A band introducing themselves as “The Stooges and Roxy Music locked in a cell with a large amount of crystal methamphetamine and a massive battery of highly volatile explosives, trying to hold off the likes of the MC5 and the Spiders from Mars” can only get our attention, right? This californian gang offers us some highly explosive punk rock’n’roll indeed when listening to “Kill” or “Burn” and an elegant touch of glam rock in “Now” so they haven’t lied. MonoDeluX members have played in various bands such as FUNHOUSE, CIRCUS OF POWER, MINK DAGGERS, DRAMARAMA, GENE LOVES JEZEBEL and MISSING PERSONS so it can only help with creativity. Although the MonoDeluX has a strong punk’n’roll vibe (“Stalin'”, “Sigmund Freuder OverDrive” or “Franchise”), “Blacker Shade Of Blue” and “The Crown” lean on the sleaze rock side while you’ll find a touch of 70s tragic pop sensibility in “Alone”, a song that also has a bit of PULP in it. These guys also have the good taste to cover BOWIE‘s “Boys Keep Swinging” and it’s actually a very good version of the son ! “Time Wounds All Heels” a really good rock’n’roll album with good hooks and STOOGES guitars (“Shake It”) and that’s exactly what we all need right now! /Laurent C.
Californian trippy heavy machine Into The Valley Of Death has released a new video for their song “Reject” from their EP “Ruthless” out on Doomsayer Records. A real spacey experience and as far as the aesthetic is concerned, imagine David Lynch working with Wendy O. Williams!:
You’re probably familiar with JOE NORMAL if you ‘re a regular on here or if you like The ZEROS. After releasing tons of singles, Joe finally took the time to gather 11 songs and release a full album opening with a great cover of The FOUR TOPS‘ classic “I’ll Be There” before delivering some catchy garage power pop with “Into The City Tonight”. A song like “Anytowns” has a BOB DYLAN on speed flavour while “This Is Your Life (And Your Desitiny’s Calling)” and “Living With Me” bring The ROLLING STONES to mind. You’ll also get a bit of americana with “Even Now (The Future’s Looking Brighter Every Day” and some guitar riffs sounding like real 70s classic rock (“Take Me With U”, “Going Mobile”). Joe is a great storyteller and working class themes can be found in “Stuck In A Job” and in the catchy “Nuthin’ (I’ve Got Nohing)” but he sometimes get more personal (“Don’t Hurt Me”). Whether you like TOM PETTY, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN or glammy powerpop, there’s something for you on this album! /Laurent C.
As big fans of the L.A. clothing brand (it was hard not to be if you were into glam/sleaze rock’n’roll in the late 80s/early 90s!), we thought it would be interesting to share this interview of Drew Bernstein (Lip Service founder) by our favourite paper zine Bubblegum Slut. Thanks, Alison for letting us share it. Read more cool Bubblegum Slut archives at https://bubblegumzinearchive.blogspot.com/
Alison’s intro (August 15, 2022):
t the time this interview was published (2007 / Issue 28), Lip Service clothing’s founder and CEO, Drew Bernstein, aka ‘Lippy’, had no real need of doing press, much less UK fanzine press.
His L.A-based alt. fashion brand had been outfitting the likes of Axl Rose since 1985, and true to its strapline, ‘The Original Cult’, it boasted a global, cult-like following. Fans calling themselves ‘Lippy Addicts’ built extensive fan-sites, and traded Lip Service’s limited-edition, highly collectable punk/goth/fetishwear designs for considerable sums.
In a bid to discover what sort of scheme or sorcery I used to secure an interview with Lip Service’s CEO, I started digging through the old Bubblegum Sl💙t inbox. The shockingly mundane answer is that I fired off a long-shot email, and three days later Lippy wrote back, apologising for the ‘delay’ in replying, and saying ‘call me tomorrow’.
While a lot of the fashion content in the zine’s later issues never really worked (eventually, I want to do a series of posts about regular columns which failed, no matter how much I forced the format, and fashion looms large on the list), this feature is a rare exception, which I remember fondly.
There are a couple reasons for this.
Firstly, I was a MASSIVE fan of Lip Service’s designs. The attention to detail on this stuff was unmatched by any of the brand’s competitors.
Secondly, having the chance to chat with Lippy himself about the work that went into realising those details – be it sourcing padlocks for a fetish line, or finding the perfect white flocking technique to create ‘lines’ on the controversial ‘Coke Fiend’ collection – turned out to be a rare opportunity, not be repeated. On 18th August 2014, I was shocked to learn of Lippy’s death by apparent suicide, at the age of 51.
For a ton of bonus images related to this feature, check out Story Highlights on the Bubblegum Zine Archive Instagram.
INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH is the new band of Spencer Robinson mixing psych to doom and stoner rock. “Reject” opens with a very slow and damp atmosphere reminding a bit of The GOD MACHINE. “Freight Train” has this heavy BLACK SABBATH vibe you could hear in early stoner bands while “Ghost” takes us to a dark psychedelic trip. There’s a suffocative desert atmosphere in “Hollow Soul”and in “Utah” that turns into 70s psych rock with “Spacemen” and “Rigged” is the most cinematic track, putting an end to this EP in a MARK LANEGAN way. This is the soundtrack for your dirty black summer. /Laurent C.
Joe Normal (The Zeros) has just released his new video “Summer Jobs”:
“I was raised on the comedy of Benny Hill, The Little Rascals, and The Uncle Floyd Show, so I wanted to make a video for “Summer Jobs” that brought a bit of that kind of humor to my song’s blue-collar ‘stick it to the man’ storyline. Please join me for a melody and a laugh.”
“There isn’t a better person to release any material to do with the coming together and the history of Guns N’ Roses and where it went and what was going on behind the scenes than Marc.” — Slash
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release Appetite for Destruction, The First 50 Gigs: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction podcast will be hosting a photo exhibition of Marc Canter’s photography on July 21st, 35 years to the date of the release of the seminal album at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood.
The video podcast The First 50 Gigs is the creation of Reckless Road: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction authors Marc Canter and Jason Porath. The book which was published in 2008 and won an IPPY for Pop Culture Book of the Year was just the tip of the iceberg of an archive created by Marc Canter; photographer, music historian, and owner of the world-famous Canter’s Deli. Canter captured the band’s formative years and the heyday of the Sunset Strip music scene. The project was designed as a gift to fans to unlock the stories behind the most famous songs from the ever-elusive band, in particular the younger fans, many of whom were not even born when Appetite came out. It’s an opportunity for them to learn about the stories behind the making of Appetite For Destruction. The show which is part of the Pantheon Podcast network is available on all major services, with premium tiered subscription offers available on Spotify and Patreon.
The First 50 Gigs project has been years in the making, “Marc’s massive and one-of-a-kind archive on the early days of Guns N’ Roses and the first fifty gigs of the Appetite lineup of Guns N’ Roses is unprecedented,” says Porath. “ Marc truly captured lightning in a bottle and the power of those images he and Jack Lue created will now be amplified by first-hand accounts by the people who were there, giving audiences a true play-by-play unfolding of events.” The video version of the show showcases never before seen audio and video from Marc’s archive, along with bonus episodes available via subscription on Spotify, and a premium subscription via Patreon that includes early access to the video version of each episode, along with access to exclusive photo galleries, merchandise giveaways and more.
The exhibit at the Bourbon Room will feature photos, videos, and ephemera featured in the podcast in addition to never before seen content from the early years of Guns n’ Roses leading into the recording of their first and most iconic album.
The Aquarian Weekly (New Jersey, USA) – “Celebrating the underdog and the average in the most heartwarming and melodic way possible – through song! … Authentic, underground, glam rocker with a storyteller heart.”
Boot Music (UK) – “Setbacks” is a swagger filled retro swirl!”
After playing a reunion show with The ZEROS at the Whisky a Go-Go, Joe Normal offers us his new solo video “Setbacks”:
Veglam 