The Artist Formally Known As Vince releases new single “Luck”

“Luck” The Artist Formally Known As Vince Band, Single Series Vol. 2, wherein TAFKAVince band records a single in a city, studio or with a person who has been an influence.

“For Vol. 2 we chose the great city of Chicago. That might seem like an unlikely choice as it is our hometown, but Chicago is a huge influence on what we do and who we are. Surprisingly it is also the first time we have recorded in Chicago since our 2002 album “At Last”. We took a guerrilla approach this time. We decided to try to get a single out as fast as possible. A call to our friend Anthony Maietta and within a few days we were in his Old Coachie studio for 2 quick nights to knock out the song.”

Art by D. Elia being created over the same few days. All immediately shipped off to be pressed. The digital single hits stores and streaming services on Nov. 3 with a flexidisc postcard to be released a soon thereafter.

 

Lovesores – Rock’n’Roll Animals!

We asked ex-HUMPERS/VICE PRINCIPALS Scott Deluxe Drake a few questions about the LOVESORES. He also tells us about a few records that changed his life, and about his radio show The Golden Age Of Rock’n’Roll.

Can you intoduce the band?

The Lovesores are: Saul Koll (guitar), Adam Kattau (guitar) Alex Fast (bass) Boz Bennes (drums) and me,
Scott Deluxe Drake (vocals)

Can you tell us about your new record “Rock And Roll Animal”?

Rock and Roll Animal is our most recent release, it’s a 10” vinyl EP (4 songs) on Hound Gawd! Records (Germany).
I think it’s our best record yet…but that’s for everyone else to decide.

How did you get to find a song title like “The Erotic Adventures Of Coca-Cola Jones”?

While we were on tour in Europe, we started joking about people who live in Florida…because there are always stories in the news about bizarre crimes that happen in Florida. Adam Kattau said “Maybe all these crimes are being done by one person. His name is Coca-Cola Jones or something like that”…so, Coca-Cola Jones has become a recurring character…he’ll show up in other songs soon.

You toured in Europe last year. How was it? You also toured in Europe before as a solo artist, will you do it again? Or are the LOVESORES a “full-time band”?

The Lovesores are a full-time band…I wouldn’t do a solo tour unless The Lovesores stopped for some reason. We had a BLAST in Europe..I love touring over there..mostly because I think European people have more respect for musicians than American folks do. I’ve always been treated very well in Europe…I can’t wait to go back!

The HUMPERS also played a reunion show in July in California, right?

Yes, The Humpers generally play one or two shows each year…we’ve talked about making another record but it’s difficult because I live 1000 miles away and also because some of the guys are very busy with their day jobs.

Can you tell us a bit about The Golden Age of Rock and Roll?

The Golden Age of Rock and Roll is my radio show in Portland, Oregon (it’s a webcast). Ive been doing it for about a year now. The station it’s on is House of Sound (the only uncensored radio station in Portland). I usually do the show every other week on Tuesday nights. I play everything from early primitive rock and roll from the late 40’s and early 50’s to current bands.

5 records that are important to you (and why? How you found out about them, etc.)

Hmmm…I had to think a lot about this. I decided I’d talk about records that changed my view of music, not necessarily
my “favorite” records. First, I’d choose “Dizzy” by Tommy Roe. I bought this 7” when I was a little kid…maybe 5 or 6 years old? It was the first record that I ever heard on the radio that made me think “ I must have this record!”..it’s just bubblegum music but I still like it today!
Next would be “Through The Past Darkly” by The Rolling Stones. It’s just a compilation LP of their early hits but it was the first real rock and roll LP I ever got…it made me realize that there was more to life than The Beatles hahaha.
Next would be The Ramones Leave Home…I had only heard one or two songs by The Ramones on the radio and I was fascinated by them. When I finally got this record, I was blown away to think “These are people who think like me!!!” It was very empowering to start imagining…”maybe I could start a band?”.
The first Sex Pistols / Clash / Damned / Generation X LPs were huge to me, but it’s hard to choose which one had the most impact….so…I’ll jump ahead to the first Black Flag record, the Nervous Breakdown EP. This record was important to me because it sort of separated people into two groups…people loved it or hated it. A lot of people saw it as not being “rock and roll” enough…by I really was thrilled by the energy…and ever since then my goal has been to marry the structure of traditional rock and roll with the energy of punk…sometimes it works and sometimes it don’t!

Any new bands you’ve enjoyed lately?

I’m currently enjoying the renewed interest in Glam Rock (and I don’t mean 80’s LA Sunset Strip stuff)…especially the revival of the sounds of the early 70’s British scene….I think Giuda does it best from the bands I’ve heard…I’d love to hear more bands get into that sound and move away from all this stoner / metal / prog, etc.

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Your favourite shows with the LOVESORES so far?

I’d say my favorite shows have been in Spain (Bilbao and Teruel) and Germany (Berlin). It’s always a great feeling when you’re far from home and the people “get it”…it makes you feel like there’s a greater purpose to what you’re doing.

What’s next for the LOVESORES?

More rock and roll! We’re currently writing a full-length LP…then we have some gigs in Southern California in January…and hopefully we’ll be touring Europe again in Autumn of 2017…..see you then! Ciao!

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Baby Scream “Life’s a Trap”

Juan Pablo Mazzola continues his musical journey as BABY SCREAM, this time showing us his softer side with acoustic songs, sometimes not so far from MARC BOLAN /NIKKI SUDDEN (“Midnight Snack”,”We Can’t Go Back To 17″,”The Ballad Of Music Biz”.) These songs will tell you stories (“Life’s Better When U’re High”, or “Climbing Down” and its MORRISSEY/late 90s MANIC STREET PREACHERS feel), sometimes in a dreamy way, just like in the late 60s/70s.
“Wish You Were a Beer” is not a cover of the CYCLE SLUTS FROM HELL classic, but a bit of an experimental pop song that will stay in your head after listening to it, and “The Road Bends” has a cool kind of groove, reminding a bit of early LENNY KRAVITZ stuff.
If you need to listen to something quieter this winter, then just try this album!/Laurent C.

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Cadaver Club “It’s Always The Quiet Ones”

Irish horror punks CADAVER CLUB are always ready for Halloween, and this time, they bring us 13 new songs. “Afraid Of Me”, “Penny Dreadful” and “Transylvania Twist” open this second album in a glam punk way, reminding a bit of the TRASH BRATS. Songs like “Southern Cemetary”, “Twilight of The Gods”, or “The Quiet Ones” (probably my favourite song on the album!) will have no problem to make ghoul crowds sing along and pogo, and if you need a pause, you’ll find a blues song (“Follow Me To Hell”), before jumping right into punk madness again with “The Coppercombe Witch.”
The man behind the drums(Draggle) is actually rock’n’roll/folk troubadour MATTY JAMES, showing us more of his musical talents on here, and when listening to”Murder of Crows”, you can only think that this song could also be played during his shows.
“It’s Always The Quiet Ones” shows us that horror punk is not only about the image, if you need the songs, and CADAVER CLUB have them.
Beware of the quiet ones, punk’s not dead, and funeral punk is alive!/Laurent C.

http://www.cadaverclub.com/
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The Fiascos “Built For Speed/Olivia” 7″

This is quite an interesting line-up: Members of BRIJITTE WEST, KITTY HUDSON, RACHEL STAMP, SHAM 69… getting together to offer us high quality punk rock’n’roll.
Only two songs on here: “Built For Speed”, that sounds a bit as if SOCIAL DISTORTION were born in the UK, and “Olivia” which has a cool powerpop vibe with a bit of WILDHEARTS elegantly thrown in.
Apparently, the band started to tour after 6 rehearsals, and recorded half an album in 55 minutes, so good chances are we will hear more from them very soon!
We’ll definitely keep an eye on these London cats!/Laurent C.

Filthy Punk Rock n Roll


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The Joystix/High-School Motherfuckers “Skulls Out!” Split CD

These two bands have been friends for quite some time now, so it isn’t very surprising to see them share this CD together. The JOYSTIX still know how to mix their old-school punk rock’n’roll influences to more modern, and melodic ones, and when they sing “I Don’t Believe In RnR (Anymore)”, it’s hard to believe them, at least when it comes to the music itself since it’s a real cool rock’n’roll song, with lots of glam punk energy. “Outta My Head” sounds more like The WILDHEARTS, with heavy guitar riffs and melodic backing vocals, and “Sunshine Girl” has a great poppy/glammy chorus, probably my new favourite JOYSTIX song!
It’s good to hear French hard rock’n’rollers HIGH-SCHOOL MOTHERFUCKERS on record again, and even better to see that they sound better than ever with songs like “Motherfucker Go” or “Don’t Care”, their sound naturally evolved towards glam punk/rock’n’roll (sometimes reminding me a bit of SPACE AGE PLAYBOYS), and we sure won’t complain about that! As fans of old-school hard rock and ’77 punk, a song like “Ride Into The Blue” shows us that the HSMF can also appeal to MOTÖRHEAD fans for instance. Both bands are on tour this month in France and Hungary, don’t miss them!/Laurent C.

The Joystix on Facebook

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http://www.shotgungeneration.com/

Black Star Furies “Vamp In Paradise”

Italian hard rockers BLACK STAR FURIES are back with 14 songs. While the horror metal vibe can definitely be heard in the vocals, the guitars also have a strong VAN HALEN vibe (especially on the guitar solo extravaganza “1977”!.) You’ll find some dark heavy rock tunes and songs that stand somewhere between 80s hard rock and modern rock (almost nu-metal at times) (“Piece Of Your Action”, “Liz.”)
“Shirley”‘s guitar riff reminds me of DOKKEN, which is quite a good idea, since we all remember the band’s contribution in horror movies with “Dream Warriors”, “Doze” is more convincing than “Religion” when it comes to power ballads, and when the band goes boogie on “Last Kiss”, you can hear that these guys have rock’n’roll roots. “L.A. 81” is a pure fun nostalgia song, a celebration of what the Sunset Strip used to be, and the cover of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD‘s classic “Relax” is pure pleasure.
“Vamp In Paradise” is a fun album, it might be a bit too long for the genre, but it should be in the playlist of legions of hard horror metal freaks soon./Laurent C.

http://blackstarfuries.ozak.it/
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Role Models – Outsider Celebration!

We asked Rags a few questions about the band’s new album “Forest Lawn”, the guests that appear on it, life in London and Toronto, as well as a few other things that should help you to know a bit more about one of the best melodic rock’n’roll bands around these days…
You released this new album (“Forest Lawn”) just one year after your debut record “The Go-To Guy”. Did you have new songs already when the first album got released?

I’m writing all the time. Whenever I get a spare moment, so I have a computer filled with demos and lyrics. I had a good number of tunes present off the top, which is why I felt strongly about pushing forward and getting a new album out. Some ideas are half formed and merge with others. A lot are fully formed. Gotta say I’m lucky to be in a band with Dan, Simon and Nick. They work fast and very creatively. Simon is quite the engine. Hard to keep up!
Next year’s album has got even more material to choose from than I did for Forest Lawn! We’ve got a “three year plan” that Dan and I kinda came up with. Dan, besides being a hell of a bass player, is the one who reminds me what the focus is in different situations when I start to slide. It’s simple really. Three years, three albums of the best material we can release and be proud of. Release one and get to work on the next! Then we’ll see where we stand.

Can you tell us about the recording of “Forest Lawn”? You have guests like Sami Yaffa, Rich Jones, and Steve Conte again on this album. How do you make it happen? Do you plan your recording sessions when they’re in London?

We are very lucky to have such illustrious company come over and hang out on our albums! Each one of those guys being involved came about very naturally.

Rich has been part of this in one way or another since the very beginning. From helping me demo songs to just good advice that I trust. Hell, he is the one who talked me into being a singer in the first place! The Loyalties album really made me realise how great we work together. He will always be on the Role Model albums. If he wants to! And we just enjoy hangin’ out and goofin’ around. A brudda!

Sami I met years ago in New York. For a time I lived above him in an apartment on Ave D and 10th Street. He was very cool and supportive of me way back then as well. We have a couple of pretty funny stories! I hadn’t seen him for a few years and ran into him at Ginger’s birthday gig where we were both playing on songs. Rich was there too and had just joined The Michael Monroe camp. I was almost done recording The Go-To Guy and we were talking about it backstage. He just said, “AND YOU DIDN’T NEED ANY BASS ON THE THING?” Hahahaha! So of course I asked him and he played on ‘Saturday Night Sailor” He Is a very warm, supportive and generous dude. I wanna be Sami when I grow up! Hahahaha! So I guess THAT hasn’t changed since I was 16. I love it when we get to hang out. A lot of laughs.
Steve Conte. Another guy I look up to soooo much. What a talent! That came about when I was booking the album release party for TGTG. He was touring Europe for his solo stuff and had some gaps he needed filled in his schedule. One of those dates was the album release. Man having him on that bill was amazing! After that I just had to ask him. I love hangin’ and talkin’ old school powerpop and stuff with him. Great guy!
We also had Chris Barry do a duet with me on “Goodbye And Hooray” He was in 39 Steps in the 80’s and their song “Slip Into The Crowd” was a huge influence on me as a teenager. And a lot of other people I know, too. One of my fave vocalists ever! If you haven’t heard that band or his band outta New York, Pillbox, do yourself a favour and get some in your ears! We got in touch as Jones and I were writing some music for a proposed album for him. Time constraints meant it couldn’t happen yet . But I saw my chance! Hahahahaha! Really he’s another one I feel very lucky to have gotten to know!

Forest Lawn is the name of the place where you grew up. Did you have the title idea from the start? How did you come up with it?

It’s the very colourful ‘hood I grew up in. A lot of immigrants and refugees from all over the world set roots down there. My parents were refugees of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. It was a part of the city that people thought was rough. I remember trying to meet girls downtown as a teenager and exchanging phone numbers. One girl saw the first three digits that indicated where I was from and threw it in the trash right in front of me hahaha! But really it was a great place to grow up.Friends I hold dear to this day. I discovered rock n roll there and began dreaming of a life in music there. Started my first band Rat Salad with my pals Rich Escobar and Jason Marchant in the garages and basements there. That feeling of excitement… “Where will this take me? What can I add to it?”. That hasn’t changed or left me since then and so thought it was an appropriate title.

Do you think your music would sound different if you were still living in Canada?

Well I always loved British/European and American stuff. But travelling around in vans touring and moving around a lot has really left a mark on me. I recommend travel and upheaval to everyone! Yeah. I bet it would have sounded a bit different. There’s nothing like actual personal experience to colour your view of the world. You know, order drinks and do laundry as far and wide as you can! Also the English and American band members leave their mark of course.

You first moved to London with a band, right?

Well, kinda. I was in a band called Madison Strays in New York. We were working on a full length with James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins and Richard Fortus from GNR. Zane Lowe got a copy of our single and began playing it on Radio One. It won Fresh Meat and before you knew it we were in the UK playing. Zane was very cool and very instrumental in getting us over. He recommended we move to the UK to capitalise on the momentum created. Many members of the band wouldn’t and I just saw that as… well what are we doing this for? Right? I was down about having to start all over again but knew it was the right decision. I quit and moved over with my British girlfriend at the time. She is my wife now and we have a wonderful family together. Now I’m talking to you about music. So, to me, things worked out pretty great.

What are the good and bad things of life in London and Toronto to you?

I enjoyed my time in all the places I lived and they all have such a giant place in my heart. The good parts of all those cities is the excitement and scores of creative people you are surrounded by that are day to day inspirations. The bad part is they are all expensive!

The kind of melodic punk rock/rock’n’roll you play is not that common to hear among new bands. Do you see it as a positive thing for you, or a negative one?

Oh, positive. But there are some great bands out there that are treading the same boards. Check out The Breakdowns for example. They are great!

You share a common sense of melody with The WILDHEARTS, and you opened for Ginger. Any chance to see you write some music together in the future?

Well that would be very nice! He gave some great advice to me over the last couple of years and I am very proud to call him a friend. He is a busy busy man but ya never know. I would be honoured.

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5 albums you couldn’t live without, and what they mean to you…

Oh boy. That is hard because there are so many. But, I’ll go with the “long term relationship” albums here for ya!

Cheap Trick‘s “In Colour” That album to me represents, as a whole, a perfect rock n roll album. The songs, the sound of it, the pacing… just makes my heart beat a little stronger every time I hear it.

Tom Petty‘s “You’re Gonna Get It”. Come on! “I Need To Know” and “Listen To Heart” on one album. Yeeesh. And the opening track “When The Time Comes” is a great example of of a sound I love. Jangly and tough and romantic in equal measures.

The Clash “Give ‘Em Enough Rope” “Stay Free” and “Safe European Home” are long time pals of mine and still hang out with me regularly. Never let me down, those. That album I think is them at their best. Growing up and still snarling.

Heartbreakers “LAMF” I loved the Dolls from a very young age as I found their records in the piles of vinyl my older siblings had. The danger and reckless fun in the music grabbed a hold of me immediately. When I heard LAMF I felt the same way… with added WALTER LURE! I love that guy’s voice. Like a friend who is so cool and let’s ya in on the little secrets. And “Born To Lose” has something that I love that is so hard to capture. The feeling of ‘Down I go, but on my terms”. It may seem wrong to you, but it’s my life. Celebrating being an outsider. I’m not talking about the drug taking he is famous for. Just the feeling in the song of admitting your individuality and facing up to the darkness that can bring. And it just sounds so effortless.

The Replacements “Let It Be” When I first saw the cover I was floored that they looked just like me and my pals hangin’ out behind the 7/11. Not from LA or New York or London but a place just like mine. The album has the most beautiful vocal take I think I’ve ever heard in “Unsatisfied” as well as some of the most heart stopping “someone said it for me!” lyrics. Then it also has “Gary’s Got A Boner”! THEN a KISS cover. Doing what they wanted when they wanted. It all sounded so great to me. And makes me walk two inches taller every time I play it.

Well, these albums stuck with me over many years and are as vital in my life now as they ever were.

Any chance to see the band in Europe?

Three year plan hahaha. Let us get another album out same time next year and we’ll have a back catalogue we hope we can be proud of. Then we can start to go abroad. We will.

I just wanted to add that I am so happy to have this opportunity to talk to you! In a world of bands paying tons of cash for good reviews, interviews and press, it’s proudly independent people, magazines and blogs like you, that do things honestly and on your own terms, that keeps the essence of rock n roll alive. And that’s important. No playing fake games. Just a true love for something. We ain’t gonna buy into that other crap, right? At this point in my life I need it to be real. You are keeping that flame burnin’ man! I am humbled to be asked! Thank you for the kind review and a chance to share. Take care! and buy the CD from glunkrecords.bigcartel.com

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