Day: August 4, 2012

D Generation/The Biters “Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA.” September 24, 2011

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Real. Raw. Messy. Brutal. That about sums up the reunited band’s performance in Hollywood!! This was a highly anticipated show in this city and it was close to a sellout. The band blasted through 20 songs from all their releases, and usually at a live show you remember the beginning and end, the top and the bottom, and DGeneration slammed the crowd at both ends!Opening the show with Jesse M. shouting, “Has anyone seen my boy?”, the band blasted into the Regan Youth classic “Degenerated”, which hit like a gutter punk rock punch to the chest (much more powerful version than the RY version, but not as macho as the Los Angeles Death Dolls version), and from there it was all up hill!These guys came out sweating at the first swing, and it lasted through the whole set, as these guys still give it their all on stage, featuring all original members and a simple stage set up, much like their songs. The music is simple but carries a wallop, just like when I saw them a decade before at the Dragonfly. I never saw them at the big gigs with Kiss or Green Day, but rather in their element, where they always shined, in real and raw environments, like small and sweaty clubs. They pulled out their old trick of completely trashing the club with bags of shredded magazines, being tossed around by the band and crowd. (Note: Rebel Rebel “borrowed” this idea when we played out of town or in another country, as a feather pillow is harder for the clubs to clean up, not to mention harder to find! And magazines are plenty in any town, and all you need to carry is a few garbage bags to put the shredded paper in!) It was refreshing seeing a band that puts their all into their stage time, like it may be their last gig, and with this band, it just may well be, although there is a rumor of a new CD and full tour. All heart, energy and emotion.I personally hope they just go out swinging like at this show, and finish with grace and balls! They closed the show with my favorite song “No Way Out”, and the whole crowd was moshing and singing along, old and young together in a punky and glam unison, proving you can still rock in America!

A quick note about the opening band, The Biters. You must see them live, good full frontal energy and even better songs, straight from the Sweet/Tom Petty/Ramones/Candy/Cheap Trick school of song writing. These guys play twin lead guitars live that are off the chain, not as catchy since Thin Lizzy days, some of the catchiest pop punk trash rock out there. Good haircuts, good threads, good stage moves, good songs = Good Times!!!

Teddy Heavens

http://www.dgeneration.co.uk/

Rebel Rebel “Universal Bar And Grill, Los Angeles, CA.” October 22, 2011

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I spied the legendary purveyors of the offensive and obscene maneuvering in the dark and prepping all manner of sundry stage prop.The self styled “Ayatollahs Of Rock n’ Rolla” readied gimmicks that Alice Cooper himself would approve of.It was looking to be a night of unencumbered, hedonistic fun all in the name of sonically assaulting debauchery.Kinda like the Grand Guignol performed by mental ward patients or Kiss,Sigue Sigue Sputnik and The Plasmatics gobbled up by a dinosaur, preserved in ice for millions of years, resurrected and then crapped out in the modern age.If Ringling Brothers went insane this would be his circus-tent house band.Opening with the (MK) ultra cool ‘Shanti Devi’ a seismic, middle eastern flavoured precursor to the rattle caged vitriol of Fear’s 1977 classic ‘I Love Living In The City’ Rebel 2 prove why they stand as L.A.’s new Jane’s Addiction gone cyberpunk.As deadly serious as the band may purport to be, comic relief is a very important ingredient in their musical stew of gourmet delight. Homage is paid to shock rock forebears W.A.S.P. during ‘Wild Women’ where Jet Jupiter sullies out, prancing cocksure and proud and proceeds to ignite the wick of a streaming sparkler that is attached to a rather lengthy phallus.The overt danger factor is there -yes, and no doubt one of the reasons they have been banished from practically every dive in existence, but it is also the very reason they succeed. These maverick court jesters deliver the adrenaline in jest.Another one of their ingenious calling cards is implication.For instance, the mock rape and subsequent chainsaw beheading of a pre-teen female (in reality a 3 foot tall barbie doll) as well as the makeshift pumpkin decoration ( by said deathsaw) applied right before your very eyes.Musically they have improved leaps and bounds over the somewhat shoddy, sometimes poorly executed and often indecipherable shrill of their early days.These dudes are fucking LOUD too.By the shows dramatic conclusion my ears had been wrenched into submission.The already grating tinnitus thrown into a further state of turmoil.Admittedly, I was a trifle miffed being outwardly denied my request for ‘Rock In The Face’ but that’s a wanton tale for another time.So, once again culminates yet another gig-cum-near travesty courtesy of the most banned band in southern California, and as the stunned patrons filed out into the cold, damp evening (leaving rampant trash and cluttered debris in their wake) I couldn’t help but hum the deliciously deviant mantra from A Clockwork Orange…” I’m, singing in the rain” (insert violent kick to hobos ribs)…”Just, singing in the rain” (repeat rash behaviour)….on and on and on……verbatim.

By:Toe Knee

http://www.rebelrebel.org/

The Regime “S/T”

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San Diego punk rock with big influences from the first (and real) emo bands (FUGAZI, RITES OF SPRINGS, JAWBREAKER…)Honestly, I haven’t been listening to any new band in that style in a long while so I was quite curious to listen to The REGIME. Moreover, there used to be quite a few interesting bands in that style in San Diego in the past (Swing Kids, Drive Like Jehu…)
Starting the noisy battle with a powerful “Dead Like You” that should please every HOT WATER MUSIC fan, the band manages to show another side of their talent as soon as the second song “Mankind” starts, a kind of FUGAZI influenced rock song with a twisted noisy end. It’s kinda surprising to hear that The REGIME can also come close to ska meeting punk rock (in a PROPAGANDHI way) on “She’s Got Nuthin'”, but it’s working in the end.
Other standout moments include pyshotic chaotic hardcore song “Better Days” and demented rockin’ song “By Pattern”. The last 4 songs of the album might not be as captivating as the rest, but all in all this album is a good surprise./Laurent C.

Lester And The Landslide Ladies/Kevin K Frantic Tales For The Fast Living Split CD

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Distance sometimes seems to be a bigger thing than it really is: Italian power pop trash darlings LESTER AND THE LANDSLIDE LADIES meet American LAMF rock’n’roll world traveller KEVIN K on a record and it’s quite obvious that these guys could easily spend a whole night talking about The RAMONES, The NEW YORK DOLLS, their Polish origins while eating delicious pizza and drinking good French wine!
LESTER AND THE LANDSLIDE LADIES start the party NY punk style with “Fuck Me Mommy”and show us that there’s nothing better than a catchy chorus with “Don’t Wanna Be With You” and “Cherry Stitches”. They say their life is a party and these songs make us realize that they’re ready to rock’n’roll all night with their early KISS ways… and what else could help to cure heartbreak (“All That We Got”, “My Ever Last Yearning”) better anyway?
KEVIN K would never refuse joining such a party and answers back as if the DEAD BOYS were jamming with the DOLLS (“Too Much Too Soon”)! Kevin’s New York days will always be a big part of him as you can hear in “La Vida Loca” or in “If I’m Alive” (a song that would have deserved a guest appearance by Stiv Bators in a perfect world!) but he’s never been against a bit of British punk rock flavour as well (“Crazy Squeeze” and its guitar riff à la The Clash!) Also, Kevin has never been against experimenting a bit with new sounds from time to time, here you’ll find a hard rock meets hip hop influenced song, “Picking Oxycotton” (think FASTER PUSSYCAT’s “Babylon” or AEROSMITH/RUN DMC’s “Walk This Way”) and a quite surprising KATY PERRY cover (“Teenage Dreams”) with Father K as a guest vocalist!
The best split record I’ve heard in a long while!/Laurent C.http://www.tornadoriderecords.com/

Bastardogs “Sex Machine” EP

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4 new songs from those Italian Dogs. It seems like they’re getting a bit more on the sleaze/heavy rock side of things this time with songs like “NUSU” and its catchy chorus or “Sex Machine” reminding me of WRATHCHILD U.K.
The third song on here, “The Edge Of Youth” sounds a bit as if ROXX GANG had spent some time in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (an influence I already spotted in their first demo), and the closing tune “Miss Simple Girl” is a minimalist acoustic ballad, showing another side of the band.
This is all getting better and better, keep it up!/Laurent C.

http://www.facebook.com/BastardogsGE

Baby Scream “Lost Balloons”

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The very productive BABY SCREAM from Argentina are back with this 17 song album on which you’ll mostly find covers and unreleased demos. Opening song “We Are Agains The System” is close to the band’s previous releases, slow pop reminding a bit of Marc Bolan while “Ball Of Fun” and “I’ve Had Enough With You” both sound a bit like a punker DINOSAUR JR. “Revenge Of The Nerds”, on the other hand sounds more experimental.
The covers include among others a few T-Rex/Marc Bolan songs (“Reality”, “Cosmic Dancer”, “High Wire”…), some RAMONES stuff (“Judy Is A Punk” and “Beat On The Brat”) and a pretty cool glammer version of SOCIAL DISTORTION’s “When The Angels Sing.” The closing song is a good version of Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” with Deafboy One as a guest.
Of course, the production isn’t always the best since many of these songs are demos, but “Lost Balloons” (great title for such a song collection) is a fun record to listen to./Laurent C.http://www.babyscream.blogspot.com

Ashtones/Asphalt Tuaregs “Savage Salvation” Split 10″.

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The ASHTONES have been in the French news lately, but unfortunately for other reasons than their music as their guitar player got killed by some stupid hunter while driving the band’s van…
2 bands and 10 songs on pretty pink vinyl, this looks good for sure. The ASHTONES’ opening song “Teenage Hunting” is a damn great start! The band’s music still stands somewhere between garage rock and 77 punk rock but they also do justice to TURBONEGRO’s “Monkey On Yer Back” on this 10″, quite a good cover song choice as The ASHTONES aren’t musically far from early TURBONEGRO. Their 77′ side can especially be heard on “Howling Degenerate” and is always more than enjoyable.
ASPHALT TUAREGS seem to be more influenced by the Australian punk rock scene and grunge with a bit of MOTORHEAD thrown into it. Unfortunately, the poor muffled production make them sound quite messy so it’s hard to get a real opinion about the band while listening to these songs. You just feel like they are better than what you hear on this split 10″ and can tell that they have a very good bass player.
Anyway, if you like it raw, this vinyl is for you!/Laurent C.http://www.turborock.com/

Angus Dersim “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll”

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20 year old German rocker Angus Dersim probably spent more time listening to AC/DC and KROKUS than RAMMSTEIN during his childhood and we won’t complain about it.
While listening to these 10 songs, you can only think that they could have been released by an Australian band, AIRBOURNE being the most recent and obvious reference coming to mind. The guitar riffs and vocals are solid and there are enough hooks (“Ain’t No Rebel”, “Finally Yours”…) to make you stamp your feet. You’ll also find some American hard rock influences in a song like “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll” while “She’s In Love With My Tattoos” could have been on a RHINO BUCKET album, and “The Best Is On You” has a very welcomed D.A.D. feel!
This is a strong debut for such a young band in that style. You don’t believe me? Just listen to it!/Laurent C.http://www.ironik.de/