Protopunk – Veglam

Founded in 2011 in Portland, Oregon, The HOT LZ’s offer us 12 garage punk songs full of search and destroy energy, with a contemporary powerpop feel in the vocals. Guitars sometimes bring JOHNNY THUNDERS to mind (“Living in Rewind”, “Don’t Wanna See You”), tunes like “Art Of Failing” and “Missing The Point” have a sharp street punk edge, and garage rock’n’roll fans will probably enjoy “Murder In My Heart”.
The HOT LZ’s bring the proto-punk spirit back to life with songs like “Margins (Of My Mind)” or “Drain The Dregs” that sound as if the band just put two mics in a room, drank a few beers, and pressed on the record button. You’ll even hear a bit of surf rock in “Better You Than Me”, and “Fade, Decay (And Blow Away)”, “Baby, You Ain’t Shit”, or “I Can’t Seem To Die” flirt with American old-school hardcore.
“Aggravate My Mind” is raw and real, it is out on vinyl, and it looks as cool as it sounds, so get in touch with the band, and maybe you can have it for Christmas!/Laurent C.

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The United States have Detroit, and Italy has Turin! Four good looking local heroes from various bands such as HOLLYWOOD KILLERZ, POUTY LIPS, LE CROSTE, FLOWERS CIRCLE, and The PENNILESS have decided to join forces in order to express their love for protopunk in Italian language.
THUNDERS guitars and catchy choruses (« Eliminailaria », « Tu Mi Nuoci ») flirt with STOOGES riffs and DEAD BOYS energy (« Derelitta ») in an edgy party punk atmosphere sometimes close to TURBONEGRO ; glam rock guitars and hand claps in «Mi Svendo », you’ll also get a bit of STONES in « Vedo Non Vedo », and an interesting acoustic version of « Derelitta» in case you need to slow things down a bit. On the other hand, the angrier side of the band can be found in « Mi Esplode La Testa », reminding us that Italian also works well for punk/hardcore bands, remember NEGAZIONE, RAW POWER, or more recently LOS FASTIDIOS?
Listening to this record will just make you want to see the live version of these songs, picturing big singalongs from an over excited partyin’ audience rockin’ a small and sweaty club,,,
While you’ve probably heard GIUDA and FAZ WALTZ by now, Italy now brings us a new cool band with a strong identity. Please, keep them comin’!/Laurent C.