Tag Archives: Punk

DR CHAN: Southside Suicide.

Posted on by

folder

 

Last night I wrote about how much I love Dr Chan and how excited I am for their new record, Southside Suicide which comes out tomorrow on Stolen Body Records. I’m going to attempt to now write about why it is one of the finest records around and why if, you’re into making lists, it should top your Records of the Year list come December.

I tried to listen to it at work but I realised something would lose my attention and I didn’t want it to be Dr Chan. Within first listen I feel like I am at one of their shows or watching them rehearse in some cramped room. It’s definitely not an overproduced record nor is it one that sounds like they’ve tried too hard to sound a certain way. It sounds like a very honest and brutal record that stems from frustration and the sheer passion to make music. That’s how it should be. If all bands sound like this in Paris, then let’s runaway there right now and cast ourselves deep into it. The songs on Southside Suicide sound like they are for those who are fed up with what’s around them or those who just need some form of escapism. I can relate to all of that. For me, it’s everything I’d want from a modern Garage Rock band but at the same time it would fit nicely next to The Vagrants or even The Mummies.

Currently my favourite track off the record is BLANnnK$$$ (Bloody No$e) I love how unapologetically loud and rowdy it is. It feels like a drunk person losing their shit in a bar. They start ripping up a pool table, throwing glasses and punches. Going absolutely nuts for no valid reason. There are no calm moments on this record, and that’s why I love it. BLANnnK$$$ (Bloody No$e) is such a hyperactive song and it’s so addictive too. I find myself going back to it, just constantly hitting repeat. When it kicks it, it just sounds like a thousand riots and gunshots in the mind. It goes completely off and it’s easily one of the best moments on the record, but even that is hard to pick. It’s a solid record from start to finish, and I can’t get enough of it.

A real party for the ears this record is. It deserves to be played on a loop and as loud as you can possibly stand. It’s got something remarkably special about it, and I have no idea how big they are in France or out of France, but I know that I just love them and their sound is for me, entirely perfect. It’s like finally meeting your soulmate or breaking in a pair of Dr Martens or eating a really great pizza. It just makes you feel really good, and right now- I fucking need that.

I honestly cannot compare this record or this band to anything else I’ve heard before, and that’s such a rare thing to be able to do now. Everyone wants to buy into some pissy phase that means nothing and holds no meaning. Bands like Dr Chan are rare. You pick up on every tiny detail in the songs and it makes you want to go see some live music, it makes you less afraid of your own shadow, it makes you want to start your own band.

The songs are short like a real Punk song, but they have something else to it. It’s such a fantastic record and if I had the words, I’d easily write hundreds and hundreds more about why I love it so much. I like certain sounds, and sometimes I just need a certain sound in my ear but Dr Chan are unlike anything else. Buy the record this weekend and play it loud. Damage your hearing to make Monday less of a drag, just so you can block everything out.

DR CHAN.

Posted on by

12072631_561472497337509_7025099374037857034_n

 

Music should freak you out. It should corrupt and warp your mind. It should make you think outlandish things and make you behave wonderfully irrationally. But within reason, of course. It should take you somewhere no one can touch you, it should be all kinds of sordid, gentle, poetic and like a thrash to the body. It should heighten everything you think and feel. It should make you feel ten feet tall.

Here come Parisian greats, Dr Chan. They make this Psych infused Garage Rock that sounds like The Doors meets Wavves. You feel like you could be on a beach in California but in the same thought, you feel like you could romantically be wandering around a cemetery in Paris then onto some dingy alleyway trying to find your way home after dark. Their sound is brilliant, and once you start listening- you’re hooked good and proper.

Sometimes you hear something really bloody great and you know that whatever you write about them just isn’t going to be good enough. I’m not going to dwell on my inabilities right now. This Friday, Stolen Body Records are going to put out their new record, Southside Suicide which again is probably going to be a right I fawn over constantly. I can’t wait to hear it and play it obnoxiously loud in my ears.

Dr Chan aren’t the kind of band you play quietly in the background and every now and then, you pick up on key moments in their songs. Far from it. They’re a band that you play as loud as you can stand and totally lose yourself in their music. Last year they put out Mental Dhead which was one of the most underrated records of the year. It was everything I wanted from a band- it was loud, snotty and deliriously great. It sent you off into another world. You didn’t know if you were in a daze or truly floating round the streets of Paris with these guys. There’s something about them that just makes you want invest all your time into their music, and to go to every single show they do. On record they’ve got this brilliant energy that makes you wish you were in a band. I’m pretty sure their live shows are equally as infatuating.

These guys truly send you off into a whirl. They’re every part Psychedelic but not in your typical way. They’ve taken it, and made it their own. Dr Chan are going to blow minds again with Southside Suicide on Friday, I’ve not heard it but I just know. I know I’m never right about anything, but we can let it slide this time.

Mental Dhead is a mighty fine record, and as far as debut records go it is most definitely a really tough record to top but I’ve got every bit of faith that they can do it. If all bands in Paris sound like this, maybe we should all move there and just lose our minds at their shows. There is something effortlessly freeing about the music Dr Chan make and that’s something to alone, be admired. I’m still hooked on their first record, but I can’t wait to hear their new one on Friday.

If you’re looking for a band to set the mind free and to just forget everything for a while, go give them a listen. Play as loud as you want and cancel the world out for a while.

MIND RAYS.

Posted on by

0002534473_10

 

Sometimes you just need to listen to something that feels like a massive jab to the face. I’ve become more and more restless but also annoyingly tired, so I need to listen to something that fits my mood. I don’t want to move but I don’t want to sit still. I want to listen to something that heightens all of this because nothing else will cut it.

Belgium is a beautiful place. I fell in love with Brussels twice. I spent a lot of money in a record shop there, twice. I could have happily spent all my time in there. It’s one of the best places I’ve ever been. Peaceful and timeless. Mind Rays are from Belgium- their sound isn’t peaceful. Well, to some it isn’t but for me? It sort of is. It’s what I need right now.

This Ghent based band have been around for some time, and upon first listen you can easily picture them thrashing about on some dingy stage in a sweat infused basement bar where all the outcasts unite- the best kind of place. You can picture them injuring each other and themselves as they flail about on stage, how much they bleed from smacking their face into a mic stand justifies how good the show was. Their sound is brutal and loud. If you want a label then I guess you can have Garage Rock with a bit of Punk. I’d just call it a riot to be honest.

Their new record, Nerve Endings is out next month and it’s probably going to be one of the most rowdy records you’ll hear all year. They make it easier to deal with your frustrations of daily life and being a bit of a loner, but that’s probably just me. These kinds of things just get you through. I was going to go to the gym tonight, but I just want to find more bands like Mind Rays and get totally lost in them.

Mind Rays make the kind of music to just straight up melt your face. Their earlier stuff is slightly less aggressive but only slightly. It’s all the right kind of loud and beastly. They make the kind of music that makes you morph into some kind of scary monster that isn’t to be fucked with, lurking in the shadows. I have no idea what their live shows are like, and I can only imagine that they are just as lively on stage as they are on record. Their songs don’t feel like something that has been recorded in a studio, you feel like you are listening to a band practicing and lobbing their all into it. You really pick up on the blood, sweat and maybe a few tears. And screams.

They’ll melt your mind, they’ll awaken the rusty and sleepy parts of you. They’ll make you want to slam your body into stuff, they’ll make you want to throw things around. They’ll make you want to act like a rebellious swine, and that’s one of the best things a band can do to you. They’ll lure you out of your comfort zone and before you know it, you’re comfort zone is going to be immersing yourself in this mind altering and thought bending sound. There are some bands that you just cannot get enough of, and for me, Mind Rays are easily one of those bands.

THE MUMMIES.

Posted on by

http://www.themummies.com/

 

 

For Christmas I was given a record by the best person I know. Some time ago I mentioned to her that I found it virtually impossible to find anything by The Mummies. Anything I did find would have just cost me a stupid amount to have posted, so I resigned myself to the fact I was going to live the rest of my life with an eternal gap in my record collection reserved solely for The Mummies. That changed on Christmas Day. I was given their compilation, Play Their Own Records! My holy trinity of records is complete- The Gruesomes, Count Five and now, The Mummies. I mean I’m obviously still going to prioritise buying records over food, and any spare money I have will always go on records but finally having these three records means a hell of a lot to me.

The Mummies are a band that I know virtually nothing about. I love that there is hardly anything about them on the internet and they have no social media accounts. You may find out about them by accident (I did, and I can’t really remember how or when) or a band you like already may have mentioned them at some point. Regardless of how you find out about them, when you become a fan you become obsessed with trying to find their music or whatever else you can about them. Let it rule your life, take what you can get.

Their sound is loud, raw and has frequently been labelled as “budget rock.” For me, they are one of the greatest Garage Rock bands of all time. They’ve got a creepy style- it feels almost cult like and that’s how they lure you in. Covered in bandages (like a mummy) thrashing their instruments around (the musical kind, easy now) and just playing with this fury that makes you loathe yourself for not having any musical talent (this could just be me, mind.) This urgency they evoke can only be appreciated if you play it ridiculously loud. They recorded most of their songs on the cheapest equipment they could get their hands on and you know what? Sounds a billion times better than pretentious arty types spending thousands and thousands on a guitar they are scared to get a drop of sweat on. The Mummies can teach all of us a thing or two about their approach to how they make music.

The underdawgs for sure. The Mummies are one of those bands that, if you saw them live, it would probably stay with you forever and would be the reason as to why everything you get into is compared to that moment. They broke equipment, got barred from venues, made arses of themselves on stage and didn’t give a shit about it. Their approach to music was something to be admired- they just didn’t give a shit about pleasing self-absorbed “music critics” who tell you what to listen to and who slag off bands for no reason. They were for those who wanted something else, for those who were bored of the mundane- and they still are. They’re a band that once you love, you will always hold them dear to you. Whatever you own of theirs will be something you play almost every single day and possibly turning the volume up a little louder each time. Scare the neighbours but also- blow their minds and let them in on the world of The Mummies.

Some may have regarded them as joke but others, like myself, see them as one of the greatest Garage Rock bands of all time. One of the best bands of all time, especially as they are quite elusive. The not knowing is what draws you in and their sound is what keeps you there.

KRAUT.

Posted on by

574513_570221086369194_428386874_n

 

Last week I went to my favourite record shop (in London.) It’s about 15 minutes from my work, so when I go I plan my dinner break carefully around it but I’d rather buy records than food anyway. Blasting in the shop was a sound that seemed familiar but unlike anything I had heard before. It was raw, loud and beautifully obnoxious. Sometimes at 12:30pm you need to hear something that feels like a smack to the face. Become totally enamoured by it.

I went to the record shop to pick up my uncle’s present, but I ended up buying something for myself also. It happens, I guess. But if it makes Christmas shopping easier- then so be it. The band that was being blasted out in the shop was Kraut. I’d never heard their music before, but as I was listening to them I could reel off the bands in my head that resembled them in some way. Kraut were one of the first hardcore bands and are responsible, quite possibly, for a lot of bands I love and listen to.

An Adjustment To Society was the record that I picked up last week, and for a week solid I have been playing it over and over. I play it irrespective of my mood. I’ve found every single song to be a real masterpiece and each song is you guessed it, a punch to the gut. The songs are deafening and full of an enviable fury that you wish you could unleash. We live vicariously through the bands and songs we love. However, the songs on An Adjustment To Society are equally as important now as they were in 1982. From disdain and despair felt towards to those in power and the way society is, never has a band like Kraut been so vital. What they started I feel is still being lived out by others bands, but Kraut started it. They were the blueprint- and are not to be tampered with.

Only one song on An Adjustment To Society creeps up to the 3 and a half minute mark, the rest make their point in a little over 2 minutes. Their sound didn’t require the urge to go on and on. All it required was the urge to be heard, and for anyone who listened to fully take on board what these guys where saying. Their songs were a middle finger to everything around them; they made their own rules and that is worth admiring. Also, as if being one of the first hardcore bands wasn’t enough- Kraut were also the first independent band to be played on MTV. That’s right, MTV used to play music videos rather than shitty TV programmes about who got drunk and got pregnant. It used to be the home of music videos. Not really sure what the M stands for now to be honest.

Not all great music must hold a message but a fair but of it does. With Kraut, what they stood for included everyone- mainly those who were pissed off at their circumstance, and I think that is something that is so apt for most of us right now. Their music was made to be played loud and to share daily frustrations to. The frustrations can come from what you see happening around you to an underlying frustration you carry inside your head to do with yourself. None of these frustrations are petty or less significant than anybody else’s. I may be entirely late in finding out about Kraut and I’m not going to act like I am their biggest fan ever, but I know this much- I know what they stood for, I know how important they were and still are. I know the best education I received came from record shops and not textbooks.

Everyone has their own take on what makes a band great or what makes a band important to them. It can come the lyrics, the sound and all in-between. Kraut had something else. They had something about them that just made your ears prick up and listen. They didn’t tame anything in the mind or body. They fuelled the rage towards all that was happening around them, and that just makes An Adjustment To Society as essential now as it was in ’82.

SHADY AND THE VAMP: The Holy Teachings Of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Posted on by

a3147863895_10

 

A few months ago I wrote about Shady And The Vamp. They’re not a new band, but they were new to me. One song, and I was in love. That’s how it is with me. I instantly know if I’m going to love a band or not. I need all the distractions I can get, which is why I’m choosing to write about their new record, The Holy Teachings Of Rock ‘n’ Roll now rather than putting it off.

The record came out last month and I foolishly forgot to write about it. I’m not into writing, or even reading reviews of records. This isn’t a review, I guess. It’s just going to be me going on and on about why I love the record. I’m not going to pick out weak songs and pull it apart. Instead, I’ll just go on about why they are one of the best bands around and why this is one of the finest records of the year.

The Holy Teachings sounds like an extra smutty version of the first New York Dolls record. I’m fairly sure Johnny Thunders can hear this record wherever he is now, and is probably impressed by what he hears. The Holy Teachings is the perfect level of rowdiness and has a beautiful obnoxious sound. It’s effortlessly Punk sounding and it feels like a kick to the gut. The kind of kick that sets you back and leaves you in awe of what you’re hearing. It might even leave you wishing you were in a band so you could make this kind of noise.

Every song is so powerfully loud and sinfully short. Selfishly I want the songs to last longer than 2 and a half minutes but it just means I’m playing it more than 3 times in an hour- and I’m cool with that. Shady And The Vamp are everything I want from a band, everything I want from music. They’ve got this brilliant Punk/Garage Rock sound that is probably in virtually everything I listen to. Maybe that makes me a bore (I just know what moves me, and it isn’t just one style of music.) We all have a preference, and this is mine. They execute this sound so well. All you can do is play it loud and by the fourth listen, you’ve memorised every word and you are shouting along with them.

Shady And The Vamp’s debut record sounds like something that caused a whirlwind decades and decades before- they’ve captured the raw essence of Punk and Rock ‘n’ Roll. They’ve truly created something wonderful with their debut record, and it just leaves you begging for more and more from them. We’ll have to wait. They’ve got a little Psychobilly sound flowing through which makes me love them even more.

They’re not from this planet. Nothing from this planet can make something like this. The fury and passion in their sound is so powerful and so genuine. This isn’t a forced sound, this isn’t a sound that feels like they’ve cottoned onto something fashionable for the hell of it. They sound like a band who truly need to make music. They sound like a band that will hopefully be around for a long time. Creating this exceptionally weird and brilliant sound that just shoves the middle finger in the face of those who buy into the crap they are constantly forced to listen to. You need to escape the inside and embrace what’s on the outside because it just sounds much better- it sounds like Shady And The Vamp.

I refuse to pick a favourite song off the record, all I can say it is one of the best records of the year and is criminally underrated. The Holy Teachings Of Rock ‘n’ Roll is out now on the consistently brilliant, Bachelor Records.

Shady And The Vamp sound like the kind of band you must see live in order to appreciate just how loud they can get. I hope next year they find themselves in the UK playing as many dark, dingy basement bars as possible

THE DAMNED: Brixton Academy, 26th November 2016.

Posted on by

damned_-_damned_damned_damned_album_cover

 

 

There are some feelings in the world that cannot be replicated. Seeing one of the bands that changed your life, the band you absolutely adore and play religious every day live for the first time is one of those feelings. Last night after waiting for what seemed an eternity, I finally saw mine- I saw The Damned live. To make it even better, it was their first record in full. The record I play every morning whilst I get ready for work. The record that can sometimes keep a brewing panic attack at bay. This show was going to mean more to me than just seeing a band I love live. It was something else.

The crowd, I have to say, were amazing. Everyone was so friendly and just genuine, lovely people.  I’ve been to too many shows where some dickhead spoils it for everyone. It was a dickhead free zone last night. Everyone knew of the importance of the show, the importance of The Damned. The next 2 hours were going to justify this.

The band walk on to the stage, Captain Sensible tells the sound guy to turn the music on the PA off. He blames Genesis and YES for Punk starting; for the bad we all got the good. The band rip into Neat Neat Neat and Dave glides onto the stage like some kind of messiah. Is this how people feel when they are faced with a religious experience? For me, this went deeper.

The first part of the show is their debut record in full. I was finally seeing the songs that keep me together right before me. The songs that clear my mind and make everything alright for a short amount of time. The songs that made me fall for Punk at such a young age. Maybe it is a typical thing to pick up on, but the way in which Dave leans into the crowd and says, “Is she really going out with him?” And they launch right into New Rose just blows my mind and is easily one of the best moments in the set. That song started it all 40 years ago and it still feels brand new.

I Fall and See Her Tonite are two from the first set that really stood out for me, just because I love them and the energy they all have when they play them. At one point during the set, Captain Sensible chases Stu round the stage in a playful schoolboy manner. It is so endearing and beautiful to watch. To see a band that have been around for so long and play with this wealth of energy is astounding. They are still one of the most influential bands around, and last night truly showed that.

Anyone who has seen The Damned over the past 20 years will know about Monty. He is someone you cannot take your eyes away from. He moves about on the stage as if he has successfully done a stage invasion but nobody minded, so he stays. He’s hilarious and a joy to watch. His energy feels like the backbone of their live shows. He sings along to the first set as if he is a fan in the crowd.

I’ve been to so many gigs but I doubt any will leave this kind of imprint in my mind. There is something about seeing one of your favourite bands of all time live that just does something to you that nothing else can. You just know that it will always stay with you.

Some may assume that Punk is dead but it really isn’t. It’s an attitude. It sure as hell isn’t taking a bunch of artefacts and burning them because you don’t agree with certain people backing 40 years of Punk. No names need to be mentioned. For me, The Damned last night showed us exactly why and how Punk will never die out. Before they went into their second set Captain said that a lot of people expected them to just go away after the first record- how wrong they were!

The Damned are a band that I hold so dear to me for so many reason, and to have finally seen them live and to see Damned Damned Damned performed in its entirety is just everything to me. I know I sound like a boring old so and so, but it was truly one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. They all conduct the crowd in their own way, and when Captain through his red beret into the crowd at the end, and Dave threw his arms around him- that’s when you knew. You just knew that this band are going to always have a firm plac

THE STOOGES:The Stooges.

Posted on by

Image result for the stooges album

“And I’ll lay right down in my favorite place
And now I wanna be your dog.”

1969. A year that gave us a band that would, at the start be looked down on but eventually become one of the most influential bands of all time. Fronted by one of the most charismatic and courageous human beings, ever.

On Monday I went to the cinema to see Gimme Danger. The brilliant film about The Stooges. As I watched it, every part of me wished I was born at the right time to have appreciated them at the start. Instead I came into the world a couple of decades later. I couldn’t understand how or why The Stooges were the underdogs, why they were given so much shit. Maybe it’s because they were completely misunderstood. Their debut record is one of the most remarkable and most raw records of all, and for a debut to sound like that? Shit. You can just tell that they were on the verge of creating something that would make some feel uncomfortable, but what good comes from feeling otherwise?

I was very young when I first heard The Stooges, very young. I wasn’t aware of how important they would end up being to me but I remember instantly being hooked on Iggy. He seemed like someone that nobody could touch. He was like a fictional character brought to life and this character heightened when on a stage. The way he would whirl about on stage and how he would launch himself into the crowd. It wasn’t like anything else, he’s not like anyone else. He moves on stage like a gorilla ready to attack, especially when he crouches down and moves in this way that just makes you wonder what he’s going to do next. When a band can keep you on constant edge like that, that’s when you truly connect and know you’ve got a band to love for life.

Their debut record is a collection of songs that mess with your head. I mean that intro to I Wanna Be Your Dog is probably the greatest intros of all time. As soon as I hear it my ears prick up and I’m covered in goose bumps. I can’t describe what it sounds like but every time I play it, it feels like I’m hearing it for the first time. That new sensation takes over every time I hear it. We Will Fall is 10 minutes of chanting and bliss. It doesn’t sound like anything else on the record or really anything else they’ve ever done. No Fun is 5 minutes of summing up how boring life can sometimes be if you let yourself fall into a bland routine.

This recorded guided a generation into the 70s and brought to life a movement that would establish one of the most influential styles of music ever. Maybe I’m biased in my thoughts there, but for me, Punk is the backbone of everything I love. It isn’t just a 2 minute song telling the world to go fuck itself. It’s more than you or I can describe or explain. It’s a sound, a feeling, an attitude and I’m happy it found its way to me. The more I listen to The Stooges, the more I hear things I may not have initially picked up on. I can hear just how frantic Scott’s drumming was, and I think that’s part of the charm. Scott’s drumming was out of this world and he played in a way that made you want to make your own noise. Hell, The Stooges just made you want to make your own noise.

Their first record is smutty, off the wall and just wonderfully weird. These are the traits that got me hooked on them the first time around, and it is still apparent now decades later. The songs ooze frustration, desperation and the need for something. The need to search and destroy (different record, I know) and this record everlastingly and loving grabs you by the throat and unapologetically plants one right on the kisser. It’s just a brilliant listen, from start to finish. There’s no bad song on the record and each song is a side to The Stooges that we all grew to love and admire.

It took them a long time to get the respect and admiration that they rightfully deserved, and maybe if it happened straight away this raw and urgent sound they constantly possessed may never have been there. If you’re looking for a band that define going against what people expect or a band that just don’t care what you think- The Stooges are for you. The Stooges are for everyone. Everyone deserves to feel that “oh fuck!!” feeling when they hear I Wanna Be Your Dog for the first time. It’s feeling like no other, and man…it’s so timeless.

THE CRAMPS: A Date With Elvis.

Posted on by

thecrampsadatewithel_1

“I know a place that’s far from here
Where the squares they won’t come near.”

Last Saturday I turned 30. Nothing feels different, and I still look about 15. Maybe I made a pact with the devil at an early age, and I don’t recall it. Anyway, as someone who isn’t really a fan of birthdays I have someone who wanted me to have a damn good day. She did just that, and more. She got me a record that I had no idea I was getting. A month earlier I ruined a surprise by attempting to buy one she had already got me. I don’t pick up on signals, I need to be told. Even if it involves me potentially ruining a surprise! This one record she got me has blown my mind and I find myself playing it every day. I either play it whilst I get ready for work or when I get home. Sometimes both. My love for The Cramps started in 1996. I was 10 years old and I was going through a cupboard in the house. I was looking for something, not sure what but I found a mixtape. I picked it up and asked my stepdad if I could listen to it- being the cool person he is, he said yes. He told me all about the band before I went upstairs to my room and fell in love with Lux’s voice.

I wish I could remember what song was on the tape, but I’m pretty sure it might have been Human Fly. There was a Sisters Of Mercy live tape that I took also. Along with The Cure. I was being exposed at a young age to the bands that would form something inside of me that is still there. It’s never going to go. Its one thing about me I won’t ever fight off.

The record I was given on my birthday last Saturday was A Date With Elvis. She had gone through their records, listened to them all and found the one she thought I’d love the most. I think this proves just how well she knows me and how bloody great she is. A Date With Elvis is such a great record, and for me to shows everything about The Cramps that I love, and fell in love with 20 years ago. I love the raw and creepy sound that is consistent on all their records but there’s something about A Date With Elvis that heightens all of this.

The record opens with one of the greatest songs by them, How Far Can Too Far Go? Alright so some may say it isn’t their greatest but it’s pretty much my favourite. I love the words and I absolutely adore Lux’s voice on this song. The record came out the year I entered the world and it was produced by the beautiful Poison Ivy. Three is the magic number, kids and The Cramps proved that so easily with this record. Everything about the wonderfully sexualised lyrics and dirty guitar makes it for pleasurable listening. It is the record you should take home with you, to meet the parents. It’s the record you play as loud as you want. It’s the one you play to take you down a road of self-discovery. For some, the lyrics may be too much- but hey, don’t surround yourself with prudes. Let it all out. Let The Cramps drag it out of you.

A Date With Elvis is the kind of record that brings you to your knees because you can’t get over how great it is.  For me it just embodies everything I love about music and everything I look for in music. It’s the right level of creepy, it’s loud and it’s in your face but not in an intrusive manner. It’s so beautifully produced and created. That brilliant Psychobilly mixed with a bit of Punk sound that they were known for comes alive on this record, maybe it is more apparent on this one. Maybe I’m just being biased because I wholeheartedly love this record, with all I have. I don’t have the best record player in the world but it is currently making Aloha From Hell sound like the masterpiece that it truly is.

There are many reasons why I am fascinated with certain bands, but I’ve never really set myself a reason for doing so with The Cramps. It just comes down to a whole bunch of reasons. Mainly that it’s completely fine to live outside of certain “norms” and to just be whoever and whatever the hell you want to be.

GIRL TEARS: Woke Against The Tide.

Posted on by

13-atxl1

Over a week ago, the doctor explained to me why my brain hasn’t been working like it should. Why I’m losing interest in things I love, why leaving the house physically hurts and is exhausting, why everything seems too much and too loud. If you’ve got a physical ailment, you do your best to take care of yourself. But when it is a mental one, the thought of trying to do anything for yourself is overwhelming. Writing about music is the one thing I have as some form of outlet. I go through stages of wanting to carry on with it. Then other days, I really don’t care. Today I care. Today I want to write about the new Girl Tears record because it’s so bloody great. Even if I didn’t want to write about it, I would force myself. It seems that’s the only way. Anyway, enough of that. The music. That is what’s important.

I fell in love with Girl Tears a few years ago and I immediately knew that they would be one of those bands I would forever obsess over. They are loud. So loud. Brutally loud. Their songs last long enough for them to grab you by the neck and yell in your ear. For me though, I want the songs to last longer because I just love them. Everything about them is just a reminder of why I love music. If I was a wealthy person, I’d fly them over here and get them to play as many shows as possible. For now, I’ll create images of their live shows in my head.

Woke Against The Tide is their new record that came out on 28th October, and although it has 18 tracks on it- it only lasts just over 20 minutes. I can play it once in full on my journey to work but it still doesn’t feel like it is enough. It’s one of those records that I am happy to have on a loop in my ear. Everything about their new record sounds tougher and braver than their first release, Tension. Tension was a kick in the teeth. Woke Against The Tide feels like you’re annihilating your soul. There’s nothing wrong with this, sometimes it just has to be done.

Trying to pick my favourite song off the record is too tough, and my current inability to make a decision without working myself into a panic attack just isn’t worth the trouble. Every song is wonderfully aggressive and to be honest, if the songs lasted longer than 2 minutes I really don’t think it would feel the song. The songs are like punches to the face. The songs are polar opposites to how Kam, Tristan and Sal are. The fury and the sheer loudness in the songs makes you want to start your own band, and make your own noise. Do it. There’s no right or wrong noise.

Girl Tears are like that cool relative that lead you gently by the arm and guide you to a world of music you may not have found on your own. Their music takes you to a world that is so decadent yet sacred. They don’t sound like any band that I know of- past or present. Sure there’s slight influences of certain bands, but all they do is entirely their own and that is even more prominent on this record than on Tension. Tension was a beautiful introduction to an equally beautiful band. But with Woke Against The Tide, what you hear is 3 people sure of their sound. 3 people sure of how they want to deafen and amaze the listener. And trust me, they do exactly that. It’s a pure Punk record from start to finish.

Kam’s vocals on Lost Love are my favourite. I love the desperation in his voice and how he makes you cling on to every single word he screams. Sal and Tristan both make me wish I could play the drums or bass. Kam is also a menace on the guitar. I am so proud of what they have done with this record and how they’ve created a gorgeous atmosphere on it. It leads wonderfully from Tension, and regardless of how many times a day I listen to it, I keep finding different parts of the record to love. It’s so easy to go back and listen to it over and over again. When you do this, you notice different things and your favourite song or your favourite moment on the record changes. Like I mentioned, I cannot pick a favourite and I’m okay with that- it just means I can keep on listening. Over and over, and finding new things to love. You notice more when you approach a record like this rather than being dead set on trying to find one song to obsess over.

Woke Against The Tide is a real tense listen, but nothing good comes from being settled and easy. Every song is a shockwave through the body. Made up of parts that will leave you feeling bruised but satisfied.