The Sacred “Lovesick Pills/Sick Society” 7″

(-review by Anguish Young)

This is some serious speedball and malt liquor ya’all motherfuckery that takes me back to the teenage years of blasting “Hell Comes To Your House” in the turpentine huffing, suburban garages of our middleclass delinquent friends’, whose parents were smalltown squares and absolutely shocked and appalled by us creepy, Midwestern lost boys who were wearin’ make-up and growing sideburns and renting John Waters movies and corrupting their fine, upstanding young sons and daughters with our bedazzling leather pants and filthy habits.
The long suffering mothers who had to join prayer groups and take prescription pills to cope with our black sunglasses and stacks of smut and sullen attitudes. You remember the thrill of getting drunk and feeling-up enthusiastic bad, bad, gum chewing, scrappy, young backstreet girls, on brown leather couches from the seventies, in wood paneled basements, and somebody’s mom always yelling from the top of the stairs to turn the music down, and drivin’ around in vintage Oldsmobiles, and loitering with your depressed friends in rural cemeteries? That’s the feeling The Sacred bring back. Snotty youth, sneering innocence, fifties rocknroll, struttin’ around at night, under lamplights, under the influence, unafraid and unsupervised.
Old men in plaid suitjackets who bought your Bacardi. Cheap thrills, sneaking into the billiard hall, underage. Blonde bombshells in shiny, hot pink, hot pants, sitting on weathered old scumbag’s laps. Evil Knievel pinball machines that had never once been Windexed. Bowling alley cocktail lounges. Aging waitresses with way too much perfume and dragqueen eyeshadow. Sid Vicious covers Eddie Cochran, Jeff Drake getting high with Danny Sugarman and Steve Jones. Spraypainting your band logo on the underpass. That stripper who took you home when you were too drunk to walk. Sleazy Deadboys scuzziness and primitive high pompadour glam. Seeing your best friend’s names already keyed into the paint of the juvenile detention solitary confinement cell. Strutting around the big city in the A.M. with your childhood punk idol, nearly burning down the bars. Crashing out in filthy squats. Your gorgeous Spanish girlfriend singing “Drive-In Saturday” to you in her beaded black dress. The Sacred are one of the last great, hellraising rocknroll bands of bar brawling badseeds and bewitching lonestar queens.
Along with Dr. Boogie, and the Sweet Things, the Sacred are among the few and the proud, remaining American gutter gangs still flyin’ colors shamelessly for sex and rebellion and a pocket full of pills. Bohemian bandleader, Deane 13, was raised on rebellious trash punk like The Humpers, D-Generation, Hollywood Brats and Hanoi Rocks, and always brings the danger and excitement of after dark, long lost youth to his edgy originals and notoriously reckless live performances. If you like old Alice Cooper, Little Richard, Heartbreakers, and Lords Of The Church, these Catholic school dropouts are sure to arouse filthy instincts in you that you’ll feel guilty about, later. “Lovesick Pills” is all about temptation and excess, dirty feelings, and string ties. “Sick Society” is an old school, star spangled scream, a rebel rousing fuck you to the Man, in the defiant spirit of the MC5‘s “American Ruse”, or Mike Monroe’s “While You Were Looking At Me”. These born to kill greasebags and sultry fox temptresses have come for your children. Sexy, provocative, street fightin’ dandies, lyin’ in wait, like pumas, patiently preparing to pounce on your leopardskin purse. The sound of dragstrip rioters, pitchers of cheap draft beer, impulsive carnality, and sinful urgings. Inappropriate for children due to explicit content and surly frowns. On No Front Teeth records.

http://thesacred.bigcartel.com/
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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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The DeRellas “Freakshow” 10″

“Freakshow” is the first release of The DERELLAS with new singer/guitar player Stevie D, and while it was difficult to imagine the band without Robbie, The DERELLAS didn’t die out, and came back with fresh ideas and drummer Billion Dollar Bish (ex-FLESH FOR LULU, BUBBLEGUM SCREW…) to complete the new line-up.
“Rip It Up”, and “Strung Out Sin City” shows us a band holding the glam punk flame high in the air, and “Soho Hotel” is one of the catchiest tunes The DERELLAS have ever written. The song “Freakshow” displays a new side of the band, somewhere between the DEAD BOYS and FRANKENSTEIN DRAG QUEENS FROM PLANET 13, and “Dress Up Mess Up” makes you wonder: Where have all the glam punk bands been?
The icing on the glitter cake is a cover of ADAM AND THE ANTS‘ “Plastic Surgery”, and the record is out on CD and 10″ slime green vinyl. You can always count on The DERELLAS!/Laurent c.

http://www.derellas.com/
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Los Pepes “All Over Now”

Is it All Over Now for LOS PEPES? Well, it doesn’t seem so… The British band is just back from a European tour, a few shows in the UK opening for MUDHONEY, and finally has a new album (on Wanda Records) under their arm.
“I’m No Good” starts in a typical LOS PEPES way, melodic choruses and full punk energy. The tempo even speeds up as soon as the second song, “Can’t Stand It” starts with old-school hardcore rage. Don’t get me wrong, these guys might play loud and fast, but they’re still a powerpop band as you can hear in “All Over Now”, or “I’ll See You Tonight” for instance, this one will probably stay stuck in your mind for quite some time after you listened to it. Teenage punk anger can still be heard in songs like “My Language” and you’ll hear a few 60s garage influences in “Nothing Special”, and in “Just The Way That It Goes.”
Somewhere between sunny pop and disillusioned punk as in “I Don’t Believe In Anything”, this album will be the perfect soundtrack for your summer… And since Wanda Records always does things well, you’ll get a fine looking record, with a great cover and poster/lyric insert, one more reason for you to grab “All Over Now”!/Laurent C.

Buy from Wanda Records

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Duncan Reid And The Big Heads – “C’Est La Vie!”

DUNCAN REID (ex-The BOYS) is back with The BIG HEADS and a fantastic new record (“The Difficult Second Album”) out on Wanda Records. We had to ask him a few questions about the band, the album, The BOYS, second albums and French literature!

How would you compare “The Difficult Second Album” to the first one? Was it that difficult?

No. it wasn’t difficult at all. There’s a saying in the music industry that 2nd album’s are difficult because, whereas you have years to write the first album, you then only have a short time to write the 2nd one. But we don’t follow the music business rules because we put our own albums out and so take as long as we want.

I love both albums but they are different. The first is more “Boys” like (which is good!). The second is more me (which is also good!). Both are a reflection of my life because that’s what I know the most about.

There’s lot of arrangements reminding of 80s pop and 70s glam. Did you have a precise idea of how you wanted the album to sound before recording it?

Yes, but it changed. At the beginning Tony Barber, the producer, asked me what I wanted the album to sound like. I’ve always admired the production on the Foo Fighters records so I said I wanted to sound like them. As we got into the record we went for different influences on different songs, from Gary Newman through the Smiths/Byrds and even Supertramp. I’d say the biggest sound influence was Chris Isaak, though.

DCR2Can you introduce your band The BIG HEADS?

There’s me, the Peter Pan of Punk in a pink suit. Alex Gold, the man of whom people ask “is he your son?”, Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and teller of terrible, long jokes. Sophie Danger Powers, the most glamourous chicken lover ever to come out of Wales, and Ciara Lavers, banger of the drums and a Siren on the side.

Some of the songs on the album could easily be the soundtrack for a movie or TV shows/series. Have some of your songs already been used this way?

Unfortunately no, but they should be!

You’ve started touring for the album promotion. How has it been so far? Are you satisfied with the live versions of the songs? What are some of your favourite ones to play?

I love the live versions. We are a very energetic live band and the reaction has been great wherever we go. My live favourite at the moment is Long, Long gone. I have to play a melodia live on it. It’s a keyboard you blow into and sounds a bit like an accordion. Very challenging!

I guess that many BOYS fans must come to your shows… How many BOYS songs do you usually play during a gig?

Yes. We always get Boys fans and it’s great to see them. At the moment we play 7 Boys songs, including “First Time” of course, written by the great Honest John Plain and a song I’ll always be honoured to have sung the record of.

I read on the excellent Über Rock that Honest John Plain contributed to “C’Est La Vie”, how exactly?

Mainly in the middle 8 of the song but he also came up with the line “Life’s a mother”. There was a funny thing on the chorus. I’d thought of the line “Oh Sha lalalee, C’est la Vie” but dismissed it as too like the Small Faces song. When I played the verses to John and said “what do you think of for a chorus?” he said: “you should go: Oh Sha lalalee, C’est la Vie”. Great minds think alike!

Can you think of any second albums among your favourites?

Ooh I haven’t thought. Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was much better than their first one but the classic 2nd album of all time was The Ramones’.

Last band you enjoyed live?

The best live band I’ve seen in recent years were the Jim Jones Revue. What a shame they broke up.

DCR03Last book you’ve read?

La Delicatesse” by David Foenkinos. Actually I’m lying. I’m currently reading “Cien Anos de Soledad” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez but I did read “La Delicatesse” in French you’ll be glad to know. I think French is a great language for literature. Better than Spanish and German although I might think that because I speak French better than those 2 languages. There’s a certain dry but charming wit to French. I read “Le Vieux Qui Ne Voulait Pas Fêter Son Anniversaire” and “Le Soleil Se Lève Aussi” in French which are written by Swedish and American writers respectively. I suspect the French versions are better than the originals.

Where are you going to tour next?

Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis! Can’t wait. The Big Heads first time in the US. We’ve got to get to France. It’s my second home after all. I spend a lot of time in the Roussillon and if I didn’t love London so much that is where I would be.

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The Röxy Suicide – “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!”

We wanted to know more about Dave Mansfield’s new band The RÖXY SUICIDE, a flamboyant band mixing glam, new wave and early punk!

Dave, we know you from The MANSFIELDS. How and when did The RÖXY SUICIDE start?

The RÖXY SUICIDE started in 2013 in the form that it is now. We went through a few false starts (2012) in trying to find the right people for the band and that proved to be a lot harder than I imagined. How the band got started is pretty simple. I just wanted to keep touring and playing shows and The Mansfields were, at the time, on a definite hiatus. I was getting offers to do a bunch of stuff and I hated saying no so I just put a band together with some random people. As I said, that proved to be a very trying process as I was dealing with unprofessional individuals who didn’t seem to have a clue how things worked or at least how they worked on the level that I function at. The best thing that came out of that was that is how I hooked up with Olieshox who is now The RÖXY SUICIDE’s guitarist.

Wiener/Burger records is releasing a cassette of your first 6 singles. How did that happen? Have you released the singles in other formats before?

I have been aware of Burger/ Wiener for a few years now and I guess the timing was just right for us to hook up. Those guys work really hard and are really doing well at this point. Back in October a few of us went out to Hollywood for a sort of “working” vacation, Disneyland, networking type stuff. The morning after Disneyland I realized Burger Records was like 5 minutes from there so we went over and hung out a bit just to check it out and it was cool. The Singles have been released previously (some digitally, some CD) on Elekktralux Recordings, whom are still handling all the digital end of it.

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You have influences ranging from The RAMONES, The CRAMPS to MÖTLEY CRÜE, BLONDIE and SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK just to name a few. Did you have the idea of mixing these influences before starting the band?

No, not at all. In fact, the whole idea originally was to be something in the vein of The Heartbreakers. I love the fact that it came together this way but it was really a bit of a lucky accident.

Have you played many shows so far? Best ones yet? How would you describe your live shows?

We have done a pretty good amount of shows. We’ve done a few with Faster Pussycat, The Queers, Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks. You know, just support slots and such. We’ve done a good number of headlining shows as well but the band is still pretty new at this point and our style is just starting to get a little more defined. The shows are high energy and lively. That’s a good way to put it. We subscribe to the “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” philosophy. We do a good job of that.

It’s been 30 years since HANOÏ ROCKS’ drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley died. I know you’re a fan too. Any story to share? How did you first get into HANOÏ?

Unfortunately I don’t have any stories involving Razzle himself, but I do have some of Michael and Sami Yaffa. One night we (The Mansfields) were playing the Cat Club in LA and Sami and Sylvain from New York Dolls showed up. This is when New York Dolls were back on the scene and Sami was playing in the Dolls. Needless to say we hit it off with them and ended up hanging out until they literally threw us out onto Sunset Blvd. after the bar closed. We ended up standing out in front of the Cat Club/ Whisky A Go Go for another hour talking and fucking around. I think what was really ironic about that was I had been watching, in the van, the Bob Gruen film about the Dolls and their first trip to LA when they played like 12 sold out shows at the Whisky. 2 Shows a night for 6 nights or something like that. Then here we are out in front of the Whisky getting all these amazing stories from Sami and Syl. Well, it’s safe to say it’s just sad that Razzle died so young and so long ago. Sometimes it dawns on me how much some of these guys have missed out on ya know? It’s a shame.

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You’re interested in rock’n’roll history. What are the last biographies you’ve read? Last documentaries you’ve watched?

Yes I am a huge reader and watcher of these things. Memoirs and documentaries are truly inspiring to me. I think maybe the last bios I read were that of Billy Idol and Alex Chilton. I always have about 5 different books going at once on my tablet or hard copy but usually just one Main book that is new to me as I re-read a lot of stuff. Like I just picked up in the middle of the Heroin Diaries and one of Kat Von D’s books too. I see a lot of documentaries but I’m thinking the last one I watched was either the Alex Chilton/ Big Star one or the making of Ziggy Strardust and the Spiders From Mars.

First and last records you bought?

I recall the first 2 records I ever bought with my own money were Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell. In fact, those were also my first two concerts ever. April ’84 Motley Crue at Colorado Springs City Auditorium with Saxon Supporting and August ’84 Billy Idol at Red Rocks with Clash Supporting. Not a bad way to start. Last record I bought was either Deap Vally’s “Sistronix” vinyl or The Cramps “Rocknreelininaucklandnewzealand” live vinyl.

Best shows you’ve seen this year?

Sean Lennon, Motley Crue / Alice Cooper. The RÖXY SUICIDE actually headlined a show with Richie Ramone in Denver and I have to say that was one of the best shows of the year as well. Richie and his band are for real man, super great stuff there and I loved hearing the Richie era Ramones songs live like Smash You, I Know Better Now…Ya know stuff off of Animal Boy, Too Tough To Die and Halfway To Sanity.

The MANSFIELDS recently played a few shows, right?

The Mansfields played a show just before Halloween. First show in 5 years. It’s interesting because we have come back with a new albums worth of songs and some old favorites but it just seemed so easy to do the show, it was effortless. I am now just singing in the band and we have brought on board an organ in lieu of bass. It’s a super cool Crampsesque kind of thing. It’s an amazing new chapter and what’s great about it is we are getting a lot of offers to do bigger stuff without knocking ourselves out for it. I guess we already did an awful lot of hard work over the years, it great to have people now coming around and recognizing that fact.

Are you thinking of bringing The RÖXY SUICIDE to Europe? Any vinyl release planned yet?

Yes, very much planning on bringing The RÖXY SUICIDE to Europe. Can’t wait man, can’t wait. I haven’t toured there since 2008! Long time. I know that the key to coming over there is finishing a full length and of course, can’t tour proper without the vinyl pressings. The songs have to be great…not good but great. It’s a process but we are getting there.

http://www.theroxysuicide.com/
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The Artist Formally Known As Vince Band “NYC” 7″

tafkav_NYCA brand new 7″ for Chicago based The ARTIST FORMALLY KNOWN AS VINCE BAND! 2 songs produced by Ivan Julian of RICHARD HELL & The VOIDOIDS on New York’s Lower East Side.
Both male and female vocals always work well for The ARTIST FORMALLY KNOWN AS VINCE BAND, “Chaperone” is a cool 70s punk rock’n’roll song, and “Hold Tight” is a catchy tune reminding of The HEARTBREAKERS and The RAMONES. This 7″ really has that raw, dirty sound of 70s/80s New York, the one that makes you want to write LAMF all around. This 7″ is the first one of a single series by the band, great start!/Laurent C.

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

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/