Raizing Hell – Monsters Prefer Blondes

If you have found the ground rumbling under foot in recent weeks, it is not the earth in rebellion but the dead rising to join the living in descending on the long and eagerly awaited second album from Romanian horror punk n’ rollers Raizing Hell. Providing devilish slices of graveyard boogie fuelled by punk rock attitude, Monsters Prefer Blondes is a carnivorous incitement from the crypt and quite irresistible.

Raizing Hell emerged in 2010, formed by vocalist/guitarist Liv Decay (ex-Howling Saints), guitarist Mr. Zombie, and drummer Oly Sinn. The line-up was soon completed by bassist Demented Vlash with the band laying down their live presence from 2011 and going on to share stages with the likes of Blitzkid, The Silver Shine, Tazmanian Devils, Fancy Dolls, The Argies, A Wilhelm Scream, Koffin Kats, Daily Noise Club, Orlok and the Rockin Ghouls, The Irradiates and many others over the years. Drawing on inspirations from bands such as Motorhead, The Plasmatics, Wendy O. Williams, Misfits, Nekromantix, Blitzkid, Demented Are Go, Horrorpops, and The Meteors, the Bucharest quartet soon evolved their own distinctive shade of horror punk which fuelled debut EP Psychoholics Unanimous in the December of that year and in turn provided a tasty part of the excellent Chainsaw Ballads split EP with UK bands Thirteen Shots and Trioxin Cherry via Psycho A Go-Go Records in 2013. First album Of Ghouls And Men was an even bigger attention grabber when released later that year; thirteen tracks which pushed the band into the full spotlight of the European horror punk and rock ‘n’ roll scene.

2014 saw Raizing Hell sign with the excellent Germany based label, Undead Artists Records, which quickly brought Of Ghouls And Men to a broader expanse of ears while last year the departure of Sinn, after the recording of their new album, brought the stick swinging corpse of Marky B. Morbid into the Raizing Hell mausoleum. Unleashing Monsters Prefer Blondes a couple of weeks back, Raizing Hell has not only provided a bigger and bolder slab of their horror gripped sound but also brought a real feel of their live energy and aggression to the recording and presence of the album. At times it borders on predatory and throughout is a constant blaze of contagious intensity coated with the organic rawness so many bands only manage to create on stage.

It all starts with I Like It Wrong and the resonating hefty beats of Sinn. Swiftly they are joined by tangy grooves with a hint of blues toxicity to their invitation. The distinctive tones of Decay are soon adding their dark flirtation and defiance to the mix too, her snarl climbing all over the virulent contagion of the hooks and grooves which are still working their temptation. It is a potent slab of rock ‘n’ roll with maybe few surprises yet making up for it with heart and attitude before Sold My Soul For Rock ‘N’ Roll saunters in with its punk ’n’ roll incitement. There is a touch of In Evil Hour to the song, an irritable hue which adds to the great blend of melodic enterprise and the grouchy snarling of voice and sound.

Two songs in and already it is easy to hear the fresh blossoming of the qualities and craft the band had already shown and the maturity and realisation of potential found in previous releases. I Am The Damned is quick confirmation as it eclipses its predecessors with its psychobilly swagger and flirtatious hooks. Vlash’s bass reveals its most cantankerous growl yet as it stalks the swinging lures of guitar and beats, a bestial essence echoing the edge in Decay’s otherwise clean and infectious tones.

Time Of A Killer Flies brings some delta blues scented enterprise to its robust and fiery body next whilst This Is It flirts with garage rock ‘n’ roll as it prowls of the senses to echo the creature crawling within its sci-fi themed narrative. As usual, Raizing Hell draw most on horror movies and dark tales for the lyrical seeds of the album, very often crafting their sound to echo and reflect the actions of the protagonists within their stories and here turning that first wave of stalking into a rabid devouring of ears and appetite by its finale.

Through the sultry Django-esque climate and landscape of The Sun Is Down, the band has the imagination as forcibly involved as the body whilst Dead Girls Don’t Cry kicks up a feisty stomp with its punk rock. The dark harmonies and lone whistling within the first of the two simply adds to a compelling theatre of guitar and rhythms while a tinge of folkish temptation lines the spicy veining of the second to similarly magnetic effect. Both are further examples of the new adventure and imagination in the band’s songwriting and sound, laying down new pinnacles within the album for a success soon matched by the smoky dark seduction of Trouble where Decay is the kind of temptress you know you should escape but cannot resist.

I’m Not A Monster is a grizzly stomp of an encounter; one again maybe feeding expectations a touch but with a chorus impossible not to join in on as the body bounces throughout, it matters little as it leads ears to the equally captivating antagonism of I’m Not Evil (I’m Just Bad). The next song is appetite pleasing punkabilly with a whiff of Trioxin Cherry meets Midnight Mob to its thick pleasure giving; another energy rousing persuasion more than matched by both the excellent old school punk infested Braindead, a track spinning a web of punk and horror rock strands  from recent decades, and Killing Time. The last of the pair is the kind of romp which has the feet engaged almost before ears; commanding body and attention with scything rhythms and punchy riffs as the band vocally rouses the spirit.

Monsters Prefer Blondes is completed by its title track, a predacious tango again aligning an array of punk rock with further instinctive rock ‘n’ roll diversity. We always like an album to end on a bang, and this anthemic infestation of ears and the passions certainly provides. As for Monsters Prefer Blondes the album, it provides a rich and thoroughly enjoyable blood soaked rebel rousing with adventure and creative fun. It is high time that Raizing Hell is recognised by the broadest rock ‘n’ roll spotlights; this album just might be the key lure. If not it is only a matter of time.

Monsters Prefer Blondes is out now via Undead Artists @ https://undeadartists.bandcamp.com/album/monsters-prefer-blondes

http://www.raizinghell.com   https://www.facebook.com/Raizing.Hell

Pete RingMaster 10/05/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com

Dead By Dawn – Dead Time Stories

Courtesy of George Martin Photography_

You can never have enough ghouls rocking the breath from your lungs by our reckoning, so it is great lusty pleasure that we bring you Dead Time Stories the new EP from UK horrorbillies Dead By Dawn. It offers four tracks, which like a swarm of the undead, unleash contagious bloodlust and decayed virulence across relentless stomps which increasingly become ravenously addictive.

Dead By Dawn rose from the cold dank earth in 2013; escaping graveyards in the North East of England and coming together to brew a plague of rockabilly, punk, and ska; all strains soaked in horror. Before their enrolling in the walking dead, the band’s members earned their musical claws and experiences playing in a host of hard rock, punk, metal, and ska bands. Their subsequent resurrection as Dead By Dawn has already seen the release of the well-received Re-Animation EP and attention grabbing debut album 13 Nightmares. Now it is Dead Time Stories prowling the nation and devouring the psyche with one thoroughly welcome and thrilling rock ‘n’ roll rampage.

The defilement starts with Romero & Ghouliet, its first touch a raw scraping of riffs quickly bolstered by the deeds of Shovel, who with a name like that you just know will be the drummer. His beats are like sledgehammers on the senses as guitarist Dead Bundy weaves a tendril of sultry enterprise around the mischievously alluring voice of Siouxsie Psycho once she joins the already forcibly infectious proposal. Her string prowess backs up her joyful vocal enticement and the spicy grooves of Dead Bundy whilst Ruby Morgue swings thick lures from her upright bass like a big boned seductress. It is striking stuff with a smiling chorus so catchy it borders on candy pop and works superbly within the predatory and salaciously enticing sounds around it.

The great start to the EP only get musically juicier and more creatively ravenous as Bloodlust: Hellbound Hearts takes over. Shovel brings the song in on a rousing roll of his ever intimidating beats, the guitars adding their lures swiftly as boisterous riffs and another web of wicked grooves and sonic endeavour escapes, their temptation lined with an exciting tinge of discord. The track’s body continues to rock like a dog in heat, bass and drums cultivating an addictive swing over which guitars devilishly prowl and Siouxsie spreads her siren-esque intent.

The Dead By Dawn sound lies somewhere between HorrorPops, The Bloodstrings, and Dragster but continues to find its own increasingly unique character as shown over the band’s trio of releases and indeed American Mary. The third track on the EP leaps from a slither of a cinematic tempting into a rhythmic stalking draped in punk hooks and intoxicated grooves, the guitar’s winey lure as compelling as the psychobilly growl uncaged alongside them. A whiff of The Creepshow and Zombie Ghost Train seeps through in different ways from within the bracing dark tango but again it only colours a heart bred devouring which is primarily Dead By Dawn.

Dead Time Stories saves the best till last in the mouth-watering heavy canter of its title track. Once more hooks and grooves provide a constant supply of inescapable traps laced with delicious discord whilst the band unleash their inner vocal bedlam around enchantress lures laid by Siouxsie’s delivery. There is great simplicity to the infection loaded bait uncaged within Dead By Dawn songs but it is with instinctive imagination and craft that it becomes so successfully woven into fiercer, predacious exploits without either contrast losing its impact. The final track, with another impossible not to get involved in chorus, is the perfect example as it gives a rousing end to one exhilarating encounter.

It might be fair to say that Dead By Dawn is still looking for their majorly unique sound but when they do, and you feel they certainly will on the evidence of Dead Time Stories, there is little to stop them finding real success ahead; though the fact that every genre of heavy music it seems has at least one band with the same name might be a shadow the band has to escape from too.

The Dead Time Stories EP is available now

Pete RingMaster 23/09/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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The Bloodstrings – Coal-Black Heart

It is hard to miss the buzz emerging around German band The Bloodstrings, especially after the release of debut album Coal-Black Heart. Now having been infected by its seriously accomplished and salacious mix of horror punk, psychobilly, and just plain old dirty rock ‘n’ roll, it is easy to see why. With a sound which is again more than the brief description above, the Aachen/Stolberg hailing quartet is beginning to kick up a storm which their album’s CD release via British indie Undead Artists can only accelerate.

Formed in 2009 and consisting of the seductive yet predatory tones of vocalist /guitarist Celina, the thumping beats of drummer Festus, the predatory bass slaps of Doctor Nick, and the melodic toxicity offered by lead guitarist Krösus, The Bloodstrings have a bloodlust to, and horror driven imagination in their songs which leaves ears and emotions only wanting more. Coal-Black Heart is contagious proof of this seductive quality and of the anthemic voracity which steals the resistance of limbs and energies with consummate ease.

The End Of It All is the first to explode from the album, its initial sonic yawn evolving into a rigorous shuffle of crisply delivered beats and tangy grooves all around an infectious rockabilly riffing. With the fine voice of Celina beckoning with every alluring syllable, as do her skills with keys, the song is soon leaving expectations behind as it sculpts a tasty bait of spicy melodies on the way to a slower more salacious swing for its finale. It is a magnetic start surpassed by the raucous swagger and enterprise of the outstanding Better Drop Dead, a song which romps like a mix of Horrorpops and Midnight Mob. It is an instant anthem for ears and feet to enlist in, and with highly flavoursome endeavour from Krösus across its contagion soon after, has the passions fully entwined.

Both Cannibal and Skeleton bring fresh and infectious devilment to the party, the first merging melodic and classic rock essences into its horror punk tenacity whilst the second unleashes a rhythmic jungle of temptation courted by a just as compelling bassline. Both tracks draw their share of limb and voice activity, especially the latter with its psychobilly theatre and virulent magnetism. Once again vocals and guitar endeavour bring juicy and captivating colour to both romps before the pair makes way for the prowling predatory charm of Stalker. A hint of Guana Batz spices the song’s entrance before everything turns into a menacing and fiery blaze of melodic and sonic drama, with group vocals calls to match.

By this point band and album have done all the convincing needed to recommend its toxic glory, but does itself only further good with the wholly satisfying rampancy of In Love With A Monster, which has a great air of Spanish horror punks The Monster Ones to it, and the pungent rhythmic stamp of Devils Wine with its web of sonic and melodic liquor. The two tracks in their different guises both have feet pounding upon the floor and blood coursing just that faster through veins, a success taken to greater heights by the metal lined Soul Eaters. Steering through ears on a wave of feistily rolling beats and vocal tempting, the song proceeds to entertain melodic metal vivacity through the guitars and bruising punk metal voracity in its turbulent tempest of a body.

Any Last Words comes forward next with a delicious musical and vocal croon to ignite any graveyard and death stalked romance. Its smooch though is just the first step to a bedlamic rampage, riffs and rhythms a flurry of aggression and gripping attitude bound in mesmeric flames of melodic invention and the dark seduction of Celina’s voice. Revolving through the calm and stormy passages a couple of times, the song sets itself up as another best song contender and a long-term romance for the passions.

Der Nebel Steigt with its traditional Germanic whispers and narrative lights ears next, the lack of lyrical understanding easily compensated by the hypnotic dance of rhythms and the tender yet lively addictive caresses of the guitars. The similarly potent resonating slaps of the bass do it no harm either nor the exceptional riot of Til Death Is Coming which bursts in right after. Thoughts of The Creepshow show themselves in the strenuous blues kissed rock ‘n’ roll side of the song whilst its punkier elements has a feel of dragSTER to their insatiable enticements, the result being yet another irresistible and thumping treat.

The album’s title track has a surf and dark country feel to its melodic and atmospheric climate, a bewitching sultriness which sparks the imagination as potently as the sounds excite ears. A pleasure continued in the closing Digging Our Graves which ensures Coal-Black Heart leaves on a final hellacious furore of sound and energy. Anthems on the album or indeed horror punk/psychobilly do not come more feverish and voracious than with the last fury of adventure.

Coal-Black Heart is an encounter which leaves ears ringing, energies breathless, and satisfaction brimming over. It might not be quite a classic but The Bloodstrings ensures that few storms of rock ‘n’ roll revelry will surpass it in passion and instinctive persuasion this year on their way to creating that future major triumph you can just feel brewing up inside them.

The Bloodstrings are undertaking a European tour from mid-February with confirmed dates at…

14.2. Birmingham, Adam and Eve, UK

15.2. Manchester, Tiger Lounge, UK

18.2. Glasgow, New Hellfire Club, UK

19.2. Leeds, The Boneyard at Bad Apples, UK

20.2. Canterbury, Lady Luck, UK

27.3. Essen, Cafe Nord W/ The Rocket Dogz, GER

28.3. Koblenz, Jamclub w/ Tony Gorilla, Bloodstains, GER

31.3. Lille w/ Gutter Demons (official), FR

02.04. Hengelo w/ Gutter Demons, NL

15.4. Trier w/Bloodsucking Zombies from Outer Space OFFICAL, GER

18.4. Auggen, Sternen w/ Blue Rockin, GER

25.4. Lünen w/ Kitty in a Casket, GER

 

Coal-Black Heart is available digitally and on CD via Undead Artists @ http://undeadartists.bandcamp.com/album/coal-black-heart

https://www.facebook.com/thebloodstrings

RingMaster 04/02/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from http://www.thereputationlabel.today

 

 

Venus de Vilo – Handle With Scare Pt 1

Horror’s temptress of the night returns with the first part of her debut album Handle With Scare, and from the six tracks it is fair to say that Venus de Vilo has lost none of her seductive revelry and demonic enticements, in fact only increased their potency along with her musical toxicity. With macabre bred passion and tales aligned to an equally dark acoustic temptation, the first teasing of the album has just bout turned an already eager soft spot for her sounds into a stalker-esque compulsion.

Venus first drew blood and attention with the siren call of her previous Edgar Allan Ho EP, a collection of songs which lingered far beyond their intent to become a fixture on the playlist of fans and underground attention, including our own podcast. The Dublin born songstress of the dead has turned the graveyard into her canvas for sonic bloodlust and sinisterly melodic adventure since 2011, proceeding to find a growing legion of fans through her performances across the city’s rock/metal bars, Burlesque and Cabaret nights, and open mic nights. Her presence has subsequently seeped further afield which the Edgar Allan Ho EP only concentrated with its devilish charm and sounds.

Pleasingly Venus has not taken a detour from her individual sound and songwriting which so potently lit up her last release, instead honing it into an even more precise and sirenesque proposition as evidenced by the new songs, starting with I’ve Got 99 Zombies And A Witch Ain’t One. Venus immediately cups ear in her potent voice to open up the song, a Wanda Jackson like depth and potency an immediate hook to which her guitar stabs lend extra drama. Though just voice and guitar, the track is instantly anthemic, swiftly lighting the imagination and sparking cinematic ventures as lady and music unveil the heart of the narrative. Twists in the vocal delivery and guitar stroll beneath haunting harmonies only add to the great melodrama caressing thoughts and emotions, an invitation which feet and voice are unable to resist.

The following Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fonder is just as enthralling and compelling, harmonies a delicious croon around the infectious Imelda May like bait of the song primed by Venus and her stringed enticement. Once again a full engagement with the listener is an inevitable rapid success, imagination given further inducement to explore personal shadows and gothic climates. As this and other songs lay ravenously on the psyche, there is a feel of a new confidence and precise intent working away in the heart of the tracks subsequently providing a richer clarity and persuasive tenacity than found in the previous release.

Both Bubbleglum! and Dead! Dead! Dead! keep mortuaries and ears basking in dark vaudeville temptation, the first an incessantly striding tango of stabbing riffs and ghostly harmonies around bewitching vocal predation whilst its successor decides to stalk thoughts before similarly swiping at the senses with feisty chords and Lilith incarnate vocals. Both tracks dance with wicked intent and salacious suasion, enslaving the imagination with vocal hooks within a simple but virulent stroking of guitar.

The Dead Don’t Dance slips into something even more darkly comfortable, a psychobilly whisper flirting with the theatrical colour of the menacing as harmonies shape a thick fog of expression. It is a song which takes a little longer to wrap its shadow spawned tendrils around the passions but eventually does so with unbridled success to emerge as one of the most inventive and dramatically powerful track of the sextet.

Final song Personal Satan swings with sixties embrace in its addictive tempting, essences of Shangri-Las and in some ways the Walker Brothers permeating the mouthwatering graveside balladry. It is a riveting end to a thrilling introduction to Handle With Scare.

With the album’s second half looking to be unveiled later this year anticipation for its full uncaging has gone up in impatience and excitement thanks to this teasing, and if the likes of Horrorpops, The Revillos, Imelda May, and fifties female rock ‘n’ roll instigators is a very palatable attraction for you then Venus de Vilo is a venomous treat just waiting to inflame and devour your lives.

Check out Handle With Scare Pt 1 @https://soundcloud.com/venus-devilo/sets/handle-with-scare

https://www.facebook.com/VenusDeViloSongsFromTheStalkersPointOfView

9/10

RingMaster 18/06/2014

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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Venus DeVilo – Edgar Allan Ho EP

Let us introduce you to the dark seductiveness of Venus DeVilo, an artist which preys on the passions like a sultry vampiric temptress bred from artistic alchemy raised from the fire of Imelda May, the snarl of Wanda Jackson, the energy of Fay Fife, and the devilry of Dick Venom, not forgetting a pinch of the infected essences of Horrorpops. Her creative world is one of shadowed carnivals, blood drenched burlesques, and dead borne vaudeville; her music pure sexual fascination and the Edgar Allan Ho EP the perfect introduction to the temptress before the arrival of her debut album Til Death Do Us Party, which we hope will see daylight in the near future, such the hunger now raging.

Hailing from the cemeteries of Dublin, Ireland, well probably a very nice comfortable abode but that hardly goes with the theme does it, Venus since 2011 has frequented and lit up rock/metal bars, Burlesque and Cabaret nights, open mic nights, and other numerous venues around her home city and much further across the country with her Goth-Shock anthems. The host of a series of popular horror themed gigs at the Twisted Pepper, Dublin which have become an almost monthly event, the sonic siren has captured the imagination of the internet media with her dramatic sounds, becoming the favourite sister of the likes of Elegant Savages webzine and the Bone Orchard podcast. Since its release the Edgar Allan Ho EP has drawn lustful attention and it is hard not to understand why as it stalks the minds darkest imagination and cinematic desires.

    Heartless Horseman steps up to tempt the passions first, its initial acoustic guitar stabs and instantly potent vocals the entrance into lyrical and musical stalking of night terrors and their romantic suasion. There is a rockabilly feel to the song which reminds of The Creepshow whilst the excellent soaring vocal imagination and drama of its delivery brings thoughts of Agnete Kjølsrud and the band Djerv as well as Dominique Lenore Persi and Stolen Babies. Unafraid to twist and turn the gait and intent of the track, Venus also sends it into angular and less accessible turns which make suggestions of Lene Lovich. For all the references we offer though, do not make the mistake of assuming the sound of Venus DeVilo is not something quite unique to the graveyard walking beguiler.

The following Apocalips equally enthrals with predominantly acoustic guitar and vocals, though rhythms and bass prowl with devilment in their hearts and wide mischief on their grinning lips too. The song sways and swaggers with the wantonness of a fifties siren and the intimidating composure of instinctive rockabilly, but like the band references these pointers to the sound are only whispers of the full hue of flavours making up the wholly contagious shards of mesmeric aural delight.

Penny Dreadful Love is a song you know should play in the bowels of any mausoleum, its funeral caress punctured and kissed by the again outstanding voice and delivery of its creator. As the lady and song lace the senses and thoughts with their visceral evocation, Venus provokes another comparison, this time to Lesley Woods of Au Pairs in the way she at times slaps words and syllables into the ear. It is a style that is impossible to resist and one which makes the forthcoming album so exciting and this song a dark hearted romantic serenade.

The best song on the release comes with Ringmaster, and no we were not biased in our decision. The vibrant waltz of the colourful enchantment goes hand in hand with the dark carnivale touch, guitar and vocals swinging across the high tented air of the hypnotic mystique and elegant poise. It makes for a glorious soaring flight of theatrical imagination honed into a glorious sirenesque aural spectacular which leads the listener on a tightrope walk of tension and astounding adventure, and note for extra spice its core call around the chorus is a dead ringer for one of the greatest songs ever, Killer Klowns From Outer Space by The Dickies.

The release is completed by firstly Carmilla’s Return, a song which initially has the shadow clouded  ambience reminiscence of Bauhaus song Bela Lugosi’s Dead  and goes on to atmospherically swarm around the ear with the chants of the ‘dead’ harmonising behind the continually powerful and virulently enticing tones of Venus. Once more it is a song which transports you within the sweeping sinister mists of a cinematic painting whilst its successor Miss Frankenstein is simply an epidemically catchy romp with big bold rhythms shaping the cage you are enslaved within. It has a delicious toxicity which leaves you no option but to throw voice and feet into the twisted majesty.

Venus DeVilo is an artist who will scare as many as she seduces but one who will only ever leave a lingering mark in her shadow and if it is anything like the Edgar Allan Ho EP, this dank earth will be a better place.

https://www.facebook.com/VenusDeViloSongsFromTheStalkersPointOfView

10/10

RingMaster 24/07/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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Angie & The Car Wrecks: Boozed And Bloody

    An album which may have like us passed you by until now but undoubtedly worthy of attention is the psychobilly miscreant Boozed And Bloody by the equally devilish Angie & The Car Wrecks. It is a release which dances with the devil through a feisty merger of psychobilly, rockabilly, and whispers of country rock n roll, and an album which ignites the passions into naughty thoughts and complete satisfaction.

From Onalaska, Washington USA, the quintet of Angie Ball (vocals/acoustic guitar), Kc Maukl (upright bass), Dale Ball (fiddle), Pigpen Spear (washboard), and Dustin Beck (drums), has earned an impressive name for themselves through their Bender Bound EP of 2010 as well as their irrepressible live performances which since forming has led them to playing events which include the Pacific Northwest Brewcup, the 4th annual Jake the Alligator Man B-day Bash in Long Beach, the Kustom Kulture Festival in Silverdale, Reno Rockabilly Riot, the 7th annual Seattle Psychobilly Brawl, and across WA with The Rocketz, Graceland Five, Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz, James Hunnicutt, and Three Bad Jacks, as well as being hand-picked by the founders of the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee to open for Soul Asylum.

Released via Texas-based Psycho-A-Go-Go Records, Boozed And Bloody opens with Intro, a sizzling instrumental of rockabilly candy and invitingly crafted elegance which romps like a pole dancer on viagra and is just as mischievous. The magnetic start explodes into an immediate lust thanks to the tarmac tearing Draggin ‘Down. Instantly rocking like a Chevy in cruise mode the track stirs up the dust and ignites the fuel of the heart with infectious rhythms and delicious skilled guitar flames all wrapped in the irresistible vocals of Angie.

Rolling rhythms and a sultry blaze of harmonica harken in the thrills of Moonshine, a southern coated stomp of psycho country contagion exploiting every instinct and passion for a fevered riot of insatiable enterprise and the continuation of a sensational introduction to the album. From such a heightened start a slip or lull would be expected but with crafted diversity the band just deliver the delicious insatiable romance with the simmering emotive sunset of Some Kinda Hate and the boiling ambience of Hellriders. The first is a tender embrace which smoulders within the ear and the second a brewing storm carved by a wonderfully carnivorous upright bass sculpting veined by a kindling of spiralling guitar mastery and harmonica sparks which light the canvas below the feisty alluring tones of Angie. It is an inspiring and seductive blend which is impossible to ignore or avoid drooling over.

The same can be said of the whole album and especially Junkyard Blues, a white hot fusion of rockabilly fermented in a brew of country rock with a hint of rhythms & blues.  The song lures you into its inferno with expert temptation and rewards with an unruly yet deviously crafted explosion of incitement and inflammatory rock n roll. In its own distinct way Iron Horse II also latches onto an inner ardour to leave one basking in unrestrained pleasure, in its case with a shimmering ambience around a scorch of guitar bliss and gently prompting rhythms beside as it is automatically expected at this point, sirenesque but commanding vocals.

     Little Willy’s is a track which if feet and blood is not pumping then a mirror to the mouth for sign of life is needed. The song just dances with the passions like a teen at a hop whilst the following ’31 Coupe is an orgasmic inducement to rampage the streets with intent and headlights blazing. Both songs offer the fullest primal bait through the sensational almost bestial slaps of Kc Maukl whilst once more the harmonica sends tingles across the spine.

Finishing on the country liquor jiggery of Have Another One, the swells and intemperate warmth of instrumental Surfin ‘Tucson, and lastly the graveyard serenade Necrofella, a Horrorpops meets Richie Valens amongst the tombstones finale, Boozed And Bloody is one of those treats you just cannot get enough of. It is a hunger we will be satisfying as soon as possible, a suggestion we offer you after you tuck into this outstanding offering first of course.

http://www.angieandthecarwrecks.com

https://www.facebook.com/angiecarwrecks

http://psychoagogorecords.com

8.5/10

RingMaster 27/02/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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The Creeping Ivies: Stay Wild

Having been left in rapture by their previous EP Ghost Train earlier this year, the anticipation and excitement going into Stay Wild, the debut album from Scottish rock n rollers The Creeping Ivies, was near on immeasurable. Admittedly it would have had to be a car crash of apocalyptic proportions not to have found approval, but the ten track psyche buzzbombs, to steal one of their song titles, took existing expectations and hopes and elevated them into a debauchery of passion. Stay Sick is a stunning irrepressible feast of wickedness which could grace any dance floor, riotous party, or waking graveyard.

The Creeping Ivies consists of the powerful inciting vocals and carnal riffs of Becca Bomb alongside the senses slapping, primal incendiary beats of Duncan Destruction, a duo which ignites primitive urges and raw hunger for their challenging and insatiably thrilling sounds. Together they brew up a storm which plays like the bastard sonic offspring of an illicit engagement between The Cramps, Wanda Jackson, The Orson Family, Patti Smith, and Ray Campi, whilst being violated by Alien Sex Fiend. It is an unforgettable and unique cacophony of instinctive mischief bringing the fullest most invigorating rewards.

Debut EP Rock N Roll Party in November 2011 was their first full statement of intent, though the song Shake It Up had already inspired acclaim and strong responses to the band with its appearances on a couple of compilation albums. The band also landed good airplay around the world which accelerated with the Ghost Train EP, including being featured on The Bone Orchard podcast. Shows alongside Viv Albertine of The Slits and Vic Godard & Subway Sect, as well as their own gigs have only gone to place the band as one of the most exciting in the UK, something which Stay Wild will surely turn into worldwide recognition with deserved luck.  Released on December 10^th as a vinyl/download through US label Dead Beat Records, the album is a simple yet powerful trip to orgasmic satisfaction.

The album opens with the magnificent Black Cat, a track with a groove which has you scouring rooftops for the Caped Crusader and an honest swagger inviting full participation. The uncomplicated gait of the song is hypnotic enough but with the sonic scrubbing which explodes out and scorches the ear intermittently, adoration is the only outcome. The vocals of Becca demand attention as firmly as her guitar lashes, and standing side by side with the thumping rhythms of Duncan, the pair scar the air and senses with a delicious assault of lustful irreverence.

The feisty stomp of Buzzbomb rampages over the sores caused by the opener with garage punk/rockabilly energy and punchy enterprise. Carrying a spice of The Stooges, Ramones, and The Creepshow to its gait, the song is a storming treat of public disorder combined with sonic revelry and showing the variety of sound and imagination which screams out from within the album.

Madhouse Blues and Mirror Mirror step up next to fire up the passions, the first a flow of caustic strokes from Becca around her wonderfully expressive and synapse scorching vocals. The track has a punk breath to its repetitive and salty touches which steps into numerous realms of genres whilst firmly borne of the first seeds of rock n roll. It is a persistent treat taking no prisoners with its corrosive intent and sets up the second of the two with its throaty tones and ‘banshee’ squalls perfectly. The track transported thoughts to Korean horror film Into the Mirror for some reason, probably due to the The 5,6,7,8’s like spicery of the song and the sharp tingling sonics which enflame the heart throughout.

Every track on the album is a triumph and inspires the same level of wanton devotion; songs like the brilliant punk n roller Spinning, a track which is as spicy and seductive as sex, the sensational echoing tank slapper Bop Like That, the slower but equally compelling song The World, and the steamy House of Ivy, all staggering examples of the uncluttered inventive mastery and brilliance on show. The latter is a raucous maelstrom of feverish energy and body rapping beats, a sadistically teasing psychobilly binge with whispers of L7 and Bone Orchard to its striding exploits.

Completed by Rock N Roll Ghost, a song which devours the heart like a fusion of the Misfits and Horrorpops, and the final exhilarating bruising encounter of the closing title track, the sigh of deep pleasure is audible at its end and the rush to press the play button again to the whole feast of magic beyond eager. Stay Wild is simply astounding and if this was to be the only music to soundtrack the rest of our lives there would only be greedy acceptance and joy.

http://thecreepingivies.com

RingMaster 21/11/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

The Duel – All Aboard The Crazy Train

Steeped in 70’s punk and 80’s new wave, the new album from London Punk Rockers The Duel is a glorious nostalgic trip and modern interpretation of all that made original UK punk the reason some found music as something more than just for the ear. The band and their third album All Aboard The Crazy Train ripple with reminders and influences of an array of essential bands turning them into their own stirring sound. There is a wealth of ‘punk’ bands around now but there are not many that proudly hark back to a time that set so much in motion like The Duel who use it as fuel for their own vibrant and honest music. For an album that song by song has essences of so many from the past the release is one of the freshest and encouraging this year.

The Duel began in 2001, a duo of vocalist Tara Rex and keyboardist / bassist Andy Theirum. Finding their feet and sound before expanding the line-up the band’s first gig was supporting the Dead Kennedys. Since then they have played with the legendary might of the likes of UK Subs, The Slits, Buzzcocks, Sham 69, The Vibrators, and Angelic Upstarts to name just a few. Their first two albums, the 2007 debut Let’s Finish What We Started and its 2009 follow-up Childish Behavior took them into a bigger and wider national spotlight fan and media wise and now with the release of All Aboard The Crazy Train through FFR UK on 28^th November, the anticipation of further strong acclaim is surely to be realized.   

Though soaked in a marinade of old school punk/new wave The Duel have fused it into their own electro/cyber punk/rock  pot of sounds combining instinctively bold vibrant riffs, direct and sharp attacks and vocals with melodic and resourceful hooks and synth/keyboard weaves. Combined it makes for songs that are inventive, easily accessible and pulsating. Each track carry the true punk ethos of challenging boundaries and being oneself, loaded in self expression and DIY truth it is an example and reminder to all current punk bands about the real meaning of what they claim to be.

The title track opens up All Aboard The Crazy Train to immediately lay down what the band is all about. The track bristles with a firm drum beat from Pumpy, whilst the keyboards of Thierum soar nonchalantly throughout the song. The vocals from Tara Rez coated in effect, ring with a deliberate disdain adding to the tracks moody feel. Though a mid pace stroll it sneaks up and by its end one realizes it has its hooks deep inside and has taken over the ear, that is until the energetic and slightly discordant punk attack of ‘Singing N Dancing’ takes over. Pulsating with the bass of Chris McDougall and a rock guitar ending from Thanos Oscar Pap it plays like an X-Ray Spex/P.I.L. merger and Rez herself sounding like the vocal offspring of John Lydon and Siouxsie Sioux.

The following songs all play and satisfy immensely like the Horrorpops/The Creepshow sounding ‘Empty Highway’ and the emotive and in many ways surprising ‘Loneliness’. When the big bass thumping and vibrant pop punk of ‘I’m On To You’ takes the stage though things go up a level and continues until the end of the album. Addictive and bouncy with again a Horrorpops feel, it enthusiastically entices and beckons with its blatant hook and melodies. The ska vibed Clash like ‘Freeway’ with Rez sounding a little like Penetration’s Pauline Murray, the Generation X punk ease within ‘Blaze Of Fury’, and the TV Smith/ Adverts flavoured ‘We The People’ with a mesmeric pulse beat ,all feed the senses eagerly and wonderfully.

The album contains 16 great songs and those mentioned and not, all deliver and please with equal quality, the album is a joy but two tracks have to be mentioned. Firstly ‘Not Found Behind A Gun’, a song that hungrily and openly displays its fine attributes to reel in the heart. Its sound is very Psychedelic Furs and Rez herself seemingly takes on some of Richard Butler’s vocal style, a wonderful track that despite its skill is eclipsed by the best song on the album ‘The Way London Used To Be’. A pulsating union of The Clash, Ruts and Transplants, it rings with a hypnotic hook and bass stomp alongside the keys of Thierum which dance engagingly. The song builds into a big sounding and pumped climax; with its anthemic hand and social commentary it epitomizes the band and their fine sound.

All Aboard The Crazy Train is simply excellent and the more one hears the more one sinks into its glory and bathes in its simple magnificence. As the penultimate track declares “Get ready for the sounds of liberation…” that is just what The Duel and their album bring.

RingMaster29/09/201

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