Reviews
Imperial Vipers
As this is the second lot of c.d's and bumf sent from Emminence leisure I thought I'd better write something about the band that they are trying to promote, Englands answer to Guns and Roses, Imperial Vipers.
Imperial vipers may come from Dunstable but their spiritual home is America or is it because lurking in the songs is a definite Clash presence. What you do get is a heads down, uncomplicated no frills rock and rock band. This is the music of sweaty dark bars, loose women in boob tubes hot pants and a face for sin and dudes with cuban heels and a easy smile and an arm out of a window of an open top car.
Imperial Vipers - Searchy, Falling, Silence:
The Imperial Vipers come across as some hybrid clash/Buckcherry creation. They also appear to own one name each, which is very rock, but then so do the Brazilian International football squad.
Hard
to smile:
Definitely a toe tapper, a song that begs to be played in an open air
car down Route 66. Probably low down and dirty and some good hooks.
Mercury
rising:
White man in Hammersmith Palais. Infectious chorus, again, again, again,
she’s telling me…….Mercury rising….see I’m
singing along, so it has to be good.
Promised
Land:
It’s that deep South, southern drawl, Jack Daniels, squeal like
a pig for me boy sound. Quick find me a porch and alligator to pet,
while the song ruffles the Spanish moss above my head.
Jewels:
Definitely an early Clash sound, checks picture of group to see if Mick
Jones & Simoneon are in the group. Nice party kids in the street
authentic sound.
The
Dirt (part 2)
Where’s part 1? Nice slow easy on the ear, but I keep getting
a strong feel of American culture here, this would make a great track
in a road movie with Patrick Swayze as a head bouncer in a bluesy rock
bar.
Streets
of California:
Isn’t Arnold Swartzennegger gouvernor of California? See above.
Kick
a hole:
So it’s this lot that keep damaging the toilets in our local.
Has a catchy sing along feel to it, but not their best.
Searchy,
Falling, Silence:
Back to blighty with this one, quite modish in a Purple Hearts kind
of way. Much more of a head nodder this one, I could dance to this track
if it wasn’t so unhealthy.
In
Chains:
One with the up swinging. Not too sure about this one, too American
for me.
Living
in my veins:
Nice melodic one. Ash gets to work on his vocal range, although I do
prefer the quieter bits. Nice bit of a guitar solo towards the end.
My
Number:
Good Sultry Bluegrass rock guitar at the beginning. Quite a poor white
trash feel to it.
Sun
Dissolves:
This is excellent, back to 70’s progressive rock sound. This takes
me back to Reading Rock Festival in the early to mid 70’s. I have
an overwhelming urge to light up some joss sticks. Fantastic guitaring
in this one, the vocals are powerful and meaningful. This is so Alvin
Lee and 10 years after it’s unbelievable.
Overall
view:
The album has more hits than misses, some tracks didn’t do it
for me. Hard to smile, Mercury rising, Promised land, The Dirt and the
excellent Sun dissolves are worth the Purchase price…..The last
one is going on my MP3 to play whilst I work.
The Vipers
The Vipers now is it???? When I originally booked them they were The Likes, before becoming Seven Dogs, before settling on what i think is a more apt name "The Vipers". It sums up 60's pop and twangy guitars, innocence, good times and trashy B.movie soundtracks.
The addition of Zara's organ...ooerr missus.....has made the group have that B52's sound, when they were good and Nathans vocals have that manic sound that Fred Schneider also posessed. Zara's quirky little movements and appearnce also reminded me of a young, (as she was back then) Poly sterene of X Ray Spex.
Full marks to Rana, who has only been in the band for three weeks as the new bassist, she wasn't phased when a string snapped on her guitar. Add the animated drumming of Ral and you have a band that have the ability to be serious contenders in the new emerging garage surf punk psychobilly sound.
Several people I spoke to afterwards said, they would like to see them again in 6 months, and preferably with more female backing vocals.
Sadie
Hawkins Dance
Heading
for my pub of choice nowadays, The Yorkshire House, Lancaster, I decided
to pop along to see 'Sadie Hawkins Dance. I've heard about them so felt
its about time, while they were in the neighbourhood, to give them a
listen.
I never caught the name of the first band, they were competent musicians,
more guitar solo's than you can shake a stick at, but nothing that stood
out for me. I think its the stage presence...did mention that they were
only filling in time to the real bands come on.....I wont disagree with
that.
Lancaster stalwarts, The Three Ages of Elvis, were on next. The are
a three piece that consist of a guitarist with a rockabilly hairstyle,
a bassist with 'indie hair' and a drummer who looks like a student.
This 'mish mash of styles reflect in their music....you dont know what
you are going to get...but what you get is good. You cant define their
music, one minute its almost punk, the next pure rock n roll with a
twist of garage, as I said its hard to define. But I think that's what
make them different, I honestly think they dont care what people think.
Another band thats defies description, Sadie Hawkins Dance. Ms Crystal
Grenade is Hazel 'O'Conner ressurected....or would be if Hazel 'O' Conner
was dead, which she isn't. Fantastic stage presence, she looks like
she has randomly picked her wardrobe out of an Aid International charity
shop, with her eyes shut ...and hoped for the best. Their material remind
me of that early punk sound when the scene was exciting, the likes of
X-Ray Spex, Penetration, Toyah and of course Hazel' O' Conner, basically
that art school, female fronted image, before Discharge and their ilk
came on the scene. Ms Grenade jumps, falls to the floor, and generally
acts unlady like, for that reason and that reason alone you have to
see sadie Hawkins Dance.
FeedBack
Very busy tonight, obviously the chance to dress up as zombies clinched it for a lot of folk. Not for me mind, I reckon I would just look like someone trying to pass themselves off as a student, as thats the sort of thing students do.
Cogna
The first act was a duo calling themselves Cogna, the sound was patchy, no sound checking and consisted of two keyboards and a minidisc of sounds that sullenly refused to behave. Best described as an 80's throwback camp caberet act, where the singer seemed to be singing his shopping list and footnotes to mention to his therapist.
Baby Bitch
Baby Bitch on next, four young lads glamming it up. I not long did a review on these guys. you can't fail to warm to this band, while others of their peer group are growling themselves hoarse over D tuned guitars, these are all hand clapping,strutting and fretting over what eyeliner to wear.. Great entertainment and I think we are going to see a lot more of them.
The V.C's
The V.C's were an unexpected pleasure. Sci-fi punk, very Rezillos, but very original as well. The singer tall thin and wearing a pair of shades that looked like the sort that glaucoma sufferers wear, played what looked like an old Telecaster and even sounded very much Shadows/Duane Eddy in his guitar playing. The main interest for me was not the petite little bass player in the white rubber nurses outfit.....she was female by the way!!!! who not only played a very competant bass but a Korg as well, but the keyboard player. He had what appeared to be some contraption, possibly a melletrone, which by waving his hands over it made these weird sci fi noises. Play any Gerry Anderson 60' and 70's Joe 90, Mysterons track wrote by John Barry you'll know what I mean. There I said it. If watching a guy waving his hands over his organ making strange noises is your 'bag' then the V.C's are the band to see, I for one will definately be looking out for these guys again.
Zombina and the Skeletones
Zombina
and the Skeletones, The band I really went to see. I loved this band
when I was sent their e.p last year and 'I was a human bomb for the
FBI' has been on our Wall of Sound for about nine months now. every
one of their songs was great, from the 'Doo Wap' Angel Eyes, late 50's/early
60's cover, the accepella prom night track and the many mutant surf
rock(as Sho calls it) I call it the Beach Boys, early B52's, Cramps
pot pourri that their set consisted of.
Fantastic group that everybody should see at least once, to say you
had a night of totally unpretentious fun for once.
Baby Bitch - Screaming for Attention - C.D Review
AINT
LIFE A BITCH!!!!....One minute you're walking through Boots the chemist
with your mates when you accidentally trip and fall into the cosmetics
counter. Instead of wiping off the eyeliner and lipstick smears that
now adhere to your features and joining a rugby team, you decide to
pick up a guitar and start a sleazy rock'n'roll band instead.
I've seen Baby Bitch twice now and they improve with each sighting.
Instead of going along with their peers and wearing hoodies, D-tuning
the guitars and screaming gutturally at the audience, they opted instead
for bags of attitude and a sleazy glam rock sound and image, not expected
from bands this young..
I'm loathe to name check Velvet Revolver as a ready reckoner for their
sound and image, The New York Dolls, Alice Cooper and DTX( a band I've
put on before) have been doing it far longer but don't get the credit
especially from a younger audience only used to getting their sources
from Kerrang T.V. But it will give you the general idea of what they're
like.
I Want More Mix early Stones with The Murderdolls
and you have I Want More. Very similar in style to a Band called Zen
Motel who sent me a cd over a year ago( I have them on our wall of sound
on the website) Nice heads down boogie track with a 70's rock flourish
in the outro.
I Wanna Be Corrupted The title almost sound
punk doesn't it?. infectious beat that wants you to clap along to the
tune.....which is handy as some handclaps do in fact appear later in
the song. Lots of early punk bands started with this sound, The Damned
were at their best at this stage, Eater, another great band aged between
12-15. Forget the glam image, spike your hair and wear bondage trousers
and go out as a punk band circa 76-77.
Bad Candy Chugs along like a Soundgarden
track, probably do well in a jeans commercial. More beefier than the
other two tracks, slower, possibly to show their diversity of sound.
This would go down better with the hoodie and keychain set nodding monotonously
in unison like they do to it. Not as impressed with this one as the
other two, they stand out as being different to 75% of the stuff being
churned out at the moment and to me they are far more enjoyable, but
then that's just the old punk rocker in me.
Mojo Black Untitled C.D Review
I have
a soft spot for Mojo Black. There is something that does set them apart
from other bands, one being there are only two in the band and two the
don't have a drummer, but then that never stopped the Sisters of Mercy.
Anthony, the singer, who also plays the recorded drum tracks on their
songs, has a likeable singing voice, which luckily goes with his likeable
stage persona. Emma, the bassist, who obviously thinks that four strings
don't cut the mustard, goes for 5 of them instead. Quite shy and not
given to macho rock posturing, reminds me of Gaye Advert from the Adverts,
or would do if she wore a black leather bikers jacket and went heavy
on the eye liner.
King Of Everything could
happily nestle on a cd of 20 drivin' greats, you know sun, open road
and arm out of window and even comes with helpful hints on the track
like 'guitar' as the guitar break comes in, good chugging' head nodding
stuff.
Make It Alright
Sounds slightly like something that Dave Grohl would come up
with, slight bluesy feel to it especially in the beginning, deep south
rock...Jack Daniels anyone?
New Car Hang
on I thought it was going to be something by the Police when it started
'Bed's Too big without You' or Walking On The Moon' Ant does have a
touch of Sting's singing style, hint of reggae. One to have on your
mp3 player while walking on a tropical beach as the sun goes down....
a nice song.
Over Too Fast I was expecting
a song about premature ejaculation, but couldn't hear any words of advice
so obviously wasn't..err yes what was the question again.
Painted Nice
growly bass, melodic parts followed by some interesting faster bits
which still remained constrained amongst the framework of the song.
definitely a lot dancier and touching a tad on the Emo without getting
too carried away.
Shattered Seems they're
gonna get me while I'm asleep, well I'm a light sleeper and loud music
with Anthony screaming is gonna wake me up very easily.
WYB A definite toe tapper,
again back to that touching on a reggae beat, or is that just me but
then the drums go rocksteady and it all speeds up Oh just got the WYB
stands for wanting Your Body.
All in all a good c.d, one that you could listen to a few times and
not tire of it. I do feel that maybe Mojo Black might benefit from a
real drummer, seems they've gone through more than Spinal Tap, just
to add a few more fills to beef the percussion side up a tad, but its
a minor weakness in what is otherwise a very competently put together
set of tracks.
Mika Bomb, Violets, adventures of Loki @ Feedback
Haven't
been to the downstairs of The Farmers Arms and was pleasantly surprised
how cosy it was and a good stage area. Inventive use of projected images
onto the stage area also gave it a very professional feel.
Adventures of Loki were on first, a local band that seem to be getting
a lot of good press. They are a three piece band of very competent musicians,
two girls, who used to be half of Angelica and fronted by a male singer.
He does seem angry a lot of the time and was very vocal about the closure
of the Musicians coop....which seemed to make him angrier. Best described
as a rock band in the, I think, Therapy Mode but with a punkier edge.
All of their songs are definitely 'toe tappers' although their last
one 'Suck it and see' is definitely the best, reminded me of The Adverts
'Bombsite Boy' with its slow chugging drawn out opening and suddenly
rips into a fast beat, ones to watch.
I didn't see Violets as I was outside talking to the promoters although
what I heard sounded identical to Souixsie and the Banshees, circa 77-78,
with jangly discordant guitar chords and that slow drawn out noise,
think 'Metal Postcard' and you've got the sound. As I was a big fan
of the Banshees sound then, they get the thumbs up.
The Headline act, Mika Bomb, were the ones I went to see and they didn't
disappoint. They are a Japanese five piece, three girls and two boys.
Very perky pop punky sound, sang in a lovely squeaky girly Japanese
accent. Reminded me very much of Scottish trio, Bis, who were a band
I really rated around 97-99. you also felt this band needed to do the
backing music of those hentai cartoons, maybe The Powderpuff girls,
or suchlike. Lots of squeals, and jumping around that was making me
tired just watching them. What I did love was the just barely understandable
English between the songs, followed by 'what did she say?' from members
of the audience....'blessed are the cheese makers, I think' Definitely
a group to see again.
Wasted
Festival organisers all-dayer, Oct 29th @ the Carlton Morecambe
Although the festival was down as a free event, with tickets ordered beforehand a donation was asked for to go towards the bands costs. When we got to the door we were asked for a donation of a fiver each. Now I'm not slow at coming forward where 'charidee' is concerned, the lapels of my jackets are the first thing to wear out with the amount of pins in them from various organisations, but surely a donation is an unspecified amount put in a bucket or similar receptacle, how else are you going to get rid of any foriegn coinage gathering pocket fluff.
Anyway I was happy to pay it, its a full day,with some quality bands and I would have paid that if the ticket price had been a fiver anyway. As we never got in until about 1'o'clock and went to one of the side rooms and greeting some of our mates, the first band I actually went to see was Outl4w. Cynics may say that the the reason they get on is their age, three brothers 12,14 and 15, or around that age and a 16 year old drummer.But the truth is they are entertaining, simple songs played well, the guitarist/singer leaping off stage and spinning around on his back still playing his guitar with lyrics appropriate to their age, Never gonna grow up? that sort of stuff, all sang in high shrill balls not dropped voice, reminded of X-Ray Spexs polystyrene in fact. It would have been nice to hear some lyrics, but the sound was badly mixed with the drums over riding the vocals. Saying that they got a rousing cheer after each song and deserved it.
After that it was back to drinking, gossiping and 'touching base' with other promoters and serious bouts of hugs and kisses, we are all a bit soppy that way. Another two or three bands played, I couldn't say who as I said it's more a meeting of kindred spirits and only the real serious fans of those bands tend to give them any attention. In fact as most of the crowd seem to be made up of the 'old guard' appreciation is shown less by frenzied pogoing and by the more gentler nodding head whilst resting a pint glass on a beer gut.......but HEY!!! like I said we aren't getting any younger. Watched parts of the set by the Bleachboys and Crashed Out, there was a couple of toe tappers there, but maybe its me, there are very few bands that have both the sound and the X Factor to keep my attention for that long. Made the effort to watch Glueball, as Jonny Wah Wah, the vocalist,hails from my home town of Reading and a top bloke. As we had been sitting with him most of the evening, it was only fair we sat through his stab at punk rock stardom. Fast paced but not thrashy, again struggling to hear the lyrics due to the shite mixing, but as Jonny comes across 'not of this world' sometimes, I'm sure his thought processes work on the same level in his lyrics lol. Slightly a cut above the general morass of punk bands out there, I look forward to seeing them again. Instant Agony were on next. Liked them but have to keep reminding myself that THEY ARE SCOUSERS!!!. Check that wallet is still in pocket, it is ,but then they would have to be good to get it while they are performing on stage right. With that worry out the way I can enjoy their set. Again fast paced street punk with far too much energy from Hocky who has a thing about wrapping the mic lead round his neck. They have been around since the early 80's so have had plenty of time to get it right. good enjoyable chanty sing along stuff with the added bonus of waiting to see if Hocky slips and throttles himself on the mic lead. I always take disposable cameras, usually in packs of five as I usually lose at least two of them. Well a couple of years ago Hocky says to me 'I picked up one of your camera's, it's back at my hotel room, I'll give it back tomorrow when I see you.Well I thought wasn't that nice they are obviously not all thieving scouse bastards, until I got it developed and handed back with a very old fashioned look from the assistant at Boots, they had used it to take rude pictures.....nice one Hocky!!!.
One of my bands of choice were Goldblade, fronted by muso journalist and sky soundbite merchant, John Robb. He is a true professional frontman, audience interraction and participation, if filling the stage with young ladies from the audience, backed up by a sharp sound that owes itself more to rock'n'roll than punk. He does this interesting move, best described as make a wiggly shark fin hand movement above his head........you have to be there to appreciate it really. stripped to the waist, damn no love handles or beer gut, and writhes sweatily across the stage urges the audience on. I strongely recommend you catch this band if you get the chance.
On to the final band and much looked forward Angelic Upstarts. I was never a big fan of theirs, but could appreciate their political stance. Still Mensi again was a great frontman, very humerous and encouraging the crowd, who good naturedly slagged him off, 'You fat bastard' being the main comment. Quite funny really as the ones shouting it were usually fat bastards themselves. But then that has always been the beauty of Punk, it isn't pretentious, and looks at itself with a humour ,warts and all, maybe some other genres should take a leaf out of the punk book and stop trying to dissappear up its own arse. They played and played and played and....played, the audience shouting the lyrics and their arms thrust forward to emphesis the passion a real in it together moment. My voice is a bit croaky with all that singing and shouting over the music at eachother, so I know I've had a good time.
I sometimes wonder how do some of these bands who play at these events and get that substantial crowd and the atmosphere it creates, can the following day play in some small pub to a crowd of maybe 50 odd people. It's especially annoying when you think some talentless nu metal band, but who has a good management company, can manage to con people into believing they are relevant, but then I suppose their target audience are the Kerrang and MTV generation, soulless, brainless, whinging teenagers, that never had our experiences and have to be told how to live.
My major gripe was that although The Carleton was hired for Darrens event, somehow they still managed to use the other small side room to run their usual rock night. I know it's not particularely good but surely they aren't that worried that their audience are going to find somewhere else to go in the one week they aren't on.Still knowing that their major audience are all underage and how fickle they can be maybe it needed to be done.
Towers of London at Carleton Rocknight
Not a big fan of the sound system at the Carleton as they seem to rely on bass and never seem to have any or very little middle in the mix. This seems to hamper the vocals as they get swamped in the wall of noise coming out of the speakers. I wanted to see Towers of London due to the press I had heard about them, who described them as a punk band, but to me their image didn't portray them as that. They came with two support acts, the first Hooker, could best be described as the poor mans Guns 'n' Roses, o.k but didn't really hold my interest.
Tsar,
the second band, were from America and much better. They had that bouncy
american punk feel to them, obviously, but again apart from some ten
or so enthusaistic youngsters bouncing about in front of them, obviously
didn't do much for the rest of the audience. The singer did try some
rapport with the audience by talking about their songs, but like I said
the sluggish vocals ment you couldn't understand what he was saying,
so he could have been reciting the Lords prayer for all I know. Still
I liked them although everytime he stopped to talk you could hear 90%
of the audience talking about their working day to their friends. Towers
of London were a different story, These guys rocked. From the moment
they hit the stage, they had presence and bags of swank....dont think
people use that term anymore do they? . There was a heck of a lot of
the Sex Pistols sound in the songs, so I was happy but they also indulged
in throwing beer at the audience who did the same back. Silly as it
may seem I used to love that part of the punk culture, It was fun and
unpretentious and you got wet. I can definately see the appeal of TOL
and why they have got picked by by a record label. See this band, I
mean it, they are going to be big. Lil Kimi was made up as she got to
dance on stage with the band and was picked up by the singer and held
up to the audience, unfortunately he didn't throw her into audience
after.....shame.
Mojo Black and Freak Jesus at The Bobbin
I actually only went to the Bobbin to see mojo Black and didn't realise
that Freak Jesus were on as well. I like Mojo Black, we had put them
on a couple of weeks ago, and was really impressed. They are a vastly
underrated duet, the drummer is a mini disc with the drumming recorded
by the singer. I'm not sure if this adds to the appeal as it makes
them different to the other bands going around. Their songs are very
upbeat, but as the singer is a cheery happy very likeable guy, I dont
think they could be anything else. Both he and Emma, who plays a five
string bass, are very good musicians which shows in the quality of
their material. They are hard to pin down to a particular genre of
music, but I would compare them to The Cure's 'Disintigration' era,
especially the poppy guitar chords and the bass chords are a dead
ringer for the Cure, a must see band and dont be put off by the lack
of a drummer.
Not seen Freak Jesus but have in my possesion a cd sent by them over
a year ago. A problem with some bands is they seem to forget they
are playing in a pub and not a concert hall, so the sheer volume has
a negative side to actually listening to them. By the second song
everyone standing or sitting by the band area had fled to the end
of the pub, I did the same and my ears were cushioned by a large pillar.
This of course meant that while I couldn't see the band I could hear
them better. I only recognised one song 'Freak Jesus' which I quite
liked from the c.d. The rest of their set was competant and well written
but needed a couple of songs to lift them out of what 50% of every
other band is doing today.
HYDRA 14th May 05 - Moriarti & The Sith
On
May 14th the astonishing Vampyre cult band, Moriarti and the Sith
returned to Morecambe to play at the amazing rock venue known as HYDRA!
The doors opened and people came in eagerly, with more arriving and waiting in anticipation for the band to take the stage.
The time was now 10.30 and Moriarti & the Sith got into position, with their masks, make-up and blood. The crowd stormed into the main room as the band was announced – Moriarti gave out a warning that if anyone stepped over a line taped in front of the speakers “If you cross the line you will die!!” A safety announcement, but with The Dark Lord growling the warning – it had to work.
The opening number was “March of the Damned” and as usual - out came the blood and The Dark Lord spat out his bloody welcome to the crowd gathered at his feet. The first song passed quickly into the second “In Domination we trust” (one of my personal favourites – with its audience participation) and then “Anthropophagus”. The Dark Lord then called me onto stage as he knew it was my birthday – they played a ‘metal’ version of happy birthday and to finish it off he spat blood over me!!
After this lovely surprise (not that I didn’t expect it), the next song was announced – none other than “Skinwalker” – the floor filled (as expected) as this is one of their most popular songs - and another of my favourites. This rocked as usual and they then followed it up with a combination of old and new material. Including “Veil of Death”, “V666 – Cry of the Wolven” and more (full play list in Lady M’s posting). As the band came closer and closer to their final numbers – The Dark Lord decided he would go for a little walk and drag people off their lazy arses – but I think he scared half of them to death – which was probably his mission in the first place.
As
their set finished, the loyal fans cried out for an encore and (Paradise
Lost cover) Eternal and Skinwalker, was once again performed. By the
end of the night fans were covered in blood, talking excitedly about
their spectacular night and as usual autographs were given out and even
Mr. Krystal’s drumsticks were signed (a rare event). All in all,
it was an amazing event, and we hope to see the band return to HYDRA’s
stage to put on another eventful show.
Review by Lil' Kim for Dogonastring
Full
Play List
March of The Damned
In Domination we trust
Anthropophagus Beast
Skinwalker
Veil of Death
V666 Cry of The Wolven
(Violent Christ's) Pleasures of the tormented
Screaming contest
Bloodfeast
Sanguine Host
Born to die
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