EASY ACTION RECORDS 3rd Sept 2021
A solid blast of old-school rock. Something that could be shoved into 1979 without anyone blinking at this punk / garage rock. Lots of power chords, belted chorus vocals from the whole band, guitar tricks like the ‘scratch down the fretboard’ and the practically trademarked on-off blink of Steve Jones in the Pistols’ Submission. Vocals are screwed out, full-force, emphatic and urgent as a burning stage.
The six songs here kick off (in more ways than one) with two complete blasters. A sort-of breather comes with Flowers At Your Door, a hard-rock ballad. Lost Angels is sweetly anthemic whilst not letting up on the propulsive sound.
There is experience here. The band formed in 1981 in New Zealand, did their thing (a single and a live album), split up when their singer moved to the UK two years later, reformed in the 2010s, played some gigs in New Zealand, moved to the UK and have put this out. Better late than never, eh? Of course, singer Eugene Butcher is the only remaining founding member but there is experience from former Glitterati and UK Subs members. They are lovers of the classic original punk sound and the cover of No Lip is based on the Pistols, not Dave Berry. The drums bash on busily and the guitar slashes a knife around while the bass adds a lovely rubbery figure to tie things together. Lost Angels appears again; in the full-on version from last year mentioned earlier and a touchingly pensive demo version from 1988
Think Johnny Thunders’ dirty messy rock and roll. Think Iggy and The Stooges. There is nothing new here but the sheer push, swagger and volume make it a joyous celebration of the energy of rock and roll.
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The band are touring in October 2021 with Paul Cook’s The Professionals
13 Oct – Tunbridge Wells, Forum
14 Oct – Oxford, O2 Academy
15 Oct – Swansea, Sin City
16 Oct – Manchester, Factory
18 Oct – Glasgow, King Tuts
19 Oct – Newcastle, The Cluny
20 Oct – Nottingham, Bodega
21 Oct – Birmingham, Castle Falcon
22 Oct – Liverpool, EBGB’s
24 Oct – London, The Garage
25 Oct – Bristol, The Exchange
26 Oct – Leeds, Brudenell Social
27 Oct – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
28 Oct – Chester, Live Rooms