The Likkor Men – There Will Be Blood

Sep18

There is something primal stirring in the depths of the UK rock scene, a lascivious force brewing up filthy attitude stained rock ‘n’ roll which is salacious and destructive, rabid and addictive and it goes by the name of The Likkor Men. The quartet from Redcar has just released new EP There Will Be Blood, a carnal beast of a release infesting the psyche as sonically it tries to live up to its declaration, and a fear breeding proposition it is truly hard to get enough of.

Formed in 2014 supposedly to “keep the members out of trouble”, The Likkor Men create a ravenous sound which is hard to pin down but openly corrupts everything from blues, garage, and punk rock to industrial, noise, and psychedelia. Most likely an introduction of the band to a great many, There Will Be Blood is their second EP but easy to feel the moment The Likkor Men asylum comes under true scrutiny.

The release instantly has the senses challenged with the outstanding Black Widow, noise and samples colluding to tenderise before heavy footed riffs stroll hungrily in as swinging beats bite. Blues grooves entangle the trespass as vocals prowl, a punk throated backing adding to the pleasure as the controlled chaos twists and turns. There is something of The Birthday Party meets Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers as Down fingers the union about the infestation but equally more than a whiff of bands like The Sonics and MC5 in the swamp of sound and dirt though what emerges is a scuzz storm all Likkor Men.

The opener remains the pinnacle of the release but is seriously harassed throughout with next up Young Blood needing little time to seduce and pervert ears and imagination. Ravishing the senses like a defiled fusion of Rob Zombie, Arthur Brown, and The Stooges, the track is wired rock ‘n’ roll as off-kilter as it is skilfully woven to invade and trespass the psyche. Deceptively catchy it is aural loco, a ruinous psych rock invasion infecting the listener like radiation.

Crazed easily applies to Sweet Talkin’ Mamma too, a sexual corruption built on the most addictive rhythmic strolls as fuzzy flames and toxic grooves like spewed by the pied piper like trespass. It is sonic bedlam, an insatiable lure of noise and rhythmic flirtation which maybe is a touch over long but teases and seduces from its depraved start to its libertine finish.

That sexual edge is taken to greater tension within closing song, Hunter. It is a nagging throb of rhythms and heavy riffs beneath sonic breezes of guitar. From the midst, gravel throated vocals, as throughout the EP, stir up the dirty business around them, grooves and hooks seeming to react decadently around them though everything is in its basest most single minded form to simply incite the listener’s rock ‘n’ roll instincts. Sixties garage rock is a rich fuel to the final assault, its contaminated strains sweet liquor within the soiled goodness.

There Will Be Blood will not be for the clean cut appetites among you but for those with wanton urges for rock ‘n’ roll in its grubbiest invigorating form no-one will be left wanting, only feeling very, very dirty.

There Will Be Blood is out now through Moon Skull Records @ https://moonskull.bandcamp.com/album/there-will-be-blood

https://www.facebook.com/TheLikkorMen/

Pete RingMaster 15/09/2017

Scanner – Under the Devil’s Tail

Sep16

If there is one thing you are sure of getting with US outfit Scanner, it is a healthy and seriously persuasive outing of punk rock and so it is again with their latest EP, Under the Devil’s Tail. Offering four slices of unfussy rock ‘n’ roll sculpted with an openly accomplished hand and imagination, the EP embraces the mixture of old school punk, garage rock, and virtually every other rock ‘n’ roll scent you might imagine which has already fired up previous successful releases, boiling it up for another highly enjoyable stomp.

Formed in 1979 by lead vocalist/bassist Joe Brady and guitarist Junnie Fortney and adopting the name Scanner two years later, inspired by the David Cronenberg film Scanners, the Pennsylvania trio has become a potent part of the local punk scene. The current line-up, completed by drummer/vocalist Troy Alwine, was in place by 2012 and followed by the release of debut album One Foot In The Grave, And More Pissed Than Ever a year later, then live outing Exploding Heads in Harrisburg – Live Recordings From 1982, and in 2015 second studio full-length Splat. The latter saw increased attention looking the way of the trio which Under the Devil’s Tail will surely re-energise.

Maybe due to it only being four tracks, the EP seems less broad in its sound and adventure than within Splat but uses that restraint to nurture a character which is the heart of the band’s sound and more tenacious and persuasive than anything before. The release opens up with its title track, Under the Devil’s Tail strolling in on Alwine’s tempting rhythms which are soon joined by the equally teasing mumble of Brady’s bass. The hook spun out by Fortney’s guitar quickly after has The Damned all over it, a hue especially potent when combined with the continuing bait of that moody bass. Dirty rock ‘n’ roll soon consumes ears and song as Brady’s eager tones jump on board, the song drawing on a mix of seventies punk and pub rock along with heavy rock textures lured from across the decades.

More persuasive with every listen, it is a potent start soon eclipsed by next up Tapeworm which starts up like a rock ‘n’ roll Pere Ubu before note by note hints at greater Ramones like revelry in its cranky romp. Like its predecessor, the song only strengthens its grip on ears and appetite over time though it too finds itself overshadowed by its own successor.

Without doubt Membrane Men emerged the firm favourite within the EP, its opening bass lure and subsequent synth misting deliciously Devo-esque before Dead Kennedy like devilry leaps on the imagination. The track hits the spot straight away, emulating its companions in tightening its hold and our involvement with every passing minute spent in its presence.

Final track is Hippie Authority Song, a slice of street natured punk rock unafraid to add some bluesy hard rock strains to its raucous escapade. As all the songs, it has mischief on its face and in its heart which alone endears itself whilst fuelled by a sound which refuses to be anything other than true to its instincts and inspirations. It all makes for one inescapably enjoyable time; a description fully fitting the whole of Under the Devil’s Tail which may not make your top ten end of year but will still be satisfying your punk appetites as others slip away.

Under the Devil’s Tail is out now and available through http://www.scanner1979.com/Music.html

https://www.facebook.com/Scanner1979

Pete RingMaster 14/09/2017

The Bronsons – Girl from Outer Space

Sep12

Coming together again a handful of years ago after first emerging in the early eighties, The Bronsons sow their music in the pub/garage rock sounds which laid the seeds for many of the punk bands crashing 1976/77. It is a style which they continue to embrace and nurture their own individual character of enticement from as evidenced by new single Girl from Outer Space.

The song is a cover of a track by Barrence Whitfield and the Savages which made its first appearance on their 1987 UK EP Call Of The Wild, the release expanded with additional tracks and released in the US as the album Ow! Ow! Ow! the same year. It was a track which vocalist Stefan Ball came across in the early nineties, a song he found impossible to find again since renting the aforementioned EP from a local library but one he never forgot. Hearing it again when Boston’s Four Piece Suit released their own version he brought the song to the band and subsequently they now our ears in the inimitable Bronsons style.

The current line-up of guitarist Ball, Tony ‘Chas’ Talman, drummer Phil ‘Chas’ Dourado, and bassist Jorge Polverinos backed by Zara Cannon and Giselle Nicholson aka The Bronsonettes, has evolved the blues rock toning of the original with a rich dose of their forcibly catchy rock ‘n’ roll, a blend which swiftly grips the appetite as Girl from Outer Space launches itself on ears. Like a mix of The Pirates, Dave Edmunds, and The Vibrators, the track infests the imagination. Guitars make the first raucous lure, the swagger of bass and beats quickly lining up alongside as Ball’s vocals share their own confident stroll. Together it makes for a fuzzy mischievous slice of rock ‘n’ roll, The Revillos like harmonic lure of The Bronsonettes icing on the contagion as eager involvement in its antics is inescapable.

The best rock ‘n’ roll has the face smiling, spirit rolling, and body rocking; Girl from Outer Space ticks all boxes.

Girl from Outer Space is available now @ https://bronsons.bandcamp.com/track/girl-from-outer-space

http://www.bronsons.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/BronsonsLive https://twitter.com/BronsonsLive

Pete RingMaster 12/09/2017

Suicide Generation – 1st Suicide

Jul13

Basking in its own dirt and scuzz, the Suicide Generation sound is a fervid rush of trashy goodness which ensures the band’s new album is an unmissable treat for all fans of uncompromising rock ‘n’ roll. The bastard son from a salacious collusion between members of Atomic Suplex, The Cavemen, and Trash Culture, the London based punksters feverishly graze ears with a raw wash of garage punk/rock from start to finish within their debut full length 1st Suicide, sucker-punching the senses along the way with rapacious hooks which just worm into the psyche like a virus.

Supposedly coming together “to fill in for cancelled support slots across the Tuesday night London gigging circuit”, Suicide Generation has quickly become an eagerly devoured proposition on the capital’s live scene with their chaotic and explosive shows; their attack and intent as unpredictable as their sound. Recently linking up with Dirty Water Records, the band is now gunning for bigger attention with 1st Suicide, a release which swarms through ears like a plague of buzzsaw carrying harpies.

The album descends on ears with opener Suicide Generation first of all; one minute and a handful of seconds of clanging rock ‘n roll led by the exasperated tones of frontman Sebastian Melmoth. Every aspect of the track is as muggy as it is concussive but veined by intricate melodic acidity which winds seductively around the fuzzy antics of Emily Crowler’s rhythm guitar. It is a potent, enticing smog of sound swiftly out powered and shone by Why Can’t I Play With You. The second track needs mere seconds to lay down heavy seductive hooks within a similarly intensive weight of sound. A Cramps-esque hue smokes vocals and sound alike, Suicide Generation finding a gripping rawness which even their assumed inspirations would have eagerly embraced as the song flirts and dances with garage rock and punk irritability.

Set Me On Fire has a certain air of The Reatards to its similarly crotchety rock ‘n’ roll straight after, guitars scything across the senses as rhythms rumble with tenacious zeal, while Nora aligns a fifties smoulder with seventies punk waspishness for its individual stomp. Both tracks have the body and imagination eagerly throwing discord loaded shapes before London Blues strolls along with dirty blues punk falling like drooling saliva from every note and syllable. An open psychosis oozes through voice and music alike, its mercurial heart unpredictable and constantly in flux as it captivates and assaults the listener.

They are instantly involved with the brawling escapade of Love Is Hate straight after, the track a beguiling animus of sonic and emotional testiness enjoyably harassing the senses with the clamour of guitars and the spite of rhythms. It is a mix also fuelling next up Little Mama, the track resembling The Phantom basted in rock ‘n’ roll filth whilst sending the hips into an anxious frenzy.

That same instinctive primal sound infests Evil Everywhere and once again the band twists it into something distinct within the release and other propositions; the track a hyperactive dirt ball of sound and energy leading into the closing treat of You Love Me. Initially prowling ears with a devious glint in its creative eye, the band’s punk instincts soon ignites in a high-strung blaze of sonic causticity and wired verbal dexterity driven by rhythms which just seduce attention whether the track smoulders or roars.

1st Suicide is a collection of songs which just please themselves with a similarly arrogant creativity, in turn their brashness and swagger turning on ears and an ever keen appetite for unpolished rock ‘n’ roll. The Suicide Generation is here and openly ready to tear up your world.

1st Suicide is out now on Dirty Water Records @ https://suicidegeneration666.bandcamp.com/releases and http://www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk/shop/#!/Suicide-Generation-First-Suicide-album-download/p/86922972/category=2749844

https://www.facebook.com/suicidegeneration666/

Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Sly Palms – Self Titled EP

Jul11

As they introduced themselves to us with their debut release, we introduce you to the individual Weirdo Wonk sounds of Sly Palms and one magnetically enjoyable self-titled debut EP. From the ever giving Bristol music scene, the British quintet brew up their own individual fusion of garage, psych, and blues rock described as “Nick Cave meets Go Go Bordello through the Doors.” All are references which add up as you listen to the five tracks making up their first release but also imagine the involvement of essences from My Baby, 13th Floor Elevators, and Horse Party and you have a fuller if still not quite accurate inkling to the band’s imaginative adventure.

Recorded at Malthouse Studios with Dom Mitchinson (Spectres, Oliver Wilde), the EP quickly has ears enticed with Bottle Of Sin, the new single from Sly Palms. Immediately the opener teases and tempts with its spicy percussive grooving and new wave like movement, early XTC coming to mind in the song’s unpredictable quirkiness before things settle a touch around the vocal lure of keyboardist Louise Schwarz. Poking beats and jabbing swings collude with her fine vocals, that eighties hue merging with a brewing blues revelry as the song grows even more flirtatious and irresistible with each passing second. Additional discord only adds to the pleasure, the song mere notes away from chaos at times and only blossoming with boldness because of it.

Things are a touch more reserved from hereon in across the EP but no less enjoyable as the swarthy rock ‘n’ roll of Spanish Song proves. With sultry blues melodies uniting with hazy psych nurtured sighs, the song has the same mischievous nature as its predecessor but strolls along with a less agitated gait. Lead vocals this time are taken by guitarist Ian Cross, or it could be fellow string picker Alex Davies or indeed drummer Jake Cheesman; whoever the supplier their grainy tone only adds to the Tom Waits spiced proposal swiftly tempting and pleasing ears. The warm keys and floating harmonies of Schwarz similarly enthral and add to a creative drama which is no less potent within next up River Rhein. With a rockabilly/country rock coaxing to its catchy shuffle, the song has the body bouncing, gently at first but with increasing vigour as crescendos of rock ‘n’ roll erupt across its increasingly heated body.

The bass of Jaime Botella is a perpetually appetising throb within all tracks, adding an instinctive pulse and often growl which is especially alluring within the more unkempt climate of Slaughterhouse. The track is superb, challenging the first for best track honours with its rowdy rock ‘n’ roll and expectation defeating devilment of sound and imagination.

The more lo-fi presence and touch of Wall brings things to a potent close, the song a dance of harmonies and rattling rhythms as the band weaves another slice of off kilter sound as blues, garage, and psych rock as it is simply ear exciting rock ‘n’ roll.

With potential as vocal in every song as existing imagination and adventure, Sly Palms have made a powerfully persuasive introduction to themselves with their debut. Already they have nurtured something unique about themselves and intriguingly we, like they, have only just scratched the surface.

The Sly Palms EP is released July 14^th.

14/07/17 – E.P. Launch Party @ The Old England

10/08/17 – The Louisiana, Bristol

24/11/17 – St. James’ Wine Vaults, Bath

https://www.facebook.com/SlyPalms/

Pete RingMaster 11/07/2017

Snakerattlers – This Is Rattlerock

Jun28

If ever there was a sound epitomising the dirty trespasses of the graveyard and the unbridled fetish escapades of cultish deviancy, it is that of British duo Snakerattlers. Like the occupants of those domains, the band’s sound is a lo-fi sonic trespass stripped to its bare bones but wearing the raw traits of a wealth of styles and flavours, all dirt sodden, feverish, and forcibly compelling. It is self-penned as rattle rock and is uncaged in full force within the pair’s ear gripping, spirit rousing debut album This Is Rattlerock.

The band is the creation of husband and wife Dan and Naomi Gott, previously of garage punk band The Franceens. Their new project, Snakerattlers unknowingly had its seeds sown when Naomi wanted to learn how to play drums. Going along with her to practices with his guitar, a sound and creative spark instantly caught their attention and thoughts that there was “the potential to be a lot more than just a rehearsal room jam band” in their exploration. What emerged is a fusion of garage rock, death punk, and psychobilly embedded into a rockabilly heart; a bold bare arsed roar of sound which now rips, rattles, and rolls the senses within the band’s sensational first album, a proposition recorded on reel-to-reel tape by Adam Richards of Leeds rockabilly outfit, X Ray Cat Trio.

Imagine the creative instincts of Link Wray, Hasil Adkins, The Cramps, Dick Venom, and The Creeping Ivies entwined and twisted and you get a flavour of the Snakerattlers infestation of ears and imagination. As mentioned, it is a raw and often scarring trespass which challenges and inspires whilst simultaneously thrilling and lustfully exciting from the opening seconds of first track, I Won’t Hold Back. The opener hits attention with a great guitar jangle initially, Dan’s vintage spice an instinctive lure soon joined by the punchy swings of Naomi as a Cramps meets Johnny Burnette like intrusion trespasses the senses and a swiftly established appetite. With the guitarist’s vocals an equally potent lure, the brief song prowls the listener, jabbing its lingering toxicity into the passions like a slow but determined tattooist.

The great start is continued by Let You Go where a thick almost throaty jangle is the tease into a more rampant and feverish stomp of swinging beats and tenacious riffs. Old school rockabilly infested by current day garage punk devilry and a plague of hooks which refuse to relinquish their hold of the imagination, the track is a roaring addiction within one listen, an eternal nagging thereon in but equalled by the more controlled but just as scuzzy exploits of Rattlerock Rumble. As a jungle of rhythms ensnare feet, guitar exploits use hips like a puppeteer in the predominantly instrumental incantation before Oh My Love lurches into view with a dark swagger and clamorous nature though both are wrapped in a restraint which only adds fuel to the song’s magnetic fire. Like Johnny Carroll meets The Novas, the track is pure bewitchment with an occasional venomous bite.

Let The Devil In Your Soul is another encounter which stalks the senses, its keen but controlled stroll belying a predatory nature taking swipes through the poised but examining beats of Naomi and the angular clamour of Dan’s guitar. With his vocals a soothing but equally volatile enticement, it is again impossible not to be hooked on the song’s seduction or indeed in turn on the more tempestuous instrumental rumble of Death Valley Driver which follows. It is an unrelenting road trip which has the body in motion and thoughts conjuring, both aspects again busily employed by the cinematic suggestiveness of The Love In Me. Like a sweaty kitchen sink drama, the song is a bare and honest hug of sound and emotion, its lines fuzzy and touch raw and oh so tempting. Even so, the great song is still eclipsed by the breath-taking stomp of Sweet Sixteen; a scuzz ball of rock ‘n’ roll woven from the decades of the genre and delivered with a fried electricity and concussive energy which leaves the senses reeling and blissful.

The zombie crawl of Bones infests the psyche next; its lumbering tenacious surge into the imagination littered with rhythmic bites and viscerally sonic waves as Dan’s vocals alone coax and prey. Once more submission to sound and album is swift and full leaving the final track to cap an already done deal between band and certainly these listeners. Ripper Rattle Rock simply lives up to its name like a fractious yet salacious fusion of The Cramps, Hasil Adkins, and Into The Whale. The track is rock ‘n’ roll in its unfussy prime but equipped with all the primal lures and seductions you could wish for as the album comes to one glorious unsterilized raunchy conclusion.

With The Franceens coming to an end earlier this year, the York pair have the time and energy to solely concentrate on Snakerattlers and they are going to need all of both if This Is Rattlerock catches the fire of attention that it simply deserves.

This Is Rattlerock is out now through Moon Skull Records @ https://moonskull.bandcamp.com/releases

http://www.snakerattlers.com/about.html https://www.facebook.com/snakerattlers/

Pete RingMaster 28/06/2017

Rotten Mind – Self Titled

Mar28

photo_by_Mikael_Lindqvist

Talking about the band’s new self-titled album, Rotten Mind vocalist/guitarist Jakob Arvidsson stated that, “Our main idea was to work in a new way. We had no rush and the songs were written during a period that lasted for over a year.” Whether that intent and process was the reason or the spark, the Swedish quartet’s second album has emerged with new maturity and creative roundedness in sound and songwriting. Without losing the punk snarl of its predecessor, it is a proposition which has attention on board within a handful of seconds and firmly held until its final breath.

The album sees Rotten Mind uncage their distinctive fusion of punk, garage rock, and post punk, a sound which simultaneously feels familiar yet forcibly fresh. It is a mix which saw their debut full-length, I’m Alone Even With You, eagerly received and praised upon its release in 2015, its success followed by a torrent of live shows and two tours across Europe. Indeed the writing of its successor, taking over a year, simultaneously occurred as shows came thick and fast; songs relishing the experiences and inspiring sights found to push on in all aspects from its predecessor.

As evidenced from its opener alone, the album flings physically gripping hooks and imagination inciting melodies at will; all keener and more powerful than anything the band has conjured before while rhythmically the release is a cauldron of anthemic temptation. It is fuelled by the scuzzy almost suffocating Rotten Mind sound which marked the first album and the Uppsala hailing band’s potent live presence; Wish You Were Gone starting things off revealing all of those established attributes and plenty of new ones.

Dangling bait sonic initially, one soon entwined with a spicy melody, the first song soon bursts into a virulent stroll, the album’s first essential hook from Johan’s guitar wagging an irresistible finger as the rhythms of bassist Rune and drummer Victor collude in rolling infectious bait. The temptation only increases as the track boils, Jakob’s vocals just as magnetic as that first strand of piercing persuasion continues to persist while revealing psychobilly tendencies against the track’s intensifying punk punch.

There is a touch of Psychedelic Furs to song and release, nothing concrete just a scent which continues in the more irritable rock ‘n’ roll of Things I Can’t See. At times, as beats jab and riffs bite, the song feels like it is slamming its fists down on the table temperament wise but discontent aligned to a catchy restraint ensuring great volatility in the rousing incitement of sound and enterprise. The track is one of two singles laying down potent teasers for the album earlier this year, the second following straight after. Still Searching sonically shimmers before laying down a trail of rhythmic manna, the brooding voice of the bass courting rapacious beats. The track’s post punk persuasion makes swift slavery of ears and appetite, its bait only accentuated by the subsequent acidic hook and swinging groove loaded gait of the song. Kind like a mix of The Jesus and Mary Chain and Sex Gang Children, the track, as the album, simply seizes ears and appetite with relish second by second.

Dark Intentions bounds along with contagious energy and rhythmic dexterity next, its atmospheric and emotional shadows just as potent as its melodic suggestiveness before Got Me Numbered reveals a seventies inspired punkiness recalling the likes of Buzzcocks and The Vibrators. Both tracks have the body bouncing and spirit ignited while When You Come Back meanders along in a web of wiry melodies as rhythms grumble. Infectious vocals especially within the potent chorus only add to its lure, its tapestry of flirtatious strums and inventive persistence demanding inevitable and lustful listener involvement.

Through the creatively and emotionally agitated Real Lies and Out Of Use with its darker predatory hues, enjoyment is an eager torrent, the first captivating with robust rhythmic incitement and hard rock infused melodic jangle while the second prowls the senses with a union of primal and fiery contrasts. There is a surface similarity to many tracks within the album, but a deception greater attention defuses with both tracks showing potent diversity, with the second especially bold.

The rock ‘n’ roll clash and holler of Safer Place keeps things feverishly lively, its dark haunting textures surrounding a sonic blaze of invention before I Need To Know brings things to a richly satisfying close with its boisterous croon.

It is a fine end to an album which brings greater individuality to the Rotten Mind sound though there still feels like there is plenty of room for greater uniqueness to blossom which on the thick enjoyment of their album only adds further excitement for the future.

The Rotten Mind album is out now through Lövely Records @ https://lovelyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rotten-mind-rotten-mind