Tag Archives: Garage Rock

L.A. WITCH: The Pink Room @ Yes, Manchester 18th May 2022.

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It’s been a long time since I’ve been right at the very front at a gig. And it’s been a long time since a gig left me a little bit deaf. God bless L.A. Witch for being one of the loudest shows I’ve ever been to.

This show was meant to happen in 2020. We know what caused the delays, but last night the moment finally came.

I saw L.A. Witch play their first ever UK show when they played the Shacklewell Arms in London. It was ridiculous. I couldn’t believe that I was finally seeing them; I genuinely thought they would be one of those bands that I love that never find their way to the UK. I’ve been writing about the band since 2011, and they just blow my mind every single time. I adore their sound, and I love how they transport you into their world. A spooky but laid-back world. Sign me up! I never want to leave.

Last night, they played the Pink Room at Yes. The most important thing about this venue is that it has AIR CON. IT HAS AIR CON. You have no idea how important this is. The ultimate comfort. Let me be cold all of the time please, thank you.

L.A. Witch blast out all the hits. They tear the roof off with Untitled, Sexorexia, Dark Horse, Baby In Blue Jeans. They just kept the anthems coming. With a band like them, it’s difficult to work out who to focus on. Iritia is THE coolest bass player you’ll ever see. Ellie is up there with the greats on the drums- the sheer volume of the drumming was just incredible. Then you have their friend Lauren helping out on guitar who just looks and sounds effortlessly cool. Then Sade is front and center. The guitar is her machine gun. Her vocals are bullets the band look like they could probably knock you out, but we all know that they are just the loveliest and most beautiful humans around. I cannot compare their live shows to anything else in this world. It is like an outer body experience. I danced. My body hurt this morning when I woke up. The signs of a good night. There is so much passion and love in what they do, and how they play/their sound just makes you wish you were as cool as them. There’s no denying just how out of this world I Wanna Lose is live and you cannot help but just move your limbs and whatever else in ways that feel right to you.

L.A. Witch are most certainly one of the most dedicated and hard-working bands around. They seem to have been working and perfecting their sound for well over a decade, and in that time, they have played some amazing venues, toured with some excellent bands and won over plenty of new fans. The atmosphere in the room last night was gorgeous. This show was a long time coming, and let’s hope it won’t be too long for the next tour.

They ended on their enigmatic Get Lost, and the way this sounds like absolutely tops the recorded version. The distorted vocals, the reverb, the sheer loudness- everything.  It is just perfect and such a great way to end the set. They play the best modern day love song; Motorcycle Boy and you just feel like the band are taking you on a road trip on a dusty road into a world that only they know of. Kicking off the show, they played Kill My Baby Tonight which is such a great way to open the show. They could have opened with any song to be honest and it would have had us all hooked immediately. The heaviness in Kill My Baby Tonight stays through the whole set even on lighter songs like Baby In Blue Jeans. There’s this effortlessly slick feel to True Believers and Gen-Z. Your eyes don’t leave the stage at all, and sure they might be darting from one band member to another, but the admiration for them all is always there.

In an ideal world, I could afford to go to every single show they do wherever in the world. Even though they may not end up on this side of the world too often, you just treasure it even more so when it happens. There’s no denying that L.A. Witch will always be regarded as not only one of the best bands in the world ever, but most certainly one of the best bands you will ever see live.

HOORSEES: A Superior Athlete

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I am SO excited to write about the new record by the finest band in Paris; Hoorsees. Their second record, A Superior Athlete comes out on the 22nd April via Kanine Records and if you’re looking for a record that is going to play a vital role in the music you listen to during the summer- then this is the one for you.

I really enjoyed writing about their debut record last year, and it’s still a record I love listening to. There is something really gentle about this band and their sound. They have a sound so precious and unique to theirs, and there’s no one else out there who sounds even remotely like them- and that’s what lures you in and keeps you there.

The record opens with the beautifully relaxing, Week-End At Bernie’s and it is such a soothing song. It’s the perfect opener to the record and really sets the mood for the record. Alex’s vocals on this really have you hooked, and what is so easy to love about this band is that they have a lot of soul in their sound. They make you feel like you’re on holiday or they make you feel like you need to just sack off every responsibility you have, and just enjoy this record. The first song really does grab you and before you know it, you’ve fallen deep into the world they’ve created on this record. That’s just with one song! The gorgeous and oddball lyrics hit you right again on the song Cream & Onion (I don’t know why this title makes me feel a bit like I’m going to puke, but the song does the opposite!) This song feels like the sun hitting you on your back as you spend the day lazily wandering round. Again, that’s just something I love about this band- they make you feel completely fine with doing nothing at all!

Around this time of year bands will contend to make a record that rules your summer. I think it’s safe to say that Hoorsees may have beaten them all on this one. There’s innocence to the lyrics that go beautifully with the slight dream-pop/shoegaze sounds. It is a gentle record, and shows us exactly why they are one of the most exciting bands around. Songs like Jansport and Drama Kings will be stuck in your head for days- you’ll be humming the song constantly. There’s no better song to have stuck in your head. With so much shit going on in the world, a band like Hoorsees are here to just lighten the burden of it all for a little while.

I love the heaviness on Memory’s Knife towards the end of it; it fits so well with the gentle tones of it. I just think with this record, they have showed us exactly why they are one of the most exciting bands around and how fearless they are with their sound. This record was written in two weeks, and for some that may be way too rushed but what I hear on this record is a band that are so sure of their sound and know exactly what they want to create. The band left the city and stayed at Alex’s grandmother’s house, and maybe that’s part of why the record sounds so care-free and light. You can play this record, and everything just feels okay you know? It’s that reassurance you need and it’s that friend you need to just hang out with and do nothing with. They are also a band that aren’t afraid to talk about the frustrations of daily life and how restless we become through boredom. I don’t even know if it’s boredom. Maybe it’s a touch of frustration that we can never shake. Either way, Hoorsees have created something truly beautiful with this record.

A Superior Athlete is everything you could want from the record of the summer, and so much more. You;ll play this on the coldest day in December, and it’ll take you back to warmer times. It is a comforting record and one that really does show us what Hoorsees are made of and why they are one of the most exciting bands around. It’s a divine record from start to finish.

A Superior Athlete is out this Friday (22nd April) via Kanine Records

BEAT IN MY BONES: Episode 3

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This week there is music from: CROWS, METZ, GHUM, Hoorsees, The Battery Farm and the new one from Sextile!

I think I spend most of the show talking about CROWS and their show in Manchester from last Friday. Bloody incredible it was!

Right, I’m off to play FIFA x

Beat In My Bones podcast!

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Oh dear.

What have I done? Why have I done this?! Will it be the first and last? Who knows. Who cares!

Anyway, I’ve done it.

45 minutes of your life that you won’t get back.

Songs from: L.A. Witch, Bullet Girl, Crocodiles and The Gun Club, and many more!

LEGAL NOISE: Flashback/Static Knife.

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A year after the remarkable, Tough As Nails was released- the loudest band from Australia are back!

Legal Noise are one of the best bands around, and if you’re looking for something to burst your eardrums or make the room shake- then they’ve got TWO brand new songs for you.

Flashback/Static Knife was released on Friday, and both songs are perfect for blocking all noise out to. Incredible. Highly addictive and rowdy.

Let’s start with Flashback:

This one goes in right for the gut. It’s unapologetically loud; it’s got this insane fuzzy sound- the reverb mixed with some kind of psychedelic feel. Then you’ve got the drums that are just a constant bash to the skull. It’s just such a joy to listen to. If you’re a fan of Birmingham’s finest, Table Scraps, then you will be fall madly in love with Legal Noise. Hell this noise is so good it should be illegal! (I’m probably not the first person to say that, I’m sorry!) There’s this heaviness to Flashback that reminds me so much of Sleep and another band that I’ve totally forgot the name of. There’s a lot going on, and a lot to take in but that’s what makes it a masterpiece. Playing this gem through headphones is the only way. Tune out from all around you, and let Legal Noise corrupt whatever is left of your mind and take over. Would you even want it any other way?

Now, let’s move onto Static Knife:

This is wild. It starts with this hypnotising drum that goes smack into this electrifying guitar that just fries your brain and makes your body feel like it has been beaten. If music doesn’t make you feel like that, then what is the point? This is the kind of song (to be honest, all of their songs do this) that makes you wish you could be at a Legal Noise show. This song sounds a little rougher than Flashback but that isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s a great thing! This feels like it was done in one take, and all they intended to do with this song was taken care of immediately. It’s a real heavy number and the vocals on this- oh man, you can just imagine chanting this back at the band. I just love how this song sounds like a drunken brawl at 3am.

Both songs are wonderfully chaotic. All over the place in the best way possible. Legal Noise know EXACTLY how to make songs that are made for playing ridiculously loud and take you right to your happy place. Nothing makes me happier (music wise) than music like this. Beautifully loud, rowdy and almost like a panic attack for the ears. As someone who does have anxiety attacks, I should probably not want to listen to music that makes me feel on edge. but I won’t change my music taste to fit my mind. No way! Legal Noise are just a dream to listen to, and they make you want to trash any room you go in like an uncontrollable toddler who can’t get its way.

If the new Legal Noise record sounds anything like these two songs, then we’ve probably found ourselves the record of the year haven’t we.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Australia, then check the poster below for tour dates for next week!

May be an image of text that says "TOUR! ON LEGAL NOISE HSVO HSVThe The Eastern FEB Ballarat 12th Supporting Barracouta Letuce Pray Ivy Streep FEBi3th W Great and Chance LastChance Roll Rock Australian Melb Bank FEB 14thW The Bad Randy' The olaBar Bar Fitzroy VIC TOUR 18+"

WET TROPICS

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When you hear something new for the first time, everything around you stops. Time freezes- but only for you. Everyone else gets on with their day but you stand frozen, as what you are hearing starts to take grip on you. It’s just one of the many ways music can grip you.

Wet Tropics are just a great band and a joy to listen to. They have this really loud sound and there’s something about this massive sound that just has you hooked right away. Think bands like Fontaines DC and The Murder Capital. That dark, haunting and poetic sound that just gets right into your soul and under your skin in the best way imaginable.

Everybody Get In was released a year ago, and even though I’m one of the late ones discovering this band- there is something about this record that is just bigger than anything else you’ve ever heard before. The songs were made to be played in sweaty venues with a smoke machine covering the band and crowd, and we all leave a little hard of hearing afterwards. They have a gorgeous Post-Punk sound with hints of something we’ve never heard before. You cannot help but fall in love with their sound and to just get completely immersed in it. Sack off those awful Christmas songs we are forced to listen to, and play some Wet Tropics.

There’s hints of early The Jesus and Mary Chain on the record- and by that, I mean that beautifully aggressive fuzzy sound that was made to be played horrifically loud and make your windows shake. God bless this record and Wet Tropics! I think there’s possible only 3 of them in the band but they so much louder than the 3 of them. It’s an addictive sound. Tragic Accidents is their Just Like Honey moment, and it’s beautiful.

The drums are exceptional- they feel like a volcano about to erupt. Then you’ve got the bass and the guitar coming together like a hurricane on every single song. They are a joy to listen to, and when you listen to them for the first time you can’t help but think “How did I go this long without this band?!” I love the storytelling in the lyrics; it reminds me a tiny bit of The Fall and that is always a good thing.

There may only be 9 songs on Everybody Get In, but the beauty is that you can just keep hitting repeat over and over. They released the song, Rat Shredder 9 days ago and it sounds completely different to what we were given on Everybody Get In, but they still have this sound that makes your brain immediately click into it and know it’s them. There’s this brilliant rage and menacing tone to Rat Shredder. Effortlessly slick! If you’re a fan of Table Scraps, then you’ll definitely love this song for sure.

Wet Tropics are one of my favourite finds of the year for sure. I just love their sound and how it doesn’t fall into any set genre. For me, it’s the best kind of noise and the kind if noise I can play continuously and never ever get tired of. I’m so excited to hear more from them!

Play their music loud!

CHINESE JUNK.

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I should have done this ages ago, but better late than not at all!

Chinese Junk are one of THE most exciting Punk bands around.  They make the kind of music that you hear in pubs that no one dare walk in without knowing the band will be there. They have this really ferocious sound. Like a Rottweiler that’s not eaten for a few hours- there’s this rage in their sound that will have you hooked. Their bio reads “Crappy songs about crappy things.” There’s nothing crappy about this band, but my god they capture mundane life beautifully. Prime example of this is the song, Fuck You, I’m Broke. Pretty sure I say this every single time I pay my rent and want to buy things I need/don’t need.

Last year they released the Permanent Reduction EP, and it is a perfect introduction to one of the finest bands around. This doesn’t sound like a current band; they make me feel like I’ve heard the Dead Boys for the first time. That brilliantly obnoxious Punk sound that is snarly as fuck. I just love this band, and I love their sound. They sound like a band who have been around for decades and decades. They have such a sure sound; it is such a solid sound and one that you cannot help but adore. You just want to throw some chairs around and scream the words back at the band.

Bargain Bin Girl is the best Punk love song you’ll ever hear; don’t let anyone tell you any different. It describes pure and true love in its finest. Right now, it’s my favourite song by Chinese Junk but that’ll change probably by the time I’ve written this. I love their sound and I love how there is nothing polished about their sound at all. Everything sounds like it was done in one go, and they achieve perfection immediately. The songs hardly get to two minutes- but why do they need to? What the band give you in such a short amount of time is just heavenly.

If you want songs that can sum up the difficulties and occasional mundaneness of everyday life, then Chinese Junk are the band for you. If you have a job you hate, if you live with people you can’t stand or you hate the town you live in- this band will make it easier to get through the day. I can no longer relate to that (thank God) but the lyrics and songs are still comforting and mean something. We all carry our own frustrations around every single day, and bands like Chinese Junk lighten the load a bit. You know there’s someone else out there who gets it.

They’ve called themselves the Kings of Pound Shop Rock but there’s nothing cheap about their sound. Of course, I wasn’t around when Punk first started, but Chinese Junk make me feel like this is what it felt like when the world heard Punk for the first time. It stays with you. This is my Sex Pistols at the Free Trade Hall moment. This is my hearing Sonic Reducer for the first time moment. This is my discovering the band Kraut for the first time moment.

Chinese Junk are nothing short of phenomenal and with just two EPs to their name so far, it is pretty fair to say that they are one of the most exciting and best bands around.

This band are SO new that they haven’t played a show yet. Their debut show is next month (27th November) at The Herald, in Harlow, and you can get yourself and some friends tickets right here: WeGotTickets | Simple, honest ticketing | Los Pepes

The line up is a killer- go if you can because I think Chinese Junk may just take over the world!

SLOKS: A Knife In Your Hand.

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Many great things are from Torino; my football club (Juve of course!), my stepdad and the incredible SLOKS.

I wrote about SLOKS in 2018, and I was just blown away by what I was hearing. Could that feeling be replicated? Of course it could, and I’m sure it will happen with any and everything they release. Their latest record, A Knife In Your Hand came out a few weeks ago so, better late than never!

The record is INSANE! There have been so many great records to have come out this year, and SLOKS are another band you can add to the list. This record is full of ferocious Punk songs to make you lose your mind to. This is the kind of record you stick on at 1am when all is a bit quiet. Too quiet in fact, and you just need some noise to make you feel better. It’s a shock to the body, to liven it up and make it feel something. You’ll feel like someone is tormenting your brain on songs like No Makeup- which feels like you are listening to someone who is losing their mind a little. That’s what makes it all so easy to love and connect with. This band are just so great, and their sound is so raw it will leave you feeling beautifully uncomfortable.

I love this band so much, and there’s no point in me being anything other than biased about this record. The drums feel like punches to the head. The guitar is like someone giving you an electric shock and the vocals make you feel like you’ve stepped into an asylum with no chance of getting out. It feels like American Horror Story gone Punk. With the best time of year approaching (Halloween!) SLOKS have made the perfect record to get spooky and creepy to. Every song deserves to to be played as loud as possible. Take in the screams of despair on Bad To The Bone. Let those screams haunt you and plague your dreams like nothing else. Soak up that fear, and bite into it.

The songs are just mind-blowing, and make you feel like you’ve stepped into a creepy world full of all things strange, beautiful and just fucking creepy. It’s the kind of record I wish I could make (that’s if I had any musical talent or was in a band.) It’s just really loud, really powerful and when you listen to it, you feel this huge weight being taken off your shoulders. There’s this relief you get from playing this record; I can’t fully describe it but all I know is that it feels like a release. Maybe it’s because of whatever I carry in my head, and it’s released through music I love. Maybe that’s what I mean. Well, regardless of whatever I’m getting at- this record is INCREDIBLE. I want more. I need more. The way Killer vs Killer builds up is unreal. This live would be thrilling, and you’d be hard pressed finding anything else that compares to it.

You know when you hear a record, and you think to yourself, “I wish I could live in this record” well, that’s what I get from this one. The title track is a steady mind-fuck, and I wish it went on for longer. These eleven songs are out of this world, and the world they throw you in is one you never want to leave. I feel like I’ve joined a cult- but one that, even though it may make someone feel on edge, it makes me feel quite safe. Imagine this record live! Holy shit! It would be something else. Ruin It All played live would be so good. That intense drumming throughout would just make you feel like you are possessed. Who or what has a grip on you? SLOKS of course! As if you’d want anyone else.

These songs will stay fixed in your brain. It’ll make you feel like you’ve got something crawling over you. You’ll feel uncomfortable but you’ll never leave it alone. This is a proper sleazy Rock ‘n’ Roll record, and it just leaves you wanting more and more from the band. But for now we wait. This record was worth the wait, and it’s a record I am going to carry on being obsessed with.

A Knife In Your Hand is out now, and you can get a copy here:

NEWS: Sloks – A knife in your hand (VRCD122/VR12122)

TABLE SCRAPS: Coffin Face.

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Where on earth do I start with this band? Easily my favourite band from Birmingham, and one of the best bands in the country. Table Scraps are a joy to listen to, and it’s hard to believe that this is only record number three! They just keep getting better. They are incapable of making rubbish songs and awful records. They are just consistently great, and their new record (number three) Coffin Face, is yet again, a delight!

The record comes out this Friday, so that’s something for us to all look forward to. After that? Well, that’s on you. This record is not to be ignored- it is a real face melter. It’ll make you want to trash your room and just jump around without a care in the world. With gigs sort of happening now, I am so excited for this record to be played live (I missed their Manchester show a few weeks ago sadly.) They are such a great band live, and what I love about this record is, much like the previous records, you truly feel like you are witnessing this live. It feels like it was done in one take, and the magic was captured instantly. I love the atmosphere on the record. They are so loud, and just phenomenal.

Table Scraps are exquisite musicians who could blow anyone away with their talent. Poppy is one of the best drummers I’ve ever heard, Scott is one of the best guitarists around and amongst this beautiful loud and chaotic sound, you have Tim on bass who just evens it all out. There’s no time for calm on this record, but if you are looking for a song to zone out to and find some inner peace for a few minutes, then you will adore God Of The Rainbow. This is a real psychedelic number, and I really don’t feel like I’m listening to a song made in 2021. I feel like I’ve gone back in time and heard The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band for the first time. I love this one moment of peace on the record, and I love how the band then go smack into Heart Beat. There’s no time to relax with this record- they don’t make music to relax to. Thank god!

If you’re looking for a record to just blow your mind, and leave you in absolute awe of what you are listening to- Coffin Face is the record for you. It’s such a great record. I feel like this is coming across as biased but like the great Bimini Bon Boulash said, “Not a joke, just facts.” Everything about this record just oozes cool, loudness and the urge to head out of town on a motorbike and not look back. The whole record (especially Threads) sounds like an engine being furiously revved in the hopes of escaping as something is slowly creeping up behind you, The louder you play this record, the more it shakes your bones and leaves you crawling around wanting more. Songs like Never Liked It remind me a little bit of The Cramps- it’s that Poison Ivy Rorshach sounding guitar that does it, and that beautiful snarly tone mixed with a good dollop of eeriness. It’s beautiful, it’s brilliant.

Coffin Face is a bruiser of a record, and it just towers over anything you’ve probably heard in a long time. For me, it’s on a par with the new Amyl And The Sniffers record. Punk in all the right places, but something beyond words everywhere else. It’s a real joy to listen to this record, and to also hear how the band have evidently become stronger in their sound. Coffin Face is a record to not just treasure for life, but to be utterly obsessed with. There’s something about Table Scraps that just makes you feel good. You could be in the shittiest of moods, but the second you hear any of their records- all is okay. In that moment, all is okay. You can’t ask for more than that.

The past year and a bit has been a claustrophobic fuck up of a year, but so much good music has come from it. Table Scraps are one of those bands who have used something so shit and turned it to something great. Whether or not the world is ending, Table Scraps have made the perfect soundtrack for it all.

Coffin Face is out this Friday. Pre-order the record right here:

https://table-scraps.bandcamp.com/album/coffin-face