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Introducing Burned Out Motors

burnedoutmotorsFilthy punk rock from the 70’s has a place that has been glued permanently in British history. It’s an area where many classic bands have laid foundations within our culture, spawning a plethora of music genres that still use the Punk term lightly. Thesedays, you are lucky to find a British Punk band that carries traditions and does it well. I’m talking about the raw, dirty punk rock that only the likes of the Pistols, Cockney Rejects and Sham 69 would be able to huck out; the sneering, fuck you stuff that gets us all up in the morning.

Welcome to the world of London punk band Burned Out Motors. A band who claim they “formed during a music therapy class within the confines of South London’s Wandsworth Prison.” I guess then, that the attitude that stems from their debut single ‘Bastard’ may well have been derived from picking up the soap a few times too many. Who knows, but they certainly bring sunshine and a little pain to my ears this morning on first listen.

Disposable but charming punk bands like this lot make the world go round and will eat that pansy boy, emo boy band shit out of newspaper covered in salt & vinegar on a daily basis. With that in mind, listen to these boozing, glue-sniffing, drinking, solvent abuse bragging, geezers who love kicking the shit out of cunts at their facebook page. There’s no fancy video, no wanky blog, nothing but this page out there right now, get stuck in.

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Misfits

The Devil’s Rain
Megaforce

Now just down to Jerry Only, it’s hard to face this new Misfits album without some trepidation. I will confess to being a big fan in the olden times, first reading about these New Jersey Horror Punks in the pages of Sounds magazine, and then some of the more informed ‘zines, before chancing across a copy of their seminal Beware Of 12” for the princely sum of one pound at a record fair in ’84. That record, and the amazing Static Age recordings of the band in their primitive ’78 state, are pretty much the essentials for me. All I’ve needed.

I went and saw Danzig on their first UK tour in ’88 (supporting Metallica) and figured that was as close as I would get to a taste of the Misfits legacy. Then, in the mid-Nineties there was a regrouping of sorts with Only and his guitarist brother Doyle in the line-up. It wasn’t enough for me to go see them initially, but then curiosity got the better, and I stumped up for a ticket to see them at The Camden Underworld. I was suitably entertained, and they put on a crowd pleasing show, high on theatrics and all the hits (from hell). I recall also having a hilarious time one night with former ‘fits guitarist Bobby Steele and drummer Joey Image, whose Undead we put on in Brighton. But my time with the present-day Misfits was done, and in the ensuing years I’ve been only vaguely aware they still existed, and continued to tour.

The Devil’s Rain is 16 all new/original tracks, with Jerry on bass and lead vocals, augmented by one time Black Flag alumni Dez Cadena on guitar, and some young dude on drums. They do a pretty okay job of retaining the Misfits sound, namely Jerry trying to sing like Danzig, and songs loaded with rousing choruses that celebrate B-Movies and Sci-Fi – indeed the track listing reads like an obscure films directory – Land of The Dead, The Black Hole, Twilight of The Dead, Curse of The Mummy’s Hand – and it goes on and on all the way to the closing Death Ray.

If you still hanker for a shot of modern day Misfits then this album ticks a lot of boxes, but expect music that’s often more Rock than Punk, and is just a bit too formulated and dramatic, but I’ve no doubt Jerry has his heart in the right place and has given these songs his very best shot. It’s high on horror business, but just don’t go expecting all hell to break loose.

Pete Craven

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Evidence

Cats & Dogs
Rhymesayers Entertainment

When Dilated Peoples MC Evidence announced he was signing to independent rap heavyweights Rhymesayers Entertainment, a number of eyebrows were raised. However, two years down the line, the LA native has finally dropped his second solo album and the label has proved the perfect home for the record, continuing the tradition of fine releases.

This album doesn’t try to be fancy – there’s no sampling obscure hipster indie acts, there’s no turns with Evidence trying his hand at singing – this is a straight up, no holds barred, rap record and it’s all the better for it. Mr Slow Flow laces slamming beats from the likes of long-time friend Alchemist and legendary DJ Premier to fantastic effect, permeated by quality guest spots from the likes of Slug, Aesop Rock, Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Raekwon.

His distinctive voice delivers perfect line after perfect line with lyrics that are both meaningful and yet never convaluted. It says a lot for his talent that he’s able to rap in the way he always did and yet still seem fresh and as such is certain to gain some new fans on this record as well as please his legions of old fans who loved his Weatherman LP so much.

So yes, this is a rap album, nothing more, nothing less. But when you hear his flow over the beats on It Wasn’t Me, You and To Be Continued, you won’t want anything else. Evidence is an underrated gem and hopefully this album will turn more people onto his undoubted talent.

Trillzilla.

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Trash Talk

awake_trash_talkAwake
True Panther Sounds

After touring the tail end off their last album Eyes and Nines released in may last year, Trash Talk return with a brand new EP that will be released on 11th October on True Panther Sounds. Matador’s sister label is slowly making sure that its roster is laden with hardcore after the singings of Fucked Up and the mighty Ceremony recently. The addition of Trash Talk just makes them stronger and even more appealing.

Have a taste of the lead track Awake lifted from the new EP. Despite there being a skateboarder in the video (which for us, could seem all so fitting) the Sacramento 4-piece have delivered another bone crunching hardcore track that stomps in the face of a plethora of whiny emo bands who call themselves ‘punks’ and churns out menacing riffs to accompany Lee Spielman and Spencer Pollard’s impressive dual vocal duties. Basically, it’s what’s also known as an epic win.

Look out for the 7″ vinyl in a record shop near to you, or order it direct.

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Game

R.E.D.
Interscope

After having released numerous successful free mixtapes over the past year [many of which can be found reviewed on this very site], there was a lot of expectation for Game‘s [yeah he’s dropped the The apparently] album proper and, thankfully, he’s managed to pull it off. Whilst many more people are buying the new Weezy album, this is the full length to cop if you have to make a choice – stellar beats, top class guest spots and the Compton rapper on fine form.

After a strong opening with hot kid on the block Kendrick Lamar, the action goes full throttle with Dre and Snoop smashing it out the park on Drug Test, a simple yet utterly chest-throbbingly large bassline on Martians Vs Goblins which sees Tyler, The Creator show his legit skill on the mic over a good beat and even give Game some shit for naming his favourite rappers, a slur that’s been used against him for years [to which he jovially replies “Fuck you Tyler”] and the Zombie Nation sampling Red Nation featuring Weezy.

The middle section doesn’t dip either, the Motown-esque hook on Good Girls Gone Bad being following quickly by the sometimes stripped Ricky, which begins with gunshots and crying before Game lays it down plain and simple “My nostalgia is 100% Compton, zero per cent snitch”. Tracks with Ricky Ross and Young Jeezy follow with Game bringing his A-Game throughout. Whilst some critics claim he doesn’t have his own sound, the rapper showcases a flow which simply can’t be dismissed on R.E.D., something that perhaps lacked in terms of consistency over a record before this release.

The only slight on the album is that he has three R&B tracks in a row on the record. I’m a fan of R&B, so that in itself isn’t the problem, but it would have served the overall flow of the album a little better had they been fanned out. Indeed, when the third of the trio is the ultra-catchy Chris Brown led Pot Of Gold, it makes the first two [with Lloyd and Mario respectively] seem totally obselete.

But that’s only a small criticism and with Premo bringing his trademark sound to Born In The Trap towards the end of the record, it ends on a high. It’s a long album, over an hour and with 21 tracks, but within these 70 odd minutes, Game has made his best album yet. If you don’t grab this, you’re most certainly missing out.

Abjekt.

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Hildamay

We Loved, We Lost EP
A Wolf At Your Door Records

For A Wolf At Your Door Records’ latest export, Hildamay, the second half of 2011 has so far been one of the most crucial periods of the band’s career; from receiving commercial radio attention from none other than Radio One’s Zane Lowe to going on a hugely anticipated tour with hotly tipped label mates Mallory Knox, Hildamay are certainly making big strides towards greatness. With this in mind, much is to be expected of We Loved, We Lost and while it’s not exactly make or break, it certainly will be a release that carries a lot of weight on their path to success.

It doesn’t take long for the band to display exactly why they describe their sound as Punk ‘n’ Roll (the opening bass line of EP opener Parachutes, to be exact) and why they’ve generated so much hype in the relatively short time since being signed, from start to finish every single chorus on the EP seems capable of inciting a mass sing-along and every verse seems to build up to these perfectly. It truly is a credit to the band’s songwriting ability that everything about the structures of the songs on We Loved, We Lost feels perfectly natural without falling into a lull of predictability, something which many bands seem to fall victim to recently.

The band certainly wear their influences on their collective sleeve, with elements of Hot Water Music especially creeping it’s way into the band’s sound quite often, though this isn’t to say that the band don’t have their own identity, with the title track in particular showing a unique blend of intricacy and pure balls to the wall aggression that is often difficult to blend cohesively yet the band seem very comfortable in their ability to bring the two together effectively.

Picking a specific highlight from the bunch would be a nigh on impossible task but the aforementioned title track and the brilliantly paced Delicate are definitely two of the most memorable tracks on the record, although there isn’t a dull moment to be found on the EP. With most fans having already heard This House Became Our Home on their recent split EP with Mallory Knox there was plenty to be optimistic of and thankfully the band have duly delivered.

All in all, Hildamay have crafted an impeccably structured and sonically beautiful EP which could easily be looked back on in coming years as the record that determined what was to come. On this evidence, the band have certainly lived up to (maybe even surpassed, depending on who you ask) expectations and have built a solid foundation for a career that will hopefully lead them onto bigger and better things; with a support slot for Crossfire favourites letlive. coming up in the next few weeks they could well be on their way sooner than expected. Definitely ones to watch.

Ryan de Freitas

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Retox

Ugly Animals
Ipecac

Retox-Ugly-Animals_album_sleeveClimbing out of those skin tight nylon body suits and into yet another punk vehicle, The Locust’s Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbain have been making waves in the hardcore scene with their new band; Retox. Joined by Michael Crain and Thor Dickey on guitar and bass respectively, Retox are a more straight-forward band than we’re perhaps used to from Pearson, but if anything it only goes to make this his most focussed and exciting venture in years.

With a self titled EP already under their belts, Ugly Animals is the band’s debut full length, although calling it that is arguably manipulating the facts. What we have here are a blistering eleven songs in thirteen minutes, tearing through your system with all the energy and swagger of their live show. It’s always a difficult task to capture this kind of riotous enthusiasm on record, but this brisk collection will have you reaching for the play button as soon its run through its modest duration.

The LP has something of Head Wound City feel to it, with Serbian behind the kit again delivering a controlled if still exhilarating performance. While the hooks may be somewhat difficult to pick out at first, with repeated listens this at first record really starts to take its pointed shape. Clocking in at under 15 minutes you’d be a fool not to check out Ugly Animals, which, for our money, is one of the essential hardcore releases of 2011.

Sleekly Lion.

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Steel Panther

‘Crossfire’
Universal Republic

steel_panther_crossfireWe hope you understand that we had to do this today. It’s so bad for so many amazing reasons that it deserves Tune of the Day.

They are back with a bang and they are still as awful as ever, Steel Panther‘s new album scheduled for October 18th titled “Ball’s Out” will be stuffed full of 80’s cock rock, so get a taste of what type of cheese they will be rolling down the same hill that hosts the Hollywood sign, with the first installment being ‘Crossfire’.

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SSS

Problems To The Answer
Earache

Ladies and gentlemen, the ‘angriest record of the year’ award is well and truly in the bag already. The mid-00s resurgence of thrash was quite rightly a cause for celebration after the genre’s relative drought in the 90s, but in terms of genuinely great record, few of the new school bands held a candle to SSS’s blistering debut. Combining thrash and hardcore with a seething, British malevolence, it infused a classic sound with a fresh sense of vitality.

Fast forward a few years, and although little has changed musically in the SSS camp, they’re sounding ever more refined – and ever angrier. Ripping through 25 tracks in 40-odd minutes, vocalist Foxy takes aim at the meat industry (‘The Kill Floor’) and the mess that is this country’s state education (‘Tales Out Of School’). Much like Gallows did on ‘Grey Britain’, SSS are holding a mirror up to some of the worst aspects of humanity, and it does not make for a pretty picture.

Doesn’t sound like much fun? You couldn’t be more wrong, mainly because ‘Problems To The Answer’ rocks like a bastard, with the riffs never less than razor-sharp, and the pace almost relentless. Napalm Death vocalist Barney Greenway even pops up to lend his leathery lungs on a couple of tracks; clearly, he knows a great band when he hears one.

The sheer velocity means that a few of the shorter tracks do become hard to distinguish, and although the two instrumentals (‘Future Primitive’ and closer ‘Strangenotes’) provide some variety, they both last longer than is really necessary. Ultimately, though, that matters little. In thrash terms, SSS are much closer to prime-era DRI and Crumbsuckers than to anything from ‘Death Magnetic’ (a fact for which we should be forever thankful), and, like too few bands, they’re getting better with time. Long may they rage.

Alex Gosman.

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Sainthood Reps

Monoculture
Tooth & Nail Records

The debut from Sainthood Reps is at times lush and dreamy, at times a full-on barrage of riffs, but always beautifully chord crunching and satisfyingly grungey. Guitarist Derrick is also in Brand New and the sound of BN’s last two albums (and the Long Island scene in general) is certainly recognizable within the Sainthood Reps texture.

However, SR take the quirkier side that Brand New have toyed with in recent years and just run with it. It’s hard to describe Monoculture as anything other than a great rock record, thus it has evaded any pesky “emo” stereotyping where Brand New will forever be plagued by that term and its now-negative connotations.

Monoculture kicks off with serious intent and an absolute belter of a riff that demands to be played loud. The vocals join the fray with an angry swagger which grips you from the get-go. This album is filled to the brim with crushing riffs and crashing drum patterns but there are also moments of sincerely silicate beauty.

‘Hotfoot’ is the perfect representation to both these sides of the band, showcasing both the Jekyll and the Hyde if you will. There’s an insistent and relentless feel throughout this album and even when the quiet beauty surfaces, it’s always accompanied by a menacing undertone where you can’t quite figure out what’s coming next or when the huge guitar riffs are going to come thundering back in.

Parts indie rock, parts grunge and parts something you can’t quite put your finger on, this debut is a wholly satisfying listen. Sure, most of the elements are not totally original, but the way Sainthood Reps have crafted the elements has produced something almost ethereal. This is really an intense yet listenable rock record with both hooks and plenty of intrigue. Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of these guys in the future.

Winey G.

Holiday Makers by sainthoodreps

DINGUS by sainthoodreps

Monoculture by sainthoodreps