THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE REVOLUTION
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The Rats were one of the first crop of punk bands going back to 1977. They only ever released three singles, ‘In My Love For You’, ‘Year Of the Rats’ and ‘You Make me Sick’, but somehow we have here an albums worth of material, including both sides of the singles (oddly ‘Louise’ was the b-side twice, there was the original and a retake produced by Dr Feelgood and Fruit Eating Bears producer Vic Maile) plus loads of demos. Normally this could be seen either as a rip off or strictly a ‘historical document’, but some of the demos on here are as good as, if not better than the singles. There are some nice riffs tucked away in there and you can see why the man behind Dr Feelgood liked ‘em, they even try their hand at a bit of ska at one point.
Even by punk elitist standards, they were pretty obscure and are rarely name checked when people refer to punk’s heyday. We think this is a tragedy, they were a talented bunch and their singles stand up to anything else released at the time. The fact that their first single was released the same week as the Pistols ‘Pretty Vacant’ probably did not help sales, nor the fact that the NME slated them. We loved ‘em, for us they were up there with Slaughter And The Dogs, The Vibrators and The Drones.
They gigged quite widely, including supporting the Sex Pistols, but internal feuds meant the band were doomed to be short lived, eventually meeting up with Wendy Wu and mutating into The Photos. This collection gives a glimpse of what an album might have sounded like, but sadly it is too late. A bit odd really, catching the release of an album by one of our favourite punk bands 29 years after most of it was recorded
The sixth album from Scottish celtic rockers Shooglenifty, and their second libve album. Radical Mestizo is named after a Mexican journalist’s attempt to encapsulate their music in Spanish. Taped over the past year at gigs in Mexico City, Veracruz, Indiana, Glasgow and Glenuig this sadly lacks the coherence that you would get from a complete recording of one gig, but then again the recording device that is capable of bottling the Shoogleniy live experience has yet to be created. Many of the tracks here are extended jams of tracks lifted from the previous studio album ‘The Arms Dealers Daughter’, and beyond. There in lies the beauty, the constant ability to rework and reinvent, mutating and evolving to keep the audience guessing and wondering. And what a wonder they are. The sound is crisp, tight, rounded and warm; these guys do not mess about with cheap PAs and there are times when you have to pick up the cover to remind yourself that this is a live album. Sweet.
Sick Note, those lovely people who invited us all to ‘Phone In Sick’ back in January take their rebelliousness a step further with their latest offering with a slightly more direct call for a ‘Taxi for Mr Blair’.
‘Taxi’ is probably the most full on four to the floor stomper so far, with a massive pounding rhythm the likes of which has not been heard since Leftfield left the area. The thing that lifts the ‘Note above others though is the fact that there are real drums, real bass and real vocals there to give it an organic edge you do not get with common all bedroom techno. This must be one of the most danceable ‘protest’ songs EVER! Let’s hope this gets noticed before Tony’s taxi really does arrive. Oi! BBC, check this out and use it when the long arm of the law comes a knockin’ at number ten cos of the cash for peerages.
The track can be downloaded from their myspace, but the CD demo has a few little extras on. ‘Headshot’ recorded live (at the Walkabout in Cardiff we think) which starts with the shout “we don’t wanna see anybody else on the dance floor, we want you on the fuckin’ stage”, which brings back memories the entire audience climbing on stage to dance, much to the bemusement of the bar staff and bouncers. There is also a studio version of the Captain Beefheart cover ‘Gimmie Dat Harp’, which previously appeared on the ‘Live At The BBC’ demo and has had the feet tapping here at Iguana HQ for months now; “I like a jig I like a dance, reminds me of a scene from deliverance, I like a dance I like a Jig, but I aint squealing like a pig”. Classic. There is also a nice little bonus of a video of ‘Freelance Opportunist’ just to keep things interesting.
You really do need to check these out live before they go intergalactic, they aint gonna be in this pond for long!
New York’s finest, the Slackers, have been around for a good many years and have pretty much got this ska malarkey down to fine art, managing to get an authentic feel to their skanktastic vibrations. This album, as the title indicates, is something different though, it is a collection of outtakes from past sessions, which have been dusted off and dubbed up. We are going to whisper this next bit incase any of our purist friends hear and come to give us a kickin’.. this is as close to proper Jamaican dub as you can get, without actually being Jamaican and we reckon if played to someone who did not know what it is they would be convinced it came from the mighty JA…. There you are, we said it now. This is well ire, crucial enough to be put on the same shelf as King Tubby, with only a giant Rizla to keep ‘em separated. And not a dreadlock in sight!
16 neatly packaged tracks from Plymouth based power riff merchants. There are moments when you think, hold on, this is quite good, but those moments then drift away when they start singing. There is potential here and they could be quite good with a bit of polish, but it’s not something we listened to over and over. Apparently S.L.O.T. stands for Serious Lack Of Talent, which is actually not the case, more a lack of imagination and originality. We can’t all be imaginative and original though can we.
This bunch are (or maybe were, not sure if they are still around) an assortment of raggle taggle minstrels playing a unique blend of punky/folk songs. Their lyrics have themes as diverse as Ley Lines, Pixies, Hoverflies, Bulldozers and love. We are sure if Robin Hood were alive today, this is what he and Maid Marian would be groovin’ to … assuming someone had introduced the didgeridoo to Sherwood Forest.
Intruder Alert (Spanner) 2007
With each release Spanner have grown and matured. Their brand of ska punk, although played at 90 miles an hour, never descends into being a noise, unlike some of their ‘anarcho’ contemporaries. Skanking, chopping guitar work and polished brass are held together by solid bass lines and precise machine gun like drumming.
The lyrical content of the disc is given added credibility by the knowledge that these boys are the Real McCoy, genuine activists that are not just singing about anarchy. ‘Broken Cages’ tells of being “tired of your “proper channels” and protest contained” and revels in the moment that “I look around to see the fences come crashing down”. ‘Box of Tricks’ rages against the “mass sedation push button apathy” that is the TV. ‘History Lessons’ urges us to learn from the past “History is re-written by liars, thieves and cheats, But we’re the ones who make it - it comes up from the streets, sometimes it seems from nowhere, other times well organised, but insurrection spreads like wildfire when we see through their lies.” ‘Punk As Fuck’ takes a swipe at followers of radical fashion who do nowt. ‘Space Invaders’ tells of that hobby that seems to have taken off in their hometown of Bristle, billboard liberation and subvertising. Finishing off we have ‘Worlds Apart’, a tale of the rich world trying to brush the poor world under the carpet and pretend its not there.. “Pick any two cities you can make a pair, the same two worlds are everywhere and we’re told this fucked up shit is fair, but however much they try to hide the ugly truth of the class divide, when dirt poor and filthy rich collide there’s gonna be conflict far and wide”.
The only problem with this disc is that it is too short, but then given that when they are not in the studio they are on the barricades, we aint going to complain too loudly.
Everyone Deserves Music (Boo Wax) 2003
We were attracted to this album by memories of Franti’s former project, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, which came to an end back in 1992. We had not really sat down and listened to Spearhead, despite the fact that this is their 12th release. It is clear we have been missing out on something very special in deed! This is laid back soul with only a hint of hip hop but the lyrical style retains Franti’s astute social observations, a sort of Gill Scott heron for the 21 st century. Mixing social observations with love songs, it has a sophisticated, sublime beauty that will attract a mature mainstream audience, but with enough of a conscience to keep those with of us who despair of the state we are in happy. In short, a fair-trade cup of coffee, half full (not half empty). We will definitely be checking out the back catalogue in the future.
Vicious Pop (Mythic Loops) 2007
The Pistols like opening of the first track, ‘Hellboy Meets Hellgirl’, lets you know from the outset that this lot mean business. Many members of this outfit have been about a bit over the years but this new project takes us back to basics, rock ‘n roll as it should be, raw and imaginative, not bound by any rules but refraining from self indulgent art noise.
Dr Hotknife, the man with the keys, has been known to us for many years, having been involved with Kill Whitey, Wonderbrass, Spock’s Beard, Hair of the Dogma and even Hawkwind at one stage.. to name but a few of the pies he has fingered. Guitarist Gorgeous George Jones is a new one on us but we know his dad, Mickey Jones of Man fame, and it sounds like his old man has been giving him some tips on how to work his way up and down the fret board (one of the many things he used to work his way up and down). It’s not an all boy affair though, and a touch of glamour is added by Lizzy B who duels with writer/vocalist Richard Toz Torres.
Rock, rap, funk, punk, psychedelia and even 80’s pop find themselves stirred into the mix as these culture vultures pay homage to their past and on occasion cheekily nick riffs from a variety of sources while coming up with a sound that is entirely original and peerless.
‘Frankenstein’ appropriately invokes memories of 60’s US TV horror shows with funky riffs to die for (and come back to life for). ‘Apocalypse Beach Party’ comes on like a cross between the Beach Boys and the Cramps and tells tales of a party at South Wales answer to Coney Island, “He came down to Porthcawl, we sold him a goofball, by the time it was all over, he jumped off the harbour wall”. The best is saved for last as the 11minute ‘Higher’ unleashes the dogs and gives keys, drums, vocals and guitars a go at letting rip before the climax of the album, without ever descending into predictable solo territory. That’s the theme of the album though, unpredictable and untamed. Spectacular indeed.
Yep, that is THE Blue Note Records, the ones that have been releasing jazz records since 1953. And despite the fact that this is contemporary Electronica, the ghosts of Miles Davies, Louis Armstrong and Nina Simmone and even John Lee Hooker can be felt haunting the album throughout. This is the third album by French Electronica pioneer Ludovic Navarre, mixing acid jazz, dub, blues, funk and is a must for all 21 st century lounge lizards.
Remixes can be a bit hit and mix, sometimes they improve things, some times they fuck things up. Getting stuck into remixing a band like the Stone Roses is either brave or stupid. Our guess that the idea behind this was to milk the proverbial cash cow, but in the process a few gems are uncovered. The tracks that are faithful to the original fail abysmally, you cannot improve upon perfection and it has to be said the Roses were the greatest band of their generation and one of the greatest of all time. Where we do get some interesting stuff though is where the hands at the controls have not even tried to rework the original, they have merely taken a sample to base their track on, often just a vocal, and created something completely new. Yes, there are some wicked beats on here, but one does have to ask why they did not just start from scratch and leave the Roses out of it all together. Worth getting hold of, especially for those of who are missing those heady days of the early 90’s, but it does grate a little handing over cash for what is such an obvious commercial venture.
