THE BRAINIAC 5 - Journey To X (*A REVIEW*)

The Braniac 5's new album is indeed a Journey....It is a full on post-psychedelic prog rock punk trip! Absorbing and atmospheric, Pink Floyd meets Yes on the hallucinogenic highway along with some folk and jazz that they've picked up along the way. The songs submerge the listener in sound, The Human Scapegoat is a twelve minute mystical exploration that warns of progress, self destruction and a need to search for a simpler life, while The World Inside swings and seduces you. If you fancy summat a bit different from yer usual Punk'n'Roll The Braniac 5's Journey To X is one well worth taking.

WHAT'S DONALD BEEN TRUMPING ABOUT?

The usual shit....

First week in office has seen agreements signed away, Walls to go up, when it's bridges that are needed. It's a time to connect not to contain and constrict. Why should the rest of the world worry about what goes on in America? Apart from a return to the dark ages, as Trump bars Muslims from everywhere except Saudi Arabia from entering the USA, Money talks, Bullshit walks! Rights and Civil Liberties are signed away in a fervour of fear. Why indeed should the rest of the world care?

Well....where people lead others follow, and as leader of the so-called Free World, the position of President is a rather important role for a Misogynistic Bigot to have, it will legitimise similar behaviours in people; the rise of Race hate crime, sexism in the work place etc, That's if we let it happen. Like it or not Brexit and Trump have happened. We have to accept that, but what we don't have to accept is the Bullshit! Or 'Alternative facts' as Trumps people call it! The truth is Trump, Farage and Hopkins are all Cunts'n'Cows. It's the Pied Piper and the Emperors New Clothes master race mash-up mix based on popularism and a perverted Democracy where the loser becomes the winner and some times they don't even get elected by the people.

Talking of which....

British Prime Sinister Theresa May visits Washington; shakes the hand, kisses the arse then sucks the cock of Donald Trump, Trade, trade, trade, export, export, import, import, money, money, money. Gotta get a good deal for Ukplc at any cost, and money comes before morals in the 'special relationship' just look at what Maggie and Ronnie got up to in the 80's! This is gonna be an er(a)ror of a new form of globalisation with a dark fascist heart, if fascists have a heart. This is also gonna be a time for mass protests across the globe as citizens of the world unite, remember we have nothing to lose except our freedoms!

THE GODFATHERS - A Big Bad Beautiful Noise - (*A REVIEW*)

Peter Coyne, The Godfathers only remaining original member said he wanted their new album to be a....”Kick arse contemporary Rock'n'Roll record that expands upon the musical legacy of the great Godfathers albums - Hit By Hit, Birth School Work Death, More Songs About Love And Hate and Unreal World. And I believe we've done that.” and he's right, they have! Peter maybe the last man standing, but ….these new boys of his rock in a way The Godfathers have never rocked before, there are some anthemic moments like the albums closing track You and Me against the World, which is a real lighters in the air guitarfest moment for outsiders everywhere. The whole affair is kicked off by the post apocalyptic sonic molotov cocktail of the title and opening track A Big Bad Beautiful Noise, which like several on the album; Defibrillator and Feedbacking have heavy traces and large doses of Hawkwindesq spaced out psychedelia and Stooges stoner rock, others, like One Good Reason verge toward Lou Reed and Velvet Underground, while You Don't Love Me and Lets Get Higher recall the The Godfathers of old. Then there are some new Pop/Rock hooks on  Till My Heart Stops Beating and the tribal stomp of Poor Boys Son plus an aching guitar ballad She's Mine It is indeed contemporary, check out Miss America for a timely attack on the land of the free, and musically, well some of these tracks wouldn't sound out of place on a Primal Scream album. Big Bad Beautiful Noise....It does what it says on the tin and more It is a potent and explosive mixture of songs, something for everyone, an album that makes you feel.... so alive! What more can you ask for in a Rock'n'Roll record?

PRESIDENT TRUMP....

WELCOME TO THE NEW FASCIST WORLD ORDER!

UN-PUBLISHED/POSTED/FINISHED/EDITED WRITINGS AND REVIEWS FROM 2016.

Prescription drugs fuck you up! Stress and anxiety fucks you up! Yoga and whale music ain’t my thing. Count to 10 deep breaths....BANG! That don't work I just wanna explode. Counselling / therapy maybe, but from my experiences those doing the listening are just as fucked up as those doing the talking, except their making a living out of our feelings. Prescription drugs control the anger/energy, reduce the stress and anxiety, but suppress feelings, creativity and thinking. Just like they want the people to be. Well not this one anymore. It's been a struggle but I'm busting through and getting the writing going. Thinking hasn't been the problem....Too much? Probably! But there's been a lot to think about on the macro level; Brexit, Trump, Syria etc, and on a micro level, well....that's my war, in my head! The struggles on both levels continue and I will keep on keeping on addressing them in my own time with my own mind.

Thank goodness for Rock'nRoll to continue to shine a light in dark times. 'cos this year's seen some fucking good shit: THE RUTS – This Music Must Destroy / UK SUBS – Ziezo / SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS – Vicious / THE WITCHDOKTORS – Voodoo Eye / THE FOLK DEVILS – Beautiful Monsters /BLACK BOMBERS – Black Bombers / REACTION – Accelerator / BAD BREEDING – Bad Breeding / ENEMIES OF PROMISE / CONTINENTAL LIASONS / THE DeRELLAS /

Easy Actions continuing NIKKI SUDDEN collections, has seen a lovely 3 CD Box Set of Treasure Island hit the market earlier this or last year, complimented by the release of a blistering live set from Berlin’s Quasimodo Club

Some I reviewed and some I didn't, and I've probably forgotten to mention a few more, but.... Hey, Ho!

Had a few technical difficulties not just in my mind but also in the Laptop's, which has days were it's not responding; more memory needed, attacked by viruses and generally fucked. yeah know that feeling sometimes....now where was I? Yeah....so uploading music is/has been a bit of an issue/hassle, hoping to get this resolved.

Hold on tight cos I reckon 2017 is gonna be a bumpy ride Just gotta stay strong and keep on keepin' On!

ZIEZO....an Un-posted/published/edited/finished UK SUBS Review from Nov 2016.

The final UK Subs alphabet album bottles the “spirit of our time” into a fantastic and inspirational brew for those of us old and wise enough not to have fully grown up.  

I Get the same feeling of excitement as I did as an impressionable youngster when I first heard Another Kind Of Blues. The 'Subs must have made an impression, because here I am Thirty Six years later still in their stranglehold, raving about their latest album. After 26 albums one for each letter of the alphabet, Charlie Harper has achieved his (possible) Guinness World Record busting goal, and Ziezo. that's it....

Ziezo is Dutch I believe for that's it

The album cover takes the past and makes it the present as it resembles and has echoes of the Another Kind of Blues sleeve.  So where do the UK Subs go from here?

It has been a long hard road the Subs have travelled along, throughout this journey.

If this is to be their last album, well they've certainly finished up on a high and with some style and substance. Timeless.

Ska Punk Rock'n'Roll crunching riffs, powerhouse drumming give a pummelling and pounding power to the songs.

As always lyrically tuned in to the world around them, musically varied.

It's well produced, well played and just.... well fucking good! Up there with the best of 'em. Even a couple of possible fillers are killers, and Banksy has got to be up there in the top ten of Subs tunes.

Its fitting that this release was funded by the fans through pledge music

Charlie, Alvin, Jet and Jamie are the final classic UK Subs line-up from W to Z they have rocked out as powerfully as any of the previous classics 

World domination for the UK Subs, because they deserve it!

NEW YEAR! I dunno if it's gonna be a HAPPY one though.... Depends on what side of the bed yer sleeping on!

I recently heard on the radio the Uber Right Wing Farage'n'Trump loving Katie Hopkins saying that the Left refer to the Brexit and President Trump votes happening as a result of populism because they don't know what else to call it. Well here's some news for you, it's called FASCISM!, they know that and they also know it could be coming our way. Right and Left unite, they have more in common than they care or dare to admit, because they are all a bunch of Dic(k)tators! History shows this to be the case! I also heard that the BBC are promoting something called 'Oneness' It sounds like the Great British state are trying to create some sort of post-Brexit social cohesion and consensus by brainwashing people to feel united and together ready for what the future might bring. A good thing surely? Well, no, because I've got more news for you. Oneness and Togetherness are not the same thing. One is about being a single minded unity, the other is about groups working in co-operation with each other. One promotes differences, the other division by prejudice and scapegoating those that are different. People like Katie Hopkins and organisations like the BBC are the enemy of the people!  

Concentration Camps and Gulags....there's a fine line between Fascism and Communism. They are different sides of the same coin....Euro/Pound/Dollar/Yen. 2017 the year the Capitalist coin stops spinning, history will decide who had luck on their side.