First the bad news, The Mobbs are no more. The UK band released some of the real treats we have had the pleasure to cover on the site and will be sorely missed. As with all things though there is a silver lining, in this case a trashy garage rock ‘n’ roll one as from the ashes of one great band rises another in the shape of Gogo Loco. Learning of one outfit’s demise through an email from drummer Cheadle and the introduction of another in his new project alongside fellow Mobb, vocalist/guitarist Joe B. Humbled, quick sadness was replaced by eager intrigue across a handful of lines; interest soon emerging as fresh lustful attention once the swinging throes of The GoGo Loco Twist EP infested ears.
Now reinventing their names as Cheadle GoGo and Joe Loco, the Northampton hailing duo have similarly evolved their sound. Certainly within the four songs making up their debut release there is a healthy Mobbs garage punk scent to things but one immersed in a new r&b and blues infused trash encrusted garage rock ‘n’ roll devilry. Something akin to a fusion of The Stargazers, Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads, and The Trashmen with that inimitable Mobbs touch, Gogo Loco provide something as distinct and as unique as you would wish.
It all begins with the EP’s title track. The GoGo Loco Twist needs mere seconds to have the body writhing and feet greedily shifting, its initial tendril of guitar winding around ears and burrowing under the skin before the swinging rhythms of Cheadle and the guest piano antics of Jon Martin, who also produced the EP, get involved. Like King Salami and The Cumberland 3 engulfed in the spirit of Chubby Checker after being infested with garage punk mischief, the song romps and stomps from start to finish inspiring the same in the listener. A virus to any rock ‘n’ roll dance floor, it pleasures and exhausts with glee.
There is no time to take a breath as the following Rattle Your Mind leaps on ears and body next, its crusty blues lining and fevered rock ‘n’ roll inescapable incitement driven by the energy and passion of its creators. As all tracks within the release, it is a short, sharp, and magnetic trespass manipulating body and spirit with ease; next up Go Loco proving the pointy as it insists the listener lives up to its title. Clunky yet fluid riffs welcome in infectious rhythms and in turn just as persuasive vocals, a mix again needing less than a handful of seconds to have the body bouncing. Actually the song never quite bursts into the kind of frenzy its title suggests though its boisterousness increases by the chord but with a control which manages to forcibly increase the virulence in song and victim alike.
The closing Evil Woman is salacious rock ‘n roll with pouting hooks and rhythmic writhing, like a meeting between MFC Chicken and Sonny Burgess as imagined by Gogo Loco and far too easy and tasty to consume to be good for you. Like all tracks within The GoGo Loco Twist, there is a sense of being devilishly naughty and just a little dirty as you thrown yourself into its wonderful DIY temptation of sound and intent, but at the same time the feeling of not caring fuelling the fun.
Long live The Mobbs is a cry we will always offer up but alongside we roar Viva Gogo Loco as the potential of another new lust for us, and we expect a great many others, rises up.
The GoGo Loco Twist EP is out now and available as a free download @ https://gogoloco.bandcamp.com/album/the-gogo-loco-twist
http://www.gogoloco.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/gogolocouk/
Pete RingMaster 24/04/2018
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
The voracious design of the album simply continues with the next pair of Wrong and Start Again. Not for the first or last time across the album, there is a whiff of seventies punk band The Cortinas especially in the first of these two with its sharp almost spiky hooks and instinctive catchiness while the second uncages a riot of bullish rock ‘n’ roll as punk as it is fifties scented honed into another irresistible and individual Nosebleed infestation.
No Hay Amor Sin Dolor has the scent of The Clash to its opening bait of guitar next, a spice which continues as Tellez springs another fresh dose of rhythmic tempting into the brewing mix. The song has a definite punk breeding to its r&b invention and tenacious stroll whilst revealing another shade and arm to the Los Bengala sound and imagination. It is diversity which continues in Jodidamente Loco, a track which jabs and roars its way into the psyche with a mix of noise punk and dirty rock ‘n’ roll twisted into contagion of steely guitar, badgering beats, and volatile vocals. The track is irresistible, a song taking an already high plateau to the album up another notch before Máquina Infernal keeps release and listener on the same high with Latin lures and sixties toned catchiness.
Set It On Fire has limbs scything through air next with seventies punk antagonism meets psych rock contagion, its guitars and brass a resourceful scorching, whilst Wild Love invites naughty deeds with a Rocket From the Crypt meets Dick Venom and the Terrortones infestation of sound. Both tracks are ridiculously compelling persuasive yet find themselves outshine by the outstanding Firing Line. The song is manna for the ears and heart, its Mighty Mighty Bosstones like opening alone igniting the instincts to party before rhythms provide a jungle of unstoppable temptation frequented by wonderful squirts of sax. They develop into subsequent deranged toxicity further in, colluding with a just as rigorously arousing web of guitar and bass enterprise. As ever like a side show barker, Jim adds his vocal stirring to the mix for one slice of irreverent creative alchemy.
It is not exaggerating to say that every song on Garage Punk for Boys is devious rascality, all instinctively and simultaneously appealing to the styles it weaves its propositions from, One Erotic Thought another fine example with its sixties spawned beat infused garage rock tromp. As here, they all keep feet and limbs as busy as ears and imagination, and whilst thoughts may not be erotic as the song reveals of itself, they are nevertheless keen to indulge in knavish practices after each encounter.