the above image is the property of KafB Photography / www.kafb.rocks many thanks to them for allowing it's use
Back to the UK for today's song which is by a band that formed back in 1987. From Norwich, Goober Patrol have been one of this countries most enduring bands, like compatriots Snuff they're one of only a handful of home grown acts to appear on Fat Wreck Chords, they've also featured on various other labels including Boss Tunage, Them's Good Records and most recently, Bomber Music.
Down the years the band have shared a stage, and more than the odd beer, with many a top band, Green Day, Samiam, NOFX, Strung Out, Bouncing Souls just to name a few. Bass player Tom Blyth has also had a stint as a member of Toy Dolls.
Following a break, they're back with new members and new material. You can check out their side of the new split with 7 Day Conspiracy here : http://gooberpatrol.bandcamp.com/ . From that disc this is That's The Point.....
The Shocks were a German band who played a '77 era flavour of punk rock. They got together in winter of '95 in Hallejan, initially playing covers of songs by the likes of The Damned, Ramones and Slaughter & The Dogs but soon progressed to writing their own material, debuting with the Too Many Kicks 7" in 1996. Non English speakers, their vocals were in their native tongue. Following their Holiday On Zyklon Bay and Anti-Scene - Fehlpressung 2000 7"'s they released a debut album, More Cuts For You in Zero 2. This was followed a year later with album number two, Bored To Be In Zero 3.
Around this time they were due to tour America's west coast with The Briefs (with whom they released a split single) and The Epoxies but they were sent back to Germany by Seattle immigration officers. One good thing to come out of this episode was the single Banned From The USA which you can find below......
For you today I have song by a synth punk band from both Luttich (in Belgium) and Aix-La-Chapelle (in Germany) called Komplikations. Describing themselves as punk elektrorockers they're probably the first band I've featured not to use guitars, instead relying solely on vocals, synthesizer and drums.
They formed in June 2011, released a debut ep in 2012 (called Step Forward, it features the song I'm highlighting today), and then followed it up in 2013 with Poverty and 2014 with Going Down. You can check out their back catalogue over at Rockstar Records : http://rockstarrecords.bandcamp.com/ .
Influenced by the likes of 70'S L.A. synth punks Screamers, they comprise of Alen on vocals, Lio on synth and Karsten on drums. This is one of their earliest songs but one of their best, it's called Defect,,,
I've posted quite a few Rip Off Records' acts over the course of the last year or so, it was a fabulous label with a very high % of winners amongst it's roster of garage influenced punk artists. Today it's the turn of New York City's Shop Fronts.
Unfortunately they didn't hang around too long, 2005-6 pretty much covers their lifespan, but they did put out a wonderful self titled album (Rip Off 072) which I recommend you try and track down, as well as a split 7" ep with fellow New Yorkers, DC Snipers, a single entitled Don't Quit, and a follow up called So Sick.
They comprised of Jami Wolf ( ex Zodiac Killers...guitar/vocals), Paddy Bullocks ( ex F-Hole...guitar/vocals) and Tom Dash ( ex Primate 5...drums/vocals) and Alessandra Aliquo (ex Tie-Reds...bass/vocals).
Originally a single on Noma Beach Records, this also appeared on the album, this is a great female fronted garage stomper. It's called So Sick......
It's been a while since I posted a top 10 list so here's the favourite songs of all time as chosen by Chicco Lattepiu who's the vocalist with Italian punk outfit Latte+
I posted their I Wanna Be Like Steve McQueen song a while ago and it proved very popular, then as I was listening to their 2014 No More Than Three Chords album last week, I decided to ask Chicco for a list. Latte+'s album is one of last years catchiest releases, crammed full of catchy, upbeat tunes (of which you can get a taster here : http://www.lattepiu.it/ )
I was expecting his top 10 to be chock full of songs by The Ramones, Screeching Weasel, Queers, Teenage Bottlerocket etc and whilst there are some of those great bands in there, there's also a healthy representation by Rock 'n' Roll's grand masters. Thanks for contributing to the blog Chicco......
A song today from one of the best album's of 2014, it wasn't easy selecting a favourite as there's several on the Mutation In The Family that could claim that title but in the end the wonderful buzzsaw guitar sound throughout track 5 won out.
The Mugwumps, from Austria, got together in 2002 when 3 friends decided to alleviate their boredom by forming a band. Comprising of Chris Mug (guitar/vocals), Hank Hollywood (bass) and Andi Hectic (drums), they announced themselves with a demo ep in 2004 before returning in 2006 with the Slit Your Tire 7". The following year saw them put out a debut album called Banana Brain as well as the Do Time With The Mugwumps ep.
After this, things went quiet for a few years but just when you thought you'd heard the last of them they were back, better than ever, with 2014's Mutation In The Family. a pop punk masterpiece that came out on Monster Zero and It's Alive Records and which stands up well when compared to some of the great bands which inspired them (the likes of The Queers, Screeching Weasel, Teenage Bottlerocket etc....). Don't just take my word for it, check them out for yourselves..... http://themugwumps.bandcamp.com/
Yesterday's song was by a band I knew nothing about and who were just getting going, today's song is by a band who everyone's heard of whom have been around in one incarnation or another since 1977. Not much of an introduction is needed for The Misfits, formed in Lodi, New Jersey, named after the Marilyn Monroe movie, various vocalists (including Glenn Danzig, Michale Graves and Jerry Only), splitting up and reforming, an impressive back catalogue (my favourite of their albums being Static Age).......
Originally recorded in 1979 but not released until it appeared on 1996's Misfits Box Set ( a different version featured on the b side of the 1981 Who Killed Marilyn single) and featuring Bobby Steele on guitar, this is Spook City USA.....
Spook City USA, Spook City USA
See all the ghosts as you drive past graveyards (Spook City USA) Deathly souls in American graveyards (Spook City USA) Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
See-through spectres cruise your hallways (Spook City USA) Poltergeists in the middle of the roadway (Spook City USA)
Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
Haunted house on the highway roadside (Spook City USA) It extends an eerie invitation (Spook City USA)
Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
Occasionally I'll hear a song that I like and decide it's getting posted in here and then admit that I know very little about the band before adding at least a couple of facts about them. Today however, I really do know absolutely nothing about this lot (so if anyone does please share your knowledge in the comments box).
I saw this song mentioned by Just Some Punk Songs' favourites The Plain Dealers and decided it needed adding here, it's by a band called Paper Suits who I think are from Cleveland. I'm guessing they're newly formed??? and they have a few songs on Bandcamp..... http://papersuits.bandcamp.com/
This is a snotty, '77 punk type rant called Hate This Place.......
It's not 73', suburban metro queer Disposable razors have been around for years I don't care about your P.C. All I know is I like to eat meat I don't care what your read, I don't care.
Now I hate this place Gonna make you shave your face.
Human sheep in the front look like hasidic jews Staring up at a cross, frozen, afraid to move Not me, I hate what I see I don't care about your "beliefs" You're just a puppet of a computer screen.
A song today by a band that I'd not come across till yesterday when I saw a review on the excellent Keep Track Of Time site. It's by a band called Twisted and it's from their self recorded album, Utopia, which is a new release on Specialist Subject Records (and Art For The Blind in Ireland). I could go on to tell you that the band are from South Wales and feature a line up of Livi Sinclair (vocals), Jon Mohajar (guitar), Rob Milligan (bass) and Chris Thomas (drums), I could even mention that early on in the song that I'm posting that the vocals bring to mind the drive and urgency present in some of Chumbawamba's earlier punk numbers but I think I'm better off just directing you to both the Keeping Track Of Time review ( https://keeptrackofthetime.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/twisted-utopia-specialist-subject/ ) and to their bandcamp where you can discover for yourselves how great the album is ( http://specialistsubject.bandcamp.com/album/utopia ).
For anyone that's still here, this is Phantom Penpal........
At the beginning of this month I posted a song by Japan's The Cistems and mentioned that some of them were now in a band called Kingons. Since then I've been eagerly waiting to do a follow up post featuring that awesome band....
Kingons are fun. The enthusiasm for what they're doing emanates from every pore as you'll see if you watch the video below. They comprise of Takahashi ChokuWataru on vocals, Kj Monmon on guitar, Nakata on bass and Handa on drums. They put out killer album in 2010 called Pop Of The World and they've also released a few eps, the most recent being 2013's Past Rendezvous. 2015 will see them shortly sharing a bill with The Apers on the Dutch band's Japanese tour.
From their 2010 ep Wonderful Girl, this is the title track. I love this kind of stuff so if anyone's got any suggestions of more of the same please shout out in the comments.....
"I'm Going To Take You Tom A Place Where I Can Fuck You......"
Hailing from San Francisco, grungy punk riot grrrrls Quaaludes have been together for a couple of years. In that time they've released the singles She's Weird Like Us and Nothing New, and a self titled tape (all of which can be found here : http://quaaludes.bandcamp.com/ .
The female foursome comprises Aimee Belden (vocals), Morgan Liggera (guitar), Courtney Dragge (bass) and Susie Leni (drums) have thus far been growing a healthy following on their home Bay Area turf but are now getting noticed far and wide. Not surprising when they're putting out songs of the quality of this bass driven slice of brilliance. Originally on their tape, this was re recorded for Nothing New, it's called Stiff Little Single......
Here's a song that I only heard for the first time yesterday, it's such an upbeat, feel good record that i had to post it in here.
Louis Lingg And The Bombs are an energetic, political, anarcho-punk band from Paris who are influenced by the likes of The Dickies, The Briefs and The Epoxies and who feature Josh (guitar/vocals), Arno Life (guitar/vocals), Julie Hate (vocals), Clem Phlegm (keyboards) and Zgaygoire (drums). They're named after the German immigrant and anarchist, Louis Lingg who committed suicide whilst on death row in 1887 after he had been arrested in connection with Chicago's Haymarket Square bombing. Despite many of their songs dealing with serious subjects, it doesn't stop them being fun. You can check out their music on bandcamp : http://louislinggandthebombs.bandcamp.com/ .
This song, Destroy Civilisation, is from their 2012 album Alphabet Of A Revolution.......
"We don't care if you think we suck
we just want to play punk rock.."
Not to be confused with any of the other bands that share their name, The Automatics that are featured today are a band from Portland, Oregon who started off with pop punk sensibilities and got gradually heavier as they went along. Announcing themselves in the mid 90's with several eps and a self titled album on the legendary Mutant Pop label they were a band that didn't go in for the shiny bells and whistles production favoured by several of their contemporaries, instead they packed their releases with a 1-2 fuck you, pedal to the floor array of short and in your face snotty tunes. In total they unleashed 3 albums and a multitude of singles, splits and eps.
The song that I'm posting today comes from their 1997 10 More Golden Greats ep. Most of the tracks on this disc were under a minute in length and this one was one of those, with vocals that remind me a little of Jello Biafra, this is called Punk Rock.....
As promised, here's the second of this weekend's tunes from Italy. I suppose this one most definitely can be filed under the heading of bubblegum punk.
Biffers hail from Livorno, a port city on the western coast of Tuscany. Forming in 2009, originally as a 4 piece, they're now comprised of Dario (vocals/guitars/harmonica), Tommi (drums/bass/backing vocals) and Pasquale (bass/backing vocals), they took their name from Back To The Future's Biff Howard Tanner. Their self produced debut album, Whoa!, was picked up last year by Kung Fu Records and you can check it out here : http://biffers.bandcamp.com/releases
From that album, here's a feel good song that'll be rattling around in your head for the rest of the day, it's called Bubblegum.......
The Italian punk songs that have been posted during the last month or two seem to have gone down well (half of my facebook friends list seems now to be made up of people who's name ends in a vowel!), they certainly seem to enthuse over anything that could loosely be described as being "Ramone to the bone."
As I applaud their fervour, the 2 songs I'm posting this weekend are dedicated to them.
Kicking off today with a song that originally appeared in 2004 on an album called Paled By Dimmer Light which is by veteran American singer/songwriter Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk. This upbeat version is by one of Italy's oldest and most beloved pop punk bands.
The Manges have been together since 1993, they formed in La Spezia which is located between Genoa and Pisa in the Liguria region of Northern Italy. Describing themselves as radical Ramones monkeys they feature Andrea (vocals/guitar), Mass (bass), Manuel (drums) and Mayo (guitar). Dressing in striped t shirts, sneakers, jeans and leather jackets their live shows are a whirlwind of non stop punk tunes that are each introduced with "1-2-3-4" before they buzzsaw their way through without pause. As far as recorded material goes, there's been 4 proper studio albums, starting with 2001's The Manges R Good Enough, then continuing with The Manges Go Down (2006), Bad Juju (2010) and most recently All Is Well (2014. listen to it here http://themanges.bandcamp.com/album/all-is-well ).
Besides the albums there's been plenty of other releases (singles, splits, compilations, live albums etc). The song I'm posting today, the cover of the Melanie track i mentioned earlier, can be found on their latest album, this is I Tried To Die Young......
I took a plane through the dawn, threw myself on the tracks, But the train didn't come, and I had to walk back. I jumped into the whirlpool, thought I'd get sucked in; I just kept spinning around till I learned how to swim.
I tried to die young, boy, did I try But the voice deep inside didn't let me succumb. And I laugh at the things I've done When I tried to die young!
My heart kept on breaking and the crack sought the edge Where the hand of a shadow grabbed the hand in my head. There were demons, I know them, and they still come by But we've become friends, my demons and I.
I tried to die young, boy, did I try But the voice deep inside didn't let me succumb. And I laugh at the things I've done When I tried to die young!
I took a razor to the wrist of reality Hell-bent on my way toward futility. I've got a reason to believe that it won't go on forever But reason to the heart is a message undelivered. I tried to die young! Now I'm the old boy I never thought I'd become Does it get any better? Asks the little boy in my song. I'm still learning the answers, so I make-up the sings you see, He laughs, 'you're still the same, and you'll never kill me!'
I tried to die young, boy, did I try But the voice deep inside didn't let me succumb. And I laugh at the things I've done When I tried to die young! And I laugh at the things I've done When I tried to die young!
We're just getting far enough past Christmas and the New Year that the first of the 2015 releases are starting to raise their heads above the parapets and one of the albums that I'm most eagerly awaiting, toyGuitar's In This Mess, is a little over a week away from it's Fat Wreck Chords release date. Frontman Jack Dalrymple has a history of putting out great music, he's been in One Man Army, Swingin' Utters, Dead To Me and Re-volts whilst toyGuitar already left a calling card with the She's An Alarm ep (my favourite track from that ep featured last February http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=toyGuitar ).
Complimented by the talents of Miles Peck, Rosie Gonce and Paul Oxborrow, the band play an energetic, garage tinged punk n roll kind of music that more often than not has backing vocals to die for and going by this track, Human Hyenas, we're getting more of the same which is great by me........
Some really cool anarcho-post punk today with a song that came out last year on Katorga Works. From Austin, Texas, Institute announced themselves a year earlier with a 6 track demo ep. They feature members whom have previously been in hardcore bands (Glue, The Wiccans, Blotter) but for this project have gone with a more discordant sound that despite having jagged edges doesn't mean it isn't highly addictive as you will discover if you check out the two eps they've unleashed thus far http://institute.bandcamp.com/music
From the first of those releases, this is the title track, it's called Giddy Boys....
Sometimes you've just got to leave her behind............
A band today who were from Honolulu, Hawaii who list amongst their influences The Queers and so must have been pretty happy when their idols decided to do a cover of the song I'm posting today.
The Catalogues, "Hawaii's first pop punk band" began life in 1993 with the aim of putting out lots of records and touring. They failed to achieve this but they did spend a pretty productive day together when they recorded, mixed and mastered a demo which they titled Viva Los Muertos! They also managed to get a 5 track ep released on Mutant Pop Records. The band went their separate ways in 1998, singer/guitarist Les Hernandez is currently with horror punk band The Quintessentials.
This is the song that attracted the attention of The Queers, it was covered on their classic Don't Back Down album, this is Another Girl.....
A crunchy early 80's UK pop punk song today from East Londoner's Erazerhead. (The info I've given below is just a condensed version of this piece : http://www.erazerhead.co.uk/)
In 1978, fresh faced rock n roll fanatic Lee Dury formed a band called The Corvettes but just as they were making a name for themselves their bass player, Paul Spicer, was killed in a hit and run and they split up (guitarist Steve Pear went on to join The 4-Skins). Only the fact that he couldn't find the studio stopped Dury joining The UK Subs as bassist, instead he joined up with Bernie Cairns, Billy Trigger and Jim Berlin as vocalist with a new Ramones influenced outfit named Erazerhead (Cairns was soon replaced with Gary Spanner). Support gigs with a number of name bands, indie chart hits and the obligatory John Peel session soon followed. Following an argument, Spanner left the band who carried on for a while as a 3 piece with Dury on bass but they decided to call it a day in 1984. If you want a retrospective of their work, Captain Oi put out a comprehensive best of album in 1994.
Possibly their best known single was 1982's Shell Shock but I think I possibly prefer the b side, She Can Dance (I'm a sucker for the backing vocals), so that's the song I'm posting today.....
A golden oldie today by an early hardcore punk band called M.I.A. (not the female rapper M.I.A.).
Forming from the ashes of a band from Las Vegas called Swell, M.I.A. got together at the start of the 80's and got a boost when they left a demo tape with 7 Seconds frontman Kevin Seconds which ended up getting passed around various influential genre figures and got them noticed. 1982 saw the release of a split album with Genocide called Last Rites For Genocide And M.I.A. (from which today's song comes).
An early fan was Jello Biafra who saw that their album Murder In A Foreign place got distributed on the Alternative Tentacles label. Further albums followed in '85 (Notes From The Underground) and '87 (After The Fact) though by this time the band had lost it's spark, and had gone through a few line up changes and by '88 had called it a day. Alternative Tentacles released a 37 song retrospective in 2001 called Lost Boys.
Vocalist Mike Conley was found dead in a Chicago hotel parking lot in Feb 2008 and then a couple of years later band mate Todd Sampson died following a concert in Las Vegas, this song, Tell Me Why, is dedicated to them.....
Tell me why You love living in the U.S.A. Let's not lie You know it seems to be the only way We don't try We just pass the time away Please don't cry You know the country's not here to stay
A short blast of 3 chord punk today from a band who formed in 1997 in Empoli, Italy. Latte+ are one of the many Italian bands that are influenced by The Ramones, they're also one of the best. Starting with a demo which was called Dustbin In Town which saw the light of day shortly after they got together, they've gone on to release half a dozen full length albums. First up was 1999's The New Generation Sucks . 2001's Guerriglia Urbana and 2004's Molotov both came out on Agitato Records and saw them build up a sizeable fanbase both at home and in Europe. After this they went on hiatus for a while due to line up changes but by 2009 they were back rolling again and released Non e Finita. 2012 saw Asociale, as well as a mammoth tour which went right through till the autumn of 2013.
Last year they reverted to singing in English again and they released their latest full length, entitled No More Than Three Chords, it's their first one to be released in the U.S. (on Outloud! Records). From that album, this is I Wanna Be Like Steve McQueen....
Edit : There's a brand new video for the song (which I've posted below) and a new website : http://www.lattepiu.org/
Most bands do at least one cover version during their lifespan, many just bang out a carbon copy of the original which is a little disappointing but that accusation can't be levelled at Downtown Boys who did a version of Sham 69's If The Kids Are United that differs enough from the original to make it essential listening.
The band featured in my top 30 songs of 2014 list with Slumlord Sal and now they reappear in their own post with another killer dose of sax imbued politically charged punk rock. The Providence, Rhode Island, sextet are one of the most exciting new bands around and they've not only got killer tunes they also have plenty to say, mainly about how the underprivileged and the discriminated against should come together in order to improve their lot.
The song, Kids Are United, came with Rookie magazine's interview with the band (you can read it here : http://www.rookiemag.com/2014/06/theme-song-downtown-boys/ ). Keep an eye on them, they're hopefully gonna be one of the most important bands of the next few years......
Living as I do in the UK, if you were to listen to the radio, watch tv or check out the charts you'd be forgiven for thinking that punk music was something that was popular in the 70's before it pretty much died out, it's memory kept alive by a bunch of grey haired, pot bellied old bands making a meagre living playing their 35 year old songs for an audience of grandads and grannies who pogo rather less energetically than they once did. Scratch below the surface though and whilst you might not find a scene as big as it was back in the days of The Pistols and The Clash you will find what appears to be a growing number of excellent and very promising new bands that are releasing some wonderful records, many as good as most of what the class of '77 churned out. Many have already featured on this blog (far too many to quickly mention but ranging from Frau, through the likes of The Gaggers, Cyanide Pills and Pacer and onto the more melodic sounds of Martha or the post punk stylings of Primetime), yesterday it was England's The Suburban Homes with a tremendous ep and today it's the turn of Wales' The Economic Decline. The UK scene is on an upturn, find some new favourite bands to cherish.
From Corris Uchaf (which is a village to the south of the Snowdonia National Park in Gwyned), The Economic Decline feature members with names such as Ben Rigamortis Rigby, Russ Railway, Clive The Butcher and Ed Art. They released a 6 track ep in 2013 called The Economic Decline Of Great Britain and followed it up in 2014 with an album called New Rebellion, Old Values, it can be found here : http://theeconomicdecline.bandcamp.com/album/new-rebellion-old-values
Recently we were treated to a single on No Front Teeth Records (who one of the reasons for the improving health of the punk scene in Blighty) The lead track, Police Volvo, features sirens and blue flashing lights, beware those unmarked cars guys, they're out to get you......
Today sees a band from Crawley, West Sussex ("in the shadow of Gatwick Airport") who are set on confronting the mediocrity and hypocrisy of 21st Century living. The Suburban Homes decided that a good way to alleviate boredom was to get off their arses and record a few songs and so August 2014 saw the release of their debut single, The Suburban Home ep. It came out on Market Square Recordings, limited to 300 copies each of which contained a piece of Izal toilet paper. Thanks to the wonders of the internet you can find the ep here : http://marketsquarerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-suburban-homes-the-suburban-home-e-p .
With a sound reminiscent of all your favourite lo-fi, post punk bands from yesteryear they aren't afraid to give a lyrical kicking to middle class pricks or pseudo-intellectuals or anyone else who might give them cause to vent their spleen. It's easier than 1-2-3, It's easier than ABC, you can do it yourself......this is track 3 on the ep, it's a call for creativity, it's called D.I.Y, it's a corker, Lend it your ears......
Today sees a classic song from "Notorious punk rock n roll weirdos from Boston, Mass that are equal parts The Replacements, Slade and The Clash."
The Dimestore Haloes were in existence between 1995 and 2003 during which time they released several killer records (click the link for more details : http://thedimestorehaloes.bandcamp.com/), played plenty of great live shows and garnered some very positive press. Unfortunately mega stardom never came a knocking but the people who did get to discover them still no doubt have their name high up on their lists of greatest ever bands. Despite splitting up over 10 years ago, Singer/guitarist Chaz Matthews has still been pretty active. 2005 saw his American Graceless solo album whilst more recently he's been part of The Cheap Cassettes alongside Kevin Parkhurst (http://cheapcassettes.bandcamp.com/releases) and he's put out a surf rock record as part of Thee Imperial Royales (https://theeimperialroyales.bandcamp.com/).
Originally on the Pelado Records compilation 3 Minute Heroes, this is a track that could easily have been recorded in late 70's England and it would have stood up well to the very best of that eras songs. This is Saturday's Heroes.....
Today's song is one that popped up on an old mixtape that I was listening to in my car on the way to work and it summed up my mood pretty much. It's a mid tempo, melancholic number about the ordinary, downtrodden Joe Soaps in society and it's oh so true. It's by Ottawa's The Riptides and it was the closing track on their 2009 Tales From Planet Earth album.
Formed in 1998, the band released several albums on their own Goblin label but more recently it's been Asian Man that's been putting their stuff out ( as well as the Planet Earth album this latter part of their catalogue has also featured split eps with The Queers, The Dwarves, The Apers and most recently the Surf Nazis Must Die split with The Connection). They currently boast the talents of original members Andy Vandal (vocals) and Bob Goblin (bass/vocals) plus Doug Vermin (guitar/vocals), Corey Omega (guitar/vocals) and Dan Lumley (drums).
This is Shit Outta Luck......
We're on a bus we're at our desks, in the check-out lines We're taught to chase our parent's dreams and things will turn out fine We go to school, can't pay our bills - the future's not so bright We all know the Kids ain't alright
We work our jobs we punch the clock, vote and pay the rent We put our faith in Democracy, and in the President The passerby just gets in line - blind leading the blind We wave as the world passes by
Now it's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck It's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck
Who do we blame? What is the cause? Could it be you & me? We've paved the way for The Decline with our complacency We're walking dead on Doctor's meds, with one foot in the grave A United State of Decay
Now it's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck It's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck It's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck It's too late, it's too late, Whoa-oh - cause we're shit out of luck
We can't take this anymore We can't stand it no more No we can't take this anymore We can't stand it no more
I suppose the first thing to say about today's song is that the band that recorded it aren't the same band that released a couple of singles (Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks and Sink The Whales Buy Japanese Goods) back in the 70's. Although also called The Rotters this lot were somewhat of a shambolic, thrown together outfit from London featuring future Horrors vocalist Faris Badwan on drums as well as Dylan "Rotter" Wigoder (vocals), "Robot" Jess Meek (bass) and Emily "Rotter" Watson (guitar).
Supposedly they were offered a gig and so wrote all their songs in a matter of hours, named themselves after a Jonathan Coe novel titled The Rotters Club and then without hardly any practice went out and performed. They even managed to put out a (triple A sided) single. It should really have been an amateurish disaster but have a listen to Japanese Punk, it was fucking gloriously awesome.....
Today's update is by a band that may be new to many of you. I'm certainly no expert on Italian punk rock but they seem to have a thriving underground scene of bands (several of whom have already featured herein) who worship at The alter of The Ramones. One such band are Bom Pro' who I'm featuring a song by today. It's an infectiously good tune with some great backing vocals that'll get you humming along even if you maybe can't understand the Italian lyrics.
Formed in 1997 and hailing from the white beached coastal region of Rosignano Solvay (approx 25 km away from Liverno), the band feature a line up of Diego Bom Pro (vocals), Leonardo Serrini (bass, vocals), Stefano Daddi (guitar, vocals) and Alessandro Froncillo (drums) and they've released 8 self-produced albums. You can check out their latest album, Autobus No7 on their bandcamp (http://bompro.bandcamp.com/album/autobus-n-7), from that release, here's the lead track Tromba Daria.....
There's been plenty of top quality female fronted rocking tunes posted on this blog and today sees another one. This time it's Oakland, California's The Shanghais turn to impress with a catchy as hell slice of garage tinged punk n roll goodness. The band recently (and deservedly) won Faster And Louder's annual best new band award, the culmination of a great 2014 in which they released 2 killer eps ( http://theshanghais.bandcamp.com/ ). They aren't reinventing the wheel with their 60's girl group meets The Donnas/Ramones style of playing but when you can pen tunes this catchy who the hell cares. Forming in 2012 out of the ashes of Bad Skirts and featuring Pookie And The Poodlez frontman Trevor Straub on bass, Natalie Sweet on vocals, Dani Aggie on guitar and Laura Gravander (ex Dirty Cupcakes) on drums, they're hopefully going to have an even better 2015.
It's not easy to select a "best" song of theirs to post as just about all their harmony filled pop gems could lay claim to that title so I'm choosing one that comes with a great video. Originally included on the No Rules! No Fun compilation ( http://norulesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-rules-no-fun-compilation ) before resurfacing as a bonus track on their Pretty Mean ep, this is Too Cool To Die......
As there's been a hell of a lot of new visitors to this blog over the last couple of days since the 2014 top 30 list went up, lets try to keep all those new readers by posting something that everyone knows and loves. Actually, bollox to that, here's some obscure Japanese bubblegum powerpop! Thanks to Alberto Vei for putting this band on my radar, I love them.
Unfortunately I know very little about them other than that they're a black leather jacket wearing foursome from Utsonomiya (which is the capital and most populous city of Tochiga Prefecture, Japan). The line up comprises of BeeBee (guitar, vocals), KJ Monmon (guitar, vocals), O-Zeki 613xx (bass, vocals) and Monda-C (drums, vocals), having said this, all the photos I've seen of them seem to show them as a 3 piece so I'm not sure if all the members were together at the same time!. They released a debut mini lp called CCC and followed it up a few months later with another, this one called Toy Box. As far as I'm aware, their debut full length, called Lollipop and released on Underground Government records, was their last release (O-Zeki 613xx joined Telephone Sisters (who recently released a split ep with The Cry!), whilst the other 3 stayed together as Kingons). The album's full of feel good, life affirming pop punk of a style that The Ramones might have produced if they had come from that part of the world. Today's song however comes from their debut and it's called Let's Spend Our Night. It's wonderful.....
Thanks to everyone who had a read of my top 30 tracks of 2014, in 24 hours it's already had more than twice as many views as any other post on here, hopefully some of your favourites were included. For newcomers to the blog, hang around, it's not just new music that gets posted, I also like to feature great songs from yesteryear. Today's update is one of those.
I'm no expert on these oldies, I just post songs that I like and try to add a bit of info so if anyone knows more please feel free to share your knowledge in the comments section, it's your blog as much as mine.
Today's song was recorded at Spacewood Studios in Cambridge in 1977 and was originally intended for release on Raw Records (as Raw 28) but didn't in fact see the light of day (an appearance on a compilation album aside) until Chaos Records put it out in 1983. Following the release of The Killjoys' Johnny Won't Get To Heaven single, The owner of Raw Records put an advert in the classifieds section of Music Maker asking for demo tapes. He says "The telephone never stopped ringing. One of the phone calls came from a girl who called herself Charlie (Greene). She worked for a record pressing plant in the West London area. In a call that probably lasted 45 minutes her personality was so sparkling that I agreed to record her band without ever seeing or hearing them. They were called The Sick Things!"
The Chaos records release was a 4 track ep entitled The Legendary Sick Things E.P. As far as I'm aware it was the band's only release, it contained the tracks Bondage Boy, Street Kids, Anti-Social Disease and Sleeping With The Dead. It's pretty fast paced, in your face, female fronted punk rock with lyrics about dodgy sexual practices. The band had split by 1978, Charlie Greene briefly joined up with ex Drone Gus Gangrene in a Manchester band called Bitch but after a single called Big City she went off to Sweden and helped form a band called Chatterbox.
The Sick Things ep was re released in 2000 on Damaged Goods Records. A song about s&m, this is Bondage Boy.......
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