. The Cumbrian three piece put a positive, powerful and passionate spin on small town angst, teenage disillusion and frustration with their melodic riffs at the ready catchy power pop punk racket. The 5 track Chasing Yesterday EP was released in 2011 and gained many favourable reviews along the way from Kerrang, Rock Sound and Big Cheese magazines.

Colt 45 are currently touring with Electric River, in the past they've supported UK Subs, The Damned and the Buzzcocks. Check out the Chasing Yesterday EP here! and visit them on facebook here!

CHELSEA - Live @ Reading Festival 1978

1978 was the year that Punk broke at the Reading Rock Festival, with The Jam, Sham 69, Penetration, Radio Stars, Patti Smith and TRB playing across the weekend. Chelsea played on the Sunday (27th Aug) although Friday was billed as 'Punk Night' which was when The Jam had problems with their sound and trashed some equipment, skinheads attacked hippies and trouble flared during Sham 69's set. A 45 minute film; The Kids are United, or Kids Like Me and You as it's sometimes called was made of some of the Fridays Punk night proceedings, it's quite obscure and I've not come across a copy before, although there are some clips of The Jam, Penetration and Sham 69 from the festival on YouTube. Anyway back to Chelsea, can't remember where I got this recording from, but respect to whoever, dunno if it's the complete set, cos it's only six songs long. The quality is not that great, can't hear Gene's vocals too well, but it aint that bad, and it is what it is, which is a piece of punk history. Get a bit here!

THE FITS / PURE PRESSURE - Demos.

Someone requested a re-up for the PURE PRESSURE demo, so here it is, as a bit of a bonus I've included a 1985 demo from THE FITS here, which sounds like Slaughter and The Dogs meeting The Cult and was a pointer towards the musical direction Pure Pressure took. The text below is from the original post:

The Fits came from Blackpool, and were a slight cut above the rest of the 1980’s Punk bands; with their Rock’n’Roll tinged Punk rock tunes; less thrash more trash! Sadly they split up around 1985 amongst a mess of eyeliner and violence. Singer Mickey Fits had taken to wearing make up on stage, as a reaction to the violence that often marred Punk gigs during the 80’s. Fortunetly this wasn’t the last to be heard of Mickey, who went on to form Pure Pressure, along with a couple more members of The Fits, their sound veered to the more rocky side of things, coming across like a slightly less heavy Zodiac Mindwarp or The Cult, while still maintaining a punk rock sensibility. Good stuff! Give it a blast

A Song 4 Sunday - THEM 'N' US!

A RED SUN RISES OVER ANOTHER NEW CRISIS / IT'S OF THEIR OWN DOING / BUT IT WILL BE OUR RUIN // SHUT THE UNSTABLE DOOR AFTER THE HORSE HAS BOLTED / THE CAKE THEY SERVE US TASTES REVOLTING // PEOPLE BLAME EVERYONE EXCEPT THEMSELVES / SO LONG AS THERE'S STUFF TO FILL THE SHELVES // JOHNNY FOREIGNER TAKES OUR JOBS AND HOMES / RACIST BIGOTS START TO MOAN // THE STATES TARGETS MUST BE REACHED / HUMAN RIGHTS ARE BEING BREACHED // EAST AND WEST LEFT AND RIGHT // ALL THEY EVER DO IS FIGHT // BLOW THE WHISTLE BANG A DIFFERENT DRUM // LET THEM KNOW THEIR TIME WILL COME!! // C) NPW 17/2/13

VIVE LE ROCK - Death Or Glory (A Compilation)

Right then, as the new issue of Vive Le Rock has hit the newsagent stands, with Johnny Thunders on the cover, and a great feature inside on the man, the myth and the murder. (No free CD, but a free double sided Thunders / Adam Ant poster) It's time to post the previous issues free disc.

Some of the bands on this CD need no introduction, like the sleazy Rock'n'Roll splendour of THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH for example, who kick off this 14 track collection with a remastered version of Things Go Bump. I've reviewed both THE REVERENDS and THE NOVEMBER FIVE's albums elsewhere on this blog, both were bought on the strength of their tracks; Give It Up Son and Here We Come from this compilation. I would have also spent cash on the MARK VENNIS & DIFFERENT PLACE one, but didn't have enough to spare, their track Portsdown Hill is a beautiful cinematic power pop ballad about the freedom of growing up. The piano pounding JIM JONES REVUE need no descriptions, Never Let You Go gets yer speakers rattling. With just a guitar and his voice PATRIK FITZGERALD is one of Britain great lost songwriters, his track Ambition is a testimony to that fact. Testify by DYNAMITE PUSSY CLUB is a mighty blast of garage punk. FLIPRON's Round and Round The Sun is a pop punk 60's psychedelic influenced tune, produced by Rat Scabies. Fun Police by THE FUCKWITS is just that, a fun knock about punk anthem reminiscent of Stiff Little Fingers. THE DESTRUCTORS are the purveyors of the finest Punk/Metal racket and turn in another mighty row with The End of The World is Coming Today. Never Let You Down by PIPES AND PINTS sounds like The Clash meeting The Pogues. THE GO GO CULT's My Baby Drives A UFO is a B-Movie Rockabilly romp. CHRIS POPE was the former singer/guitarist in mod punkers The Chords and Mutiny On The Thames is a catchy saxophone laced protest song. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah by the BLACKBOMBERS is a blast of Blues and Soul tinged Rock'n'Roll. Once again there's something for everyone here. Enjoy!

I suffered the miss fortune of hearing One Directions new single; One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) on the telly the other day, what a crock of bland, banal and boring bollocks the Brits music awards were, not that I expected anything less, but it was extra bad this year! Anyway, back to One Direction, and their abomination of a couple of songs from my youth, that have been mixed and mashed up for today’s youth. Why did no one from Blondie and The Undertones say no fucking way will we allow our songs to be murdered and slaughtered in such a manner. Surely the music is more important than the money. I know the single is for the Comic Relief Charity, but I ain’t fuckin' laughing!

This is an X-Factor generation who have the past recycled and presented to them as the future,

it has been debased and destroyed, rendered unrecognisable thanks to the cultural mincer it gets fed through by record company executives in pursuit of the dollars and pounds.

One Direction a great British export, who have sold millions of records worldwide and done some great business for UKplc. It just goes to show how stupid the whole world is. Forget the emperors new clothes, it's more than that; Simon Cowell is the pied piper, leading a generation of young people across the globe through a world that isn't real, pulling the strings and playing the tune with his Five spotless yoofs, and their image of perfection and happiness. He is selling a lie and exploiting the emotions of millions of young people for profit and should be arrested for child abuse!

U.K SUBS - XXIV (*A Review*)

Charlie Harper and his United Kingdom Subversives are almost there in their mission to release an album for every letter of the alphabet. XXIV is the 24^th UK Subs album, and it's one of two halves each in places as brutal and beautiful as the other one,  it catches the Subs at the top of their game. The importance of the UK Subs in the history of punk rock should never be forgotten and XXIV is a reminder to those who may have lost their minds! It encapsulates everything that makes the Subs such a great band, and sounds like all the best bits from A to W. It takes no prisoners, its an aural assault, a sonic cosh that gets yer head banging and bangs yer head. at the same time. The musicianship is masterful and Pat Collier has done another brilliant production job. There's plenty of social and political commentary, delivered in a series of short sharp shocks to the senses with, ringing, singing guitars, power house drums and thumping, throbbing bass, and some great vocal delivery. These are frenzied stomping songs of freedom delivered with power, passion and conviction. With their fingers on the pulse the UK Subs are the beating punk rock heart.

From the total rock out of opening track Implosion 77 to the thumping and crunching closer Momento Mori the songs on the 'electric' album explode and rain down like a blitzkrieg. Song writing duties on XXIV have been shared amongst the band, which gives the album a broad mix of songs, ranging from the almost metal to the total punk, there's even a Rockabilly vibe going on in Wreckin' Ball. Bassist Alvin Gibbs takes over the vocals for several numbers, including the rather brilliant Black Power Salute, which waves a fist of freedom in the air, “....to signify the truth.” The harmonica laced blues punk social commentary of Coalition Government Blues is what it says on the tin. Speed thrashes about at a furious pace and Rabid is just that, a rapid romp of crashing guitars and pounding drums. Garden Of Good And Evil chugs and chops its way down the Rock'n'Roll highway. Workers Revolution lifts the lid on the capitalist con with beefy guitars, crashing drums and a catchy call to arms to find our own solution. Failed State is the bastard puppy of Iggys I Wanna Be Your Dog.

UK Subs in the studio (Pic courtesy of Time and Matter)

The bonus   acoustic tracks build on the foundations Charlie laid with the Urban Dogs acoustic album, if you thought that was good, you should hear this one. It contrast brilliantly with the rest of XXIV. Starting off off with a Mott The Hoople cover Angel Of Eighth Avenue, lovingly sung by Alvin Gibbs. The Outsider is a haunting lament for those living on the fringes of society. Stop Global War is another classic UK Subs anti-war number. Higher Tide is a punk rock sea shanty about sailing away from it all. Stormy Day is another sea and sailing inspired strum along and Little Black Crow takes a trip down a country road. Then there's Thunders In The Rain, which is Alvin Gibbs tribute to Johnny Thunders. I say tribute, but it's more of a warning to those that wanna emulate their hero.

A must have album? Most definitely! There' more than enough spread out over the 26 tracks to not only keep the die hard UK Subs fan happy, but also to challenge them, and if there's any Rock'n'Roller out there that doesn't have a UK Subs album, then this aint a bad place to start. XXIV doesn't disappoint, it's up there with the best of 'em, but it's also gonna take a hell of a lot for the Subs to top it, and they've only got a couple of letters left, so here's to Y and Z.

AVAILABLE NOW ON CAPTAIN OI RECORDS.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Live @ Bay 63, London 27/10/86

Nikki Sudden and Roland S Howard

Someone asked for some more live Nikki Sudden, so here we go then, lets take a trip back to Bay 63 under the Westway in Ladbrook Grove, London in October 1986. I've gone for this one for the simple reason that I went along to this, not that I can tell you anything much about the evening, other than it was slightly chaotic, as were several of the other Nikki Sudden gigs I went to around 86/87 (Sir George Robey and Camden Palace), or was that just me? Could explain why my recollections are rather limited to remembering lots of paisley shirts and pudding bowel* haircuts, and I would say a sea of scarves, but I don't remember it being that packed. I do remember a relatively unknown band at that time My Bloody Valentine being on the bill, they went on to big things with their lo-fi feedback rumblings, they didn't do anything for me back then, nor did they impress me in their later ear splitting shoegazing NME days. This gig was a launch for Nikki's Texas album, which was his first release on Creation Records, it also marked the beginnings of his musical partnership with Roland S Howard; around the time Texas was being recorded Roland met up with Nikki and played on a couple of tracks on the album. He also joined him for several live performances, including this one, they then went on to record a couple of sublime and suicidal albums together; Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc and Dead Men Tell No Tales, before parting company and going their separate ways.

A big regret was not picking up a copy of this from one of the bootleg tape stalls in Camden Market during the late 80's, probably the same source as this recording came from....???? Talking of which, I'd like to credit t where I got this copy from, but I'm fucked if I can remember who or where it came from, but thanx to whoever from where ever!  and you can get it here ENJOY!

*A spelling mistake I noticed, but I thought I'd keep it as it was for humorous reasons, because I've always thought those bowl haircuts looked shit! 

Is the Pope a Catholic?

No not if he's the first one to stand down for 600 years. Ill health? A pope is for life not just for Christmas, they go on forever, unless they are assassinated. Did he jump or was he pushed? Perhaps the Catholic Church have had enough of his retarded views on homosexuality, AIDS and women in the church, or was he caught with a couple of young boys under his papal robes. I dunno, something smells funny, and it's not the incense!

  

SCUM OF TOYTOWN - Live @ The Red Lion, Stevenage 7/2/13 (*A Review*)

Jon, Lea and Nick  (Photo by: Grant Meaby)

Scum Of Toytown are not yer usual 'ska punk' band, yeah they've got the vibe, but there's a lot more going on; with 60's drum beats and rolls, a hardcore Bass rumble and grumble, a twin Guitar attack of Rock'n'Roll chops and psychedelic prog rock licks, all topped of with some dulcet folky tinged vocals, which contrast beautifully with the shouting and screaming backing vocals, then there's the Melodica.... On paper such an eclectic mix of influences and sounds shouldn't work together, but this is Rock'n'Roll not origami and it's all about tearing up the rule book and Scum Of Toytown tore it up leaving it in tattered pieces on the beer and sweat soaked floor of The Red Lion.

Live the band feed of a hungry audience and serve up a musical feast which ensures feet are taping and bodies are skanking. Their set tonight was a mixture of the old and new, all played with the energy, enthusiasm and abandon of folk half their age. There were times during their set when I was taken back twenty years to places like The Sir George Robey, Bowes Lyon House, Harlow Square, amongst other venues were Scum kicked up a racket and rocked the roofs off, pretty much like the did tonight at the Red Lion.  The SoT political message is just as relevant now as it was then, if not more. Question the world around you, take a stand and try and build a better one.  This band have always had the potential to do something, what that something is, only they know the answer to that, but whatever it is, it'll be on their own terms, and in their own time.

A new album has been recorded and is in the final process of being mixed, there's a gig in Camden in March and a couple in Germany in May. Further info and some videos and music can be found at their website and on their facebook page.

Marker pen philosophy

 What a great retort to who ever drew the swastika.

We eat horses don't we.

Dinner's ready!

Their wonderful world of capitalism rides into more trouble with the horse meat scandal/fiasco/crisis. A distraction from something else, an over reaction to something, or another example for people to see what the capitalist system is really like.

It's about the supply and demand. People demand cheap food, so that's what the producers supply.

Times are hard, families are buying cheaper food, producers, suppliers all want to maintain their profits, using horse meat is a sure-fire way of reducing costs and maintaining profits. If they get caught then the food industry can blame it on a 'criminal conspiracy'

Its all the budget brands that horse meat has been found in. Let the poor eat any old shit, and that's the thing, no-one has tasted the difference between horse and beef, no riding silks or horse shoes have been found in burgers, so what's the problem? Horse meat isn't harmful*, I suppose it's not having been given the choice, and because it's horse and people are sensitive to eating animals that have been domesticated. I did hear some arse on the radio saying that it's the consumers fault for demanding cheap convenient food, bollocks The responsibility lies with the manufacturers and retailers of the product, they made it, and they're selling it now it's their turn to pay.

People have been lied to, well that's their fault for believing that capitalism provides everything they need and want. The consumer is being lied to all the time, buy this it'll bring you happiness, use this brand and it'll bring instant success. People are stupid, and the capitalist corporations and companies know that, which is why they do what they do.  Things are cheap for a reason....it because they're shit, or in the case of some burgers/lasagne’s, because they are full of shit, and I'm pretty sure this has been going on for quite a while now, it's just no-ones been caught, until now.

Capitalism 100% Bullshit!

*Since typing this I have heard that the horses used in the products may have been infected with equine AIDS, how true this is I don't know, I mean I can't imagine there's gonna be any scaremongering going on....

GODS LONELY MEN - Article/Review/Interview.

Chemical Landslide is the album by GLM (Gods Lonely Men) What an album....Fourteen tracks of Rock'n'Roll energy from Pete Stride, Pete 'Esso' Haynes and Nigel Moore, formerly known as The Lurkers. GLM could easily have become The Lurkers MKIII, but they are not, they've kept a link to their past but aimed straight for the future, and....Bullseye! They've hit the target! 2013 not 1977/78. The progression of time is reflected in the song-writing and playing, which sounds now and not then. There is that old Lurkers feel to the songs on Chemical Landslide, but there's something else, something a bit heavier and darker, a claustrophobic beauty and bleakness, a warm darkness that engulfs and absorbs you.

What follows is an Interview/Article/Feature on GLM. It has been constructed from some emailed questions to Pete Stride and Nigel Moore, and a phone call from Pete'Esso'Haynes.

During the conversation with Esso I probably did too much listening and talking and not enough writing of notes, and then struggling to read the hasty scribblings I did take. Anyway, enough let the show begin.

Nigel Moore - Bass

HOW COME ITS TAKEN NEARLY 30 YEARS FOR YOU GUYS TO RECORD/RELEASE MORE MUSIC?

I think we all just wanted to do different things and none of us wanted to join up and just trot out old Lurkers numbers again and again.  Happily once we decided to start recording again the creative juices flowed easily.  If it had been a painful process we would have knocked it on the head. - Nigel Moore

I got a phone call from Nigel a couple of years ago,could I meet him and Esso down the road (pub) that night to talk about getting back together and making an album, well that sounded good cos I had started playing quite a lot of guitar again after a long break and I also had some rough ideas for a couple of songs. So anyway we met up and it became clear that none of us was too keen on going out as The Lurkers yet again. we felt that the name had been very over exposed and devalued through Arturo’s efforts. Esso suggested Gods Lonely Men so that there was a clear link which old fans would pick up on, and I said lets make it a bit more punchy and go for GLM. So it was decided......- Pete Stride

WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN DOING DURING YOUR HIATUS?

Pete'Esso'Haynes - Drums

I gave up touring with the Lurkers in 1990,Ii wasnt enjoying it anymore,once Esso and Nigel had left it really didnt feel like the same band.i took a good long break from music and then around "95 I started learning about recording and mixing stuff in a small home studio  .I was doing stuff with keyboards and drum machines and it was good fun for a while.  I started getting back to playing guitar again about 5 years ago – Pete Stride

I went off to University directly after I quit The Lurkers but I've kept playing in bands/writing music practically all through.  I even played drums (sort of) and recorded in a Rockabilly/Rock & Roll band for a while –Nigel Moore

Pete'Esso'Haynes also went to University, lived in Belfast and worked with a victims group, and has had several books published, including one called Gods Lonely Men, which takes “an insiders journey through Punk Rock while maintaining an outsiders view on society” Check out his website for more info about his books and plays.

HOW COME THE SOUND HAS BECOME HEAVIER AND THE SONGS DARKER THANTHOSE YOU DID WITH THE LURKERS?

The heavier sound just developed naturally,we didnt plan it out that way.but once i started using the more "metal"guitar sounds everything seemed to fall into place.the effect of having my voice(which is quite light sometimes) combined with the hard guitars gives a bit of an atmosphere to the material i think,makes it a bit "haunting"maybe. also the lyrics are somewhat darker than in the past but I will say more about that later.... -Pete Stride.

WAS IT A DELIBERATE MOVE NOT TO BE THE LURKERS MK3?

We wanted to add to the old Lurk's sound not ignore it. It's important to keep up your interest when rehearsing/recording songs and to do this you must challenge yourself musically otherwise you get a severe case of head rot. To my mind a band that is simply trying to recreate their old glories 30 years on is pitiful, it shows a complete lack of imagination. With 'Chemical Landslide' The Lurkers sound has been added to not ignored. - Nigel Moore

It took 3 years to record We didn't attempt to make it sound like anything different. The sound just evolved naturally as there was no pressure with recording or releasing the songs. - Pete'Esso'Haynes

WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE/REACTION TO THE ALBUM BEEN LIKE?

Really good.  We've had constantly good reviews from all publications we sent the album to and positive comments on our web site from those who have bought the album. - Nigel Moore

Actually I am very chuffed with the reaction to the album,we have had some of the best reviews we have ever had. I think people realise that we are putting a lot into it and genuinely trying make exciting and current music that isn’t stuck in the past.
Also we have just started to get some airplay on underground and college radio in the States which should help to get our name out there, we know its gonna be a slow process but that’s fine. - Pete Stride

It was recorded live in a small box room, using no click track or funny trickery. The drums were recorded in one take, which gave a raw live feel, with no time to be flash as we had limited resources. - Pete'Esso'Haynes

Esso feels that GLM have a broader sound than the punk bands of today, with poppy melodies and dark lyrics, he then talked about getting the album played on Metal/Rock Radio Stations, and went on to say that the band are proud of the album. (...and so they should be.)

DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING A LURKERS MK3?

Yes.  This was a concern all through recording, would the old Lurk's fans reject it.  Luckily this has not been the case. - Nigel Moore

The band were not restrained by boundaries or barriers. - Pete'Esso'Haynes

Pete Stride - Vocals/Guitar.

Now I'll hand you over to Pete Stride to talk us through the recording of some of the songs on the album and how some of the lyrics came about. Although Pete is the main songwriter, as Esso pointed out GLM are greater than the sum of their parts. Here we go then....Pete's thoughts about the albums recording, and some of its significant songs.

Now is the Winter

Very important song for us,it was the first and also the basic GLM sound was developed during its recording. When we began I had the opening riff and the verse and a rough chorus,it sounded ok but needed a bit extra. We decided that halfway through there would be a total stop and there would be some kind of solo guitar part which would lift things up. so we tried it a few times but I wasn’t coming up with anything very exciting,then out of the blue I switched to a big metal guitar sound I had programmed into an old digitech stomp box and just started playing this really nasty but cool riff the others joined in one by one and we just played that riff for about 3 minutes,when we stopped we all just looked at each other and said "that’s it,that the fucking sound" .Once the song was recorded I did a mix of it which was ok but simply not loud enough to compete with pro stuff,I sent it off to a mastering studio I found online. A couple of days later the man from the studio called,he sounded a bit shocked,he said all the dials in his studio had all gone straight into the red and he wasn’t able to work with it. Esso made some calls and Pat Collier was recommended , we took a long drive across London to Pats studio and he said no problem he would mix it for us and he ended up mixing the whole album eventually.

Beyond the Pale

We wanted to try and do something that wasn’t 4/4 time and also had a quiet/loud dynamic like Nirvana,think it worked out well and is maybe my best vocal, think I had all the vocals recorded within an hour or so which is pretty good its also got some impressive drumming from Esso.

Chemical Landslide

Probably the most obvious "single"on the album, very tight arrangement and plenty of attack. Nigel came up with the end chorus section which really lifts the song towards the end. maybe the vocal is a bit light but I think it works ok.
When we came to record Landslide coda we still had our guitars tuned down from some earlier songs and I don’t think the key was great for my voice but we were running out of time so we let it go.

Every nights a story

With this song the whole sound came together and it became the benchmark for the songs which followed Pretty good vocal and a big bonus for me was having some space to let rip on the lead guitar for a change.

Army of angels

We were going for a real metal sound on this one,don’t think we quite managed that but its meaty stuff and a nice big chorus too.

Now here is a little bit from Pete about the lyrics: 

Often the lyrics just come into my head without really thinking about it and I will write them down and try an make sense of it all later,I think it is important for me to work like that because I feel that I am getting some kind of emotional "truth"that way, also I have steered clear of trying to force concepts into songs on this album. There is a definite darker feel to the words now which I wasn’t particularly aware of until other people started mentioning it. Hopefully its not actually depressing though, I think maybe a lot of it is simply to do with getting older and going through all the things which that entails, my mum was extremely ill and only just made it through and I also lost a good friend who died ,so it all has an effect on you,

I'd like to thank Pete, Pete and Nigel for taking the time and effort to make this post happen, but for more importantly recording and releasing, a very special album, one of the best I've heard in a long while.  Right then....That's it for this article/interview/feature, all that's remains to be said is to get hold of a copy of the album. It drops you down then picks you up while punching the air and kicking the ground at the same time. Lurkers fans will not be disappointed, because some of the tunes on Chemical Landslide are the best that The Lurkers never wrote. Get hold of a copy from their web-site.  There are no immediate plans for any GLM gigs, but they do intend to play live in the not to distant future.