Chris Damien Doll (TRASHCAN DARLINGS, SUCIDE BOMBERS…) and Sandy Hazard (MCRACKINS, DIRTBAG REPUBLIC) have joined forced to offer us this 10 song album. Chris handled guitar and bass, Sandy took care of the drums, and both shared vocals in order to create this Norway-Canada sleaze rock alliance. The duo met through their love for glam and punk rock, so you can imagine what kind of music you’ll hear on this album. You’ll get some great catchy choruses (“Rock’n’Roll Prostitute”, “You’re In My Head”) and some killer hard rockin’ tunes (“Fire & Gasoline”, “Grams (Off My Shoulders)”.) The punk influence can mostly be heard in songs like “Sci-Fi Child”, while the 80s Sunset Strip one can be found in “No Valentine Cards.” Both vocals mix very well together, and it seems like distance wasn’t a problem at all to give birth to these songs.
“Transatlantic Meltdown” will be a CD only release, so you know what you have to do! /Laurent C.
This project between Eduardo Martinez (The FLAMING SIDEBURNS) and Joe Klenner (CORAZONES MUERTOS) is a SMACK/The FISHFACES project. First, It was supposed to be just one song, but it ended up as a whole 12 song album on which you’ll hear SMACK classics such as “Good Morning Headache”, “Through The Glass”, or “Skin Alley”, and FISHFACES songs like “So High The Moon”, “Crazy Diamonds”, or “Wide Awake.”
The original spirit of the songs can be found in these covers, this mix of AC/DC hard rock with 70s pychedelic rock like The DOORS.
In 2017, many people still don’t know anything about SMACK, and even less about The FISHFACES, so this could be a good introduction to these fine rock’n’roll bands from Finland. /Laurent C.
We’ve been following 16 TON ROCKERS since their first demos. Here they are again, back with a 12 song CD under their arm. While songs like “Pistol A Go Go”, “All The Fucks” “Shake Riot & Roll”, or “On The Other Side Of Midnight” were released before, you’ll also find new songs such as “Limited Edition Deluxe” and its SEX PISTOLS flavour,”Idiots On Parade” that sounds a bit like early MANICS stuff, or the anthemic “Division Svea.” The band also has its CLASH moments, especially in “Fight The Real N.M.E.” 16 TON ROCKERS recorded these songs live, so they sound as if they were playing in your room, which is quite rare nowadays when bands spend more times editing songs than actually recording them. Moreover, the glam/street punk field has been quite deserted lately so it’s good to see that some bands have not given up.
The gang offers us a cover version of COCK SPARRER‘s “Runnin’ Riot”, and it suits them very well. Now, let’s hope to see 16 TON ROCKERS on tour!/Laurent C.
After releasing the promising EP “Standing At The End Of The World”, SPENCER ROBINSON is back and offers us this 8 song album in which you’ll hear the same dark and intimate atmospheres. “Drink Gasoline, Spit Fire” and “Killer On The Farm Tonight” set you right into this film noir meets deserted American areas mood. Sometimes, it almost feels like TOM WAITS is jammin’ with ROWLAND S. HOWARD when listening to songs like “Bleed Me”, “Take Me To The Killing Floor”, or “Enter The Void.”Although this album sounds very different froom what Spencer used to do with The LORDS OF ALTAMONT, you can still hear a few traces of 60s garage/psyche rock in “September” and in “Teenage Supernova” for instance.
The door to SPENCER ROBINSON AND THE WOLF SPIDERS‘ world has been left open, don’t be afraid… /Laurent C.
Our friends at Glambone podcast are working on a movie, here is what they say about it:
“If you’ve been wondering why there hasn’t been a recent podcast in months, Full Sleeve has taken up the majority of my time. Do you love films as much as music? Do you like your films to be edgy with rock n roll type swagger? Full Sleeve is the film for you. We just launched an online campaign to further the adventure along. You can become involved. Click here to find out how.”
It’s good to see that someone finally decided to make a SMACK/Claude tribute album. Surprisingly, this comes from French record label Alive and Kickin’. Honestly, SMACK unfortunately never achieved any success in France (although their “Live Desire” album was also released on French record label High Dragon Records), and I wonder if they ever did outide of their homeland Finland. Nevertheless, the impact and influence they had has been huge and invaluable, from GUNS N’ ROSES to NIRVANA among others.
Californian punk rock’n’rollers MINK DAGGERS open this tribute album with a great version of the STOOGES-esque “Some Fun”, just before The STREET WALKIN’ CHEETAHS show us that they still know how to rock hard with “Criminal.” PLASTIC TEARS‘ version of “Run Rabbit Run” sounds quite similar to the original, but at least it sounds good. LEFTOVERS offer us “Good Morning Headache” while DEAD FURIES rock to “Pass That Bottle.”
One of my favourite SMACK songs, probably their most glam rockin’ one, “Buy This Town” is done with style by HIRED GUNS, a band that was formed especially for this tribute album, with Matt (Alive and Kickin’ records boss on vocals)! Italian folk singer CHRIS covers “Trust On You” in an interesting NIKKI SUDDEN way, while EDUARDO E.MARTINEZ & THE THUNDERCLOUDS lean to the hard rock side of SMACK with “I Want Somebody.” STREET WALKIN’ CHEETAH‘s Frank Meyer and Dino Everett offer us a semi acoustic version of “Little Sister”, creating an atmosphere reminding of The DOORS, Claude probably would have loved this version! ANITA CHELLAMAH AND TIMO KALTIO‘s version of “Mad Animal Shuffle” is an amazing acoustic blues bringing desert images to mind, great to hear the voice of The CHERRY BOMBZ again!
Swedish glam punks TRENCH DOGS teamed up with HIRED GUNS to bring us a cool sleazy cover of “Street Hog Blues.”Argentina is also on this record, with CORAZONES MUERTOS and their high energy street punk version of “Can You Dig it.” EDUARDO MARTINEZ is back with his GANG and a pretty good version of “Time Of Wine and Flowers.” Paris’ beautiful losers GUTTERCATS could only fit on here, with their stripped down version of The FISHFACES‘ “Wide Awake”, and The FLAMING SIDEBURNS also chose the acoustic road with “Zombie Shitheel.”
Whether bands decided to stick to the originals or offer more personal versions of these fantastic songs, you won’t find any bad covers on “Smacked!” Successful gamble! /Laurent C.
San Diego rock’n’rollers The PHANTOMS offer us 5 covers from the 60s and 70s. The first one, BOWIE‘s “Drive-In Saturday” is very good, well they didn’t change much of it to make it their own, but covering BOWIE has never been the easiest thing to do, and they managed to do it right! JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES‘ classic “Shakin’ All Over” fits the band very well, so does DR FEELGOOD‘s “She Does It Right.” The PHANTOM‘s version of RUFUS THOMAS‘ “Walking The Dog” is quite groovy, and LARRY WILLIAMS‘ “Slow Down” won’t fail to make you dance.
This 5 song EP reminds us that 1965-75 was a crazy time for rock’n’roll, and The PHANTOMS do it with style. /Laurent C.
New single from Philadelphia-based gritty Rock & Roll revivalists The Judex was recently released, mixed in NYC by the highly regarded Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure, Alain Bashung, Duncan Sheik).
“Kill White Lights” is a brutal blend of pulp elements and 8mm energy, described by singer William as “a song about people who care more about which character died on a television show than the very real people suffering outside their windows.“
The Judex continue a prolific approach with their singles and a sense of mystique in their image. Check out their work and the new single ‘Kill White Lights’ here: https://thejudex.bandcamp.com/track/kill-white-lights
Veglam 