Born in Liverpool but now a resident of Brighton, Chas Palmer-Williams was the singer with one of Britain's best ever bands, Lightyear. I've already posted a track and written about them (http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lightyear-life-jacket-water-wings.html) but today it's my great pleasure to bring you a song from Chas' new solo album.
The album's called American Smile British Teeth and it's a more laid back affair than his work with Lightyear. Citing his inspirations as The Weakerthans, The Hold Steady, Johnny Flynn, Frightened Rabbit and Propaghandi he's produced an album that'll appeal to anyone who enjoys honest, acoustic folk/rock music.
Produced by Lightyear drummer Jim Harrison, this is the video to the song Absolutely Some Regrets.......
Bad Cop/Bad Cop are a 4 piece all girl band from Southern California with a line up of Stacey Dee (vocals/guitar), Jennie Cotterill (vocals/guitar), Myra Gallarza (drums) and Linh Le (bass/vocals). They previously played in a number of other bands, including Angry Amputees, Compton SF, The D'Maggs, The City, The Radio Sweetheart and Cunt Sparrer.
Introducing themselves in 2013 with a 3 track ep featuring the songs Sweet Brown Water/Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and A Little Wild they soon managed to attract the attention of Fat Mike, Stacey Dee was at that time involved in Mike's Home Sweet Home musical. Newly signed to Fat Wreck Chords they released the Boss Lady ep and began garnering some serious attention.
Earlier this year Fat released their debut album, Not Sorry. Produced by Fat Mike it's a polished, confident record that shouldn't have a problem attracting admirers who don't normally listen to punk music. That's not to say that it doesn't still kick ass.
Oh yeah, I´m a nightmare And you´re my dream come true No matter where I go, All roads lead just to you. Yeah I´m a nightmare, Yeah!
Oh yeah, I´m a nightmare But you know that I love you And that you can count on me to be true I know you know that I know... I´m a pain in the ass sometimes But I promise, I´m working on that too
I´d never write a stupid poppy love song For anybody but you I just might call you 'Boo' And if you should die before me Promise you´ll haunt me Leave the cupboard doors open Every morning so I know you´re there And that you care.
Yeah I´m a nightmare And you´re my dream come true No matter where I go, All roads lead just to you. Yeah I´m a nightmare, Yeah!
Oh yeah, I´m a nightmare But you know that I love you And that you can count on me to be true. I get wound up and angry At the way the world works sometimes But I can´t imagine to get angry with you.
I´m trying not to be a fucking psycho. Oh but it´s hard some times When you´ve got a head like mine. If things don´t work between us Meet me in a parallel universe. I swear I´ll do my best to make it work here first!
Today's song caught me somewhat by surprise in as much as I was reading various bits and pieces online whilst at the same time flicking through a bunch of new videos in the hope that I'd find a few good songs to add here. To be honest, I wasn't overly concentrating on the music and the song that I'm posting today initially just acted as background music, gradually though during it's run time I found myself paying more and more attention, hoping it'd finish so that I could replay it again and listen properly. Play it again I did, and again. And again. It's a deceptively catchy little devil that burrowed it's way into my brain and stuck there. It ain't particularly fast, it ain't aggressive, it's just a great, melodic, slowburn of a track that makes me want to hear more from the band.
The band? That'd be Second Youth. New to me and possibly to many of you. As of this moment, I've only heard the one track from them and know very little but here goes.....
Featuring members based in London, Cagliari and Berlin (who are ex and current members of The Legacy, Gold Kids, Runes and Miles Away), they're about to release a debut 3 track ep on Uncle M Records featuring the songs Glass Roof, Keep On Dreaming and How It Was. They only began as a band earlier this year after friends Dick Smith and Andre Suergiu, nostalgic for the bands they grew up listening to, decided it was time they put their own spin on what was a golden era for punk music (think 90's era Fat Wreck and Epitaph).
As well as being a musician, Dick Smith is also a successful graphic designer who's work can be checked out here : http://dicksmithdesigns.tumblr.com/
A song today from a band who weren't around too long but who's members went on to form a number of other bands including Strike Anywhere, Ann Beretta and River City High.
Inquisition formed in 1991 in Richmond, Virginia by a bunch of high school kids.... Thomas Barnett (vocals), Mark Avery (guitar), Russ Jones (drums) and Leer Baker (bass). Baker left after a year and was replaced by Rob Huddleston.
* (IF YOU'RE READING THIS ON BLACK FRIDAY, 27/11/15, THE ALBUM, ALONG WITH ALL A-F RECORDS BACK CATALOGUE IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD SO BE QUICK AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A GREAT OFFER!) *
The band went their separate ways after a show with AFI on Sept 8 1996 but there've been occasional reunion shows, one of which was recorded for a live cd/dvd called Uproar : Live And Loud!
Passionate, political punk rock doesn't come much better than this, this is Uproar.....
She said, "Boy answer the question" And we've been patiently waiting all our lives Told me to sit down and shut up all our lives
[Chorus:] And this is the uproar Uproar, uproar, This is the uproar Uproar, uproar, uproar This is the uproar Go!
For the prisoner of conscience Walking fearing where you tread Crimes against the people that the government led Amnesty now for an innocent dread (Is it) Only for the rich that the poor get bled
[Chorus]
For the mind of my sister fight the one eyed views Body of my mother torn broken and abused People in the cities and the streets beating down Color culture stand together Make this sound Make this sound So won't you make this, make this, make this sound
Because you said, "Boy answer the question" And we've been patiently waiting all our lives Told me to sit down and shut up all our lives Knocking me out of my head Into my heart as it's bled Knocking me out of my head Into the heart as it's bled, out
Because we sing An oi oi song And a unity song
Old conflict put them to bed Real enemy please show your head Old conflict put them to bed Will the real enemy please show your head
They say she's a heartbreaker Gonna end up alone I'm shakin' like a leaf I'm afraid of the phone
Some of you might remember that a few days ago I posted the Essential Logic single, Aerosol Burns. There was two reasons for this, firstly it's a great song but also it's the name of a killer new power pop band who've named themselves after that classic tune.
Whilst today is an introduction to The Aerosol Burns, it's not the first time the members of the band have featured in this blog. Those with long memories might remember that a couple of years ago I was very impressed with the debut single from Chain Letters (http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/chain-letters-bad-reflection.html). It's taken him a while but songwriter/guitarist Chris Parker and drummer Violet X are back with another wonderful single. This time around they're joined on vocals by Matt Mayhem. Matt has graced Young People With Faces (who also featured Chain Letters vocalist Sophia Dilley), No Tomorrow Boys and The Furies (who featured here : http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-furies-hey-little-girl.html).
Over the last few months, Chris very kindly kept me updated with how today's song was progressing, he sent a couple of early work in progress versions which had me excited for the finished item and I'm more than happy to report that both A and B sides, Afraid Of The Phone/(Your Love Is) Where I Go, are definite winners. Also in the works is a new Chain Letters single which will hopefully surface sometime next year.
Hopefully you like this as much as I do, Afraid Of The Phone......
A song today from one of my favourite new releases, it's taken from the Spin ep by Broadcaster which is new out on Jump Start Records and can be found here : http://jumpstartrecords.bandcamp.com/album/spin
Broadcaster are a catchy as hell indie punk band from Long Island comprising of Jesse Litwa (vocals/guitar), Tom Kelly (bass) and Anthony Vito (drums). They draw comparisons with many of your favourite indie bands; Jawbreaker, Superchunk, Weakerthans etc and in an era where I think this type of music is lacking in top notch acts, they're a breath of fresh air.
They released their debut album, Welcome To The Wetlands, back in 2010 and have been pretty prolific ever since. Their various eps, splits and sophomore album A Million Hours can all be checked out here : http://broadcasterny.bandcamp.com/
Today's song is an obscurity from 1979 by Worthing band F-X. The line up was Jon Burn (vocals/guitar), Clive Todd (guitar), Mike Burn (bass) and Rick Leyland (drums). They only released one single, a 3 track ep called South's Gonna Rise Again, which featured the songs OBE, Slag and South's Gonna Rise Again. 2000 copies were pressed and, came out on Southern Rock Records and was distributed by Rough Trade. Guitarist Clive Todd featured on the single but died of a heroin overdose prior to it's release (edit....see the comments section below).
They split in 1982 without releasing anything else though in 2011 Detour / Only Fit For The Bin Records released a 10 track compilation of their music called Now Where Were We? As well as their own material it also included covers of David Bowie's Queen Bitch and Rock & Roll Star as well as The Ramones' You're Gonna Kill That Girl.
The song I'm posting today is the title track of the ep and is a football anthem about Brighton And Hove Albion. South's Gonna Rise Again.....
Following her sacking from X Ray Spex, saxophonist Lora Logic (real name Susan Whitby) went on to team up with Phillip Legg (guitar), Mark Turner (bass), Rich Tea (drums) and Dave Wright (tenor sax) in a band called Essential Logic. She was the lead singer as well as playing sax and xylophones.
By the time they released their debut single, 1978's Aerosol Burns, Stuart Acton (guitar) and Tim Wright (bass) were in the band. They put out the Wake Up ep on Virgin Records before signing to Rough Trade who released their only album, 1979's Beat Rhythm News - Waddle Ya Play? as well as a handful of singles. They split in 1980, Logic released some solo work and recorded with Red Crayola, Kolla Kestaa, The Raincoats and Swell Maps. She also played sax on the Stranglers classic Hey! (Rise Of The Robots). Kill Rock Stars put out a collection of her music in 2003 called Fanfare In The Garden : An Essential Logic Collection.
Catchy Ramones inspired pop punk from Canadian's The Varsity Weirdos today.
Hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, they're one of the better practitioners of this type of music and don't really get the acclaim they deserve. They've been around since 2003 and have released some great music, personal favourites include the Fly Me Up To The Moon ep and their album, Can't Go Home :
Since they released their album, back in 2010, they've been mostly conspicuous by their absence and earlier this year they decided to call it a day but not before releasing a farewell ep. As with most of their back catalogue, it's brought to us by It's Alive Records and it's a 4 track affair aptly named Close The Blinds. To mangle a quote from Phantasm's The Tall Man, "You played a good game boys, but the game is finished, now you die." They'll be missed.
It's been a while but one of punk's most hard hitting bands are about to unleash their 3rd album. Following on from their 2001 debut Mediocre Generica and 2004's Fuck World Trade (not forgetting 2007's split with Citizen Fish), the 27th November is the date that Fat Wreck Chords will release Constructs of The State. The band of course is Leftover Crack and hopefully most of you guys are as excited as me. If you want a preview, it's streaming over here : http://m.billboard.com/entry/view/id/148919
The album moves further away from the heavy ska punk sounds of their early days and whilst there's plenty of different genres in the mix, as a whole it's fast paced, ferocious and will smack you right in the face. Luckily they can still pen a catchy tune (even though they pummel the fuck out of it with some of the years loudest and most scathing music).
As well as the core line up of Scott "Stza" Sturgeon (vocals/guitar), Alec Baillie (bass/vocals), Brad Logan (guitar/vocals), Chris Mann (guitar/vocals) and Danny Morris (drums) there's an impressive list of contributors....... Jesse Michaels, Erik Petersen, Penny Rimbaud, Joe Jack Talcum, Whitney Flynn and Zack Religious to name a few.
A week or so ago I added up all the page views for this blog and the most visited song was The Christ by Leftover Crack. Hopefully you'll enjoy this song as much, this is Loneliness & Heartache......
Sticky Valentines are 4 rock n rolling "brothers" (that's brothers in the same way that The Ramones were brothers, ie not really) who got together as a band in Chicago but who are now based in Oakland. They go by the names Cody Valentine (guitars/vocals), JoJo Valentine (guitars/vocals), Jimmy oh Valentine (bass) and Caleb Valentine (drums/vocals).
Serving up a tasty platter of power pop, punk, early blues and rock n roll they're influenced as much by 60's girl bands like The Marvelettes as they are by the classic punk sounds of The Sex Pistols or The Only Ones.
Their debut release, the Pleased To Meet You (Femme Fatale) ep showcased their talents early in 2014 and they recently followed it up with the 6 track Sticky Valentines ep. You can check them out here : http://stickyvalentines.bandcamp.com/
They've also recently supported one of my favourite bands, The Briefs.
The lead off track from the latest ep, this is Bored On The Boardwalk.....
Another song from the excellent No Front Teeth Records today, this one is from an ep by Southern Californian street punks Cause Of Death. Formerly known as Final Solution (who's 2007 single Warsaw Uprise also came out on No Front Teeth), they currently line up thus : Greg Willert (vocals), Tom Wold (guitar), Scott Tomashek (drums) and Jeremiah Hale (bass).
Their influences include the likes of Bad Brains, UK Subs, Minor Threat, Bauhaus, Leftover Crack, Adolescents, US Bombs etc (they recently shared a stage with the US Bombs frontman when they supported Duane Peters Gunfight).
The lead track from the single, this is a hard hitting scorcher of a song called Radiation Burns.....
An upbeat new melodic punk tune from the south west of France today. Topsy Turvy's are from Poitiers and have been together since 2008. Featuring both male and female vocals and employing a strong d.i.y. ethos they've played around 200 shows all over Europe and released 3 albums and 2 split ep's.
The first of those albums was 2011's Fall In Love With An Alien Girl (the combination of punk rock and sci fi is always a winner with me). The following year saw them put out You Better Believe It, You're In which featured 8 more tracks of feel good pop punk (I'm just listening to the title track as I type this and I'm being reminded a little of one of my favourite bands of this type, The Bat Bites). 2013 brought us the split ep's, one with Sidewalk (from Holland) and the other with another French band called Johk.
Lining up Noemie (bass/vocals), Dam's (guitar/vocals), Crusty Bat (guitar/vocals) and Cyp (drums), it's a comfort that even whilst the world seems to get more fucked up every day there's still people out there making great music that'll brighten up your day.
I'm currently working my way through their back catalogue, I'd recommend you guys do the same. Maybe you could start with the new video for Like A Living Dead......
A song today that popped up on my Facebook "on this day" page, it was one that I'd shared on my timeline a few years ago but had forgotten about. Sounding a bit like Bruce Springsteen mixed with The Clash or maybe The Exploding Hearts, it still sounds great and is deserving of place in this Blog.
The State Lottery feature members spread out around a number of states but mainly write songs either in or about Detroit. They got together in 2006 but the distance between them seems to have pretty much curtailed any activity in recent years. Their first album, Cities We're Not From, was released in August 2008. A couple of years later they released a follow up called When The Night Comes. This was the album that featured today's song and the line up on it was Andy Dennison (guitar, organ, bass. vocals), Bobby Colombo (vocals, guitar, organ), Dave Garwacke (drums), Jordan Owen (bass, guitar, vocals), Niki McUmber (sax, organ, piano, vocals) and Chris (piano).
Other releases included a split single with The 255s and a single called Fistfuls Of Sand. You can snap up all those releases "name your price" .... http://thestatelottery.bandcamp.com/
Back in time a few years today, Bovver 96 were an Oi band from Philadelphia who between 1996-98 released a couple of eps and an album. Unlike most Oi bands, this lot featured female vocals, courtesy of Jersey Diabla (aka Deidre). Also in the band were Juston (drums), Andy (guitar/backing vocals) and Jeff (bass).
The ep's were Ghetto Oi (1996) and Knuckle Girls (1997) and the album, which came out in 1998 was called 96 Bottles Of Beer.
Recorded at Cycle Sound Studios and released on Steelcomb Records, this is Deidre shouting loud and proud that her and her friends are more than a piece of ass, it's called Knuckle Girls......
Yesterday's song from Spoilers proved pretty popular so hopefully those of you that checked it out will be back today to listen to an equally great song from Boss Tunage label mates Not Tonight And The Headaches.
From Grimsby, they're genre veterans having previously been involved with a number of earlier bands (including Fallout, Luna Suit, Christmas Jones...). They formed in March 2008 and have been gradually building a reputation as one of the UK's best pop punk acts. They've shared a stage with a number of top bands, including Teenage Bottlerocket. They also recently appeared at the Great British Alternative Fest (alongside the likes of Bizzcocks, The Fall, The Damned and Hugh Cornwall). All in all, they're a band that would be seriously bothering the UK singles chart if the state of mainstream music currently in this country wasn't so bloody dire.
If you want to check them out, their Bandcamp page features both their albums; debut Love...And Other Weapons Of Mass Destruction and their new one, If You Were Real You'd Do Your Own Stunts, as well as their singles : http://nottonightandtheheadaches.bandcamp.com/
Next up for the band is a new video. Filmed by Mark Richards, it's for the track I Guess This Is Progress. Also to look forward to is a special gig at Yardbirds in Grimsby on 30th Jan, it's bassist James Elliott's 40th birthday and the bill will also include Spoilers and Bear Trade.
From the latest album, this is my favourite track. Short and punchy, it's a tale about a friend, a girl and a broken heart. She's With You......
There seems to have been news of nothing much else recently aside from stories of people dying. I haven't really got the words to properly express my thoughts on either the victims of terrorism or war (wherever in the world it's happening) or on the recent spate of some great musicians passing away at too young an age. Life's precious, cherish it, live it, love it. R.I.P. to those that have gone before the bell rang time, this one's for them.
Spoilers are a 4 piece from Kent who got together when Southport bassist/vocalist Dan Goatham joined up with Kenny Razzell, Ben Davis and Leon Packer. Fuelled by a love of catchy, melodic punk, as played by bands like Snuff, HDQ, China Drum, Osker, Face To Face, Gorilla Biscuits etc, they hooked up with Boss Tunage and Brassneck Records to release one of 2015's best albums. Hopefully most of you are already familiar with them but for anyone who wants a sampling of their sound then head this way ........... https://bosstuneagerecords.bandcamp.com/album/stay-afloat
Watch out for them next February when they'll be supporting Snuff on their 30th anniversary tour. This song is called Punk's Don't Die......
This year I'll indulge myself again with a much more interesting top 10, these are the 10 most viewed songs on Just Some Punk Songs (though as there's some great tracks that just missed the cut I'll post the next 10 as well). This chart is (in a way) voted for by you guys, as a massive fan of the much missed John Peel this to me is my version of the Festive 50 and it's been a buzz compiling it.
I didn't know which songs would be included and I'm pleased to see that many of them are by lesser known bands who've put out some great music and I'm glad to see they're popular at least in their own part of the world. If you haven't heard any of these songs, try and have a listen, they're all bloody good.
Thanks to everyone who's read this and here's the chart.......
20) Nervous Patterns - Du Kannst Dich Niemals Andern
19) Criminal Mind - Frustrated & Teenage
18) Neighborhood Brats - Suburbia
17) Stiletto Bomb - Ampgrinder
16) Cuckooland - Richard Jobson Dance
15) Posers - Nothing
14) The Dwarves - Sluts Of The USA
13) Paper Suits - Hate This Place
12) The Economic Decline - Police Volvo
11) Screaming Bloody Marys - Johnny Fuck'er Faster
An old favourite today, this is a song that blew me away when I first heard it. I think my reaction could have been "How the hell can Mike Davies get away with playing a song on Radio 1 that contains so many fucks!" The impressive swearing aside though, it's one hell of a catchy tune.
Big D And The Kids Table are a collective of musicians from Boston, Massachusetts, that coalesced whilst at college back in 1995. Fronted by David McWane, they lay claim to being modern day American gypsies who make music because they've no choice, they're addicted musicians. They aren't afraid to mix differing styles of music; punk, ska, reggae, thrash, stroll and several other variations all come together in a heady melting pot. Energetic, fun and experimentation are some of the words I'd use to describe them.
Given the energy they bring to their records and the number of talented musicians involved, it's no surprise that their live shows are a blast, they're certainly one of the more enjoyable bands I've seen.
This one's from way back in 2001. It was on a split ep with Five Knuckle that came out on Household Name Records (which also featured the Big D song President, another great tune) and it's called LA.X
Hey, elitists from L.A.; Los Angeles, California You know who you are You drive in fancy cars Your allowance exceeds my rent Well listen to what I have to say Remind yourselves every day Let's get the message on its way
Well first of all, Fuck your fucking attitudes How can you be so fucking rude? You fucking look at me like when girls are jealous And fuck your fucking L.A. bars You're all a bunch of wannabe superstars Yeah, fuck your fucking act You're a bunch of dressed up fucking rats
You get anything you want Mommy's jobless fucking runt You're fucking lounging in daddy's fucking mansion And all your fucking stupid names Blair and Tavis, that's fucking lame Z-A-C does not spell Zack, What the fuck is with all that?
And you think you're so fucking impressive You can get your name on the fucking guestlist Raise your nose to the people in line Give the doorman a fucking high five
And they go
Do my shoes match my shirt? Does my shirt clash with my pants? Do my pants match my eyes? Do my eyes look good tonight? Will this place be cool enough? Your hair looks so, so tough This looks so good for us Tonight my money's gonna buy me love
And fuck all of your deceiving What's your fake heart fake fucking bleeding? And all the girls you lay to your mat Are the same fucking girls you fucking laugh at And fuck your fucking fake ass world And all your handed out fucking thrills Some of us, we have to work hard Just to get our little part And maybe your clan is not in Boston But my friends are fucking awesome And we'll keep on doing our best Even though our lives are a mess
Even though my life is a mess, yeah
And we go
Will this check support this tour? Will this tour lose my job? Without my job where's the rent? Should we all just call it quits? The dinner dates sure cost a lot When 28 bucks is all you got And your life is at a stop And all your dreams are all self-taught
And this is the difference between our lives No wonder tonight you feel alright And I'm sorry if my mind is occupied I'm trying to forget to wonder why
We're built up from nothing I'm trying to forget to wonder why
Today's song is another new one, it's by a band called La Misma and despite their name (it's Spanish for "the same"), and their lyrics being sung in Portuguese, they're actually from New York City.
They introduced themselves in 2013 with a demo and a 2 track cassette and followed these up last year with a s/t 7". They recently released debut album Kanizadi (on La Vida Es Un Mus in Europe and Toxic State in the US). Their sound is a kind of hardcore punk that doesn't allow itself to be restricted by the constraints of the hardcore punk genre. The album's been picking up some great reviews, pretty much all of them praising the vocal performance of front woman Nay Vieira-Rosario. You can check it out here : https://lavidaesunmus.bandcamp.com/album/kanizadi-lp
Most of you that are reading this won't know what La Misma are singing about but don't let that put you off. From the album, this is Cidade Velha......
Another Canadian band today, this time from Regina, Saskatchewan.
Bats Out! got together in 2013 with the intention bringing old school street punk music to a scene that's just a little too pop punk orientated for their liking. Taking their name from the Cock Sparrer song, the line up is Scott Free (lead vocals), Brian Templeton (bass), Pieman (drums) and Mark (lead guitar, vocals). They were originally a 5 piece but recently slimmed down following the departure of guitarist Shane Kachur.
Following the inclusion of a couple of tracks on the Oi! This Is Street Punk Volume 5 comp, they've just released an ep on Pirates Press Records and are attracting plenty of attention and positive reviews. More singles and an American tour are very much on their agenda.
A typical example of their fast paced, no holds barred sound, this is the title track from the ep, Flying Blind......
"Today I walked outside to take a look around but I only saw a fucking mess, no humans to be found I ran around and searched all day but they must all have run away the only thing I fucking found was rats and roaches on the ground...."
Here's a song that I stumbled across yesterday by a band called M.S.A. (which is short for Millions Of Smashed Assholes). They're based in Edmonton, Alberta though the various band members hail from all across Canada. They currently line up thus : Sean Reif (guitar), Andrew Hogenbirk (bass), Kenny!! (drums) and Myke Peters (lead vocals).
Influenced by the likes of D.R.I., The Meatmen, Fear, Dayglo Abortions etc, they've been making music for around 20 years but started M.S.A. in 2012. They love courting controversy almost as much as they love making music. Check out their releases (including today's song) here : https://msapunkrock.bandcamp.com/
Any blog that exists to highlight great punk songs should feature the song that I'm posting today.
Forming in Toronto in 2001, Career Suicide are a hardcore punk band who released a couple of great albums, 2003's self titled and 2006's Attempted Suicide (plus their 2004 split album with Australian band Jed Whitely). They've also released a handful of killer eps, including 2005's Invisible Eyes, from which today's song appeared. Another release that featured today's song was Anthology Vol. Two and you can check that out here : https://derangedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/anthology-vol-two
It's been a number of years since they last put out any music but they're still gigging (they headlined last month's Not Dead Yet festival) and new material is supposedly on the way.
One of my favourites, the line up on this was Martin Farkas (vocals), Jonah Falco (guitar), Matthew Miller (bass) and Jesse Parker (drums). It's called Bored, Bored, Bored........
Basically it's just a bunch of songs with a couple of short introductory paragraphs saying who they're by and pointing you in the direction of the band's music. If you're lucky you might even get the lyrics. What you don't get is a well written, insightful review of the song as I don't think I could manage to write proper reviews without becoming boring or repetitive. If you want a great review of today's song, try Kevin McGovern's Fear And Loathing Blog : http://longbeachloathing.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/new-reviews-radiohearts-and-jukebox.html.
Hopefully the strength of this Blog is the quality of the music. Hopefully it's a place where you can come to check out a song by a band you like and whilst you're here discover a load of other bands that you might have otherwise missed. Please click on a few that you haven't heard of, there's some great songs that deserve your attention.
And now back to the tried and trusted formulaic band intro.......
Radiohearts got together in 2012 and hark back to those halcyon days of the late 70's where bands like The Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, The Boys etc were firing out a succession of killer singles like it was the easiest thing in the world. As you'll appreciate though, you've got to have a rare talent to produce music that good. Many have tried to match those classic cuts and many have failed. Today, I think we have a song that would have graced that period.
Featuring Ed Stuart (guitar/vocals), Mike Yager (bass), Tony Ferralez (guitar), and Jason Cordero (drums), the band have just released their 3rd record. Called Lot To Learn, it's a 4 track ep, it's on the wonderful No Front Teeth label and you can check it out (along with debut single No Reaction and the Nothing At All ep) here : http://radiohearts.bandcamp.com/.
This is the title track, Lot To Learn. A proper review would tell you why it's so good, it'd mention the great guitar sounds and the catchy chorus. It'd tell you the singer nails it and how the simple yet effective backing vocals compliment things without being too intrusive. It ain't a proper review though so as always, just click play and enjoy......
B Squadron were a "working class oi" band from Leicester and featured Trav (vocals), Max (bass), Ryan (guitar) and Daz (drums). Unfortunately they've recently split up.
There is however an ep which they've released which will go down a storm with fans of this type of music. Similar to a band I featured a while ago, Crown Court, they take no prisoners with their aggressive, in your face style of punk. The 4 track ep is on Rebellion Music and is called Saturday's Soldiers. They've also recorded a final 2 tracks for a Rebellion compilation album.
The title track of the ep is about football violence and those Saturday's Soldiers who's battlefields comprise of streets and boozers......
A question for you today. Does anyone know if one of my favourite bands are ever going to get round to recording new material or have they called it a day. I may well have missed the announcement of their demise but as far as I know there's been nothing.
It's been nearly a decade since they released the rather splendid Between Christian Rock And A Hard Place album, this was quickly followed by the Crouching Tiger, Moshing Panda compilation but aside from Good Clean Fun the movie (2009) they've been positively absent from the scene.
There's a Facebook page for them that vocalist Mr. Issa posts on once every blue moon but other than him hinting at a kickstarter campaign a couple of years ago he doesn't offer any hope of them resurfacing.
If anyone has any info, please post it in the comments. In the meantime, this is one of my favourites by them, On The Streets...
This is a new revolution we're building a brand-new society It's about time we find a revolution and not let it slip away It's time that we all work together, This little thing we call unity has the power to make it all better And that is why today we'll all be on the streets Saving the scene from the forces of evil Side by side, living our dreams, all the positive people We'll fight our way through the frustration overcome negativity To us it is not a temptation, because that is not our way All that is needed to start this is a healthy dose of positivity We've found our way through all the darkness And on this brand new day we'll all be on the streets Saving the scene from the forces off evil Side by side, living our dreams, all the positive people
Model American were a short lived hardcore punk band from San Francisco. They released a s/t album in 1997 but after being sued over the rights to their name they split. When their album was re released in 2002 (by Session Records) they used the name MAPS (Model American Playing Secretly). Aside from the band's own material the album featured them covering songs by Bad Brains, 7 Seconds and The Adolescents.
Vocalist Tim Presley went on to be a member of The Nerve Agents and also featured for a while in The Fall. Drummer Andy Granelli (aka Andy Outbreak) also joined The Nerve Agents and was a member of The Distillers whilst other band members included DJ Patton (bass), Josh Spatero (guitar), Josh Stinson (guitar), Ken Kirby (guitar) and Travis Dutton (guitar/backing vocals).
From the album, this is track 1, We've Had Enough......
I've seen so much These negative ways Attitudes start shaping Values astray It's time to start thinking Using our minds Sticking together Willing to fight
We are disillusioned And we've had enough Look onward for a future And never look away
Enough Too hard to get by No interactions While dragging their minds You discard ambition Living a lie With false presumptions There's no need to try
I know it might be hard enough to see But we're living in a time With many empty voices Negativity consumes the mind You'll have to break away Or pity is what you'll find Working towards a better life With Strong Positive Minds
