Dripping Slits - "Krokodil Rock"

Sometimes, at any given review outlet, an album makes it way to the top of the pile simply because of what the reviewer has heard of their previous output.  Dripping Slits have previously been reviewed here earlier this year when they shared a split and we loved them then as you can see here..

This latest release "Krokodil Rock" also spat on all the thrash, death and black metal, promptly stole the bottles of corpse paint mixed them with ethanol then  raided the liquor and medicine cabinets and apologized with a wink and only a hint of a winning smile.  That particular kind of charm is a rare commodity in this day and age so it wins every time here.  Dripping Slits' music is dirty sleazy rock 'n' roll played the way it should be.  It's noisy, dirty and raw.  The fact that the band have a song entitled "Venom and Denim" may give the impression that they fall somewhere between the originators of black metal and Scandanavian punk 'n' roll but lyrics like "A wise man once said, " Rock and Roll is dead but he ain't seen what I seen" lets you know these guys pump sleazy rock through their arteries and no doubt contain in other vessels that may contain body fluids even if they usually just hold alcoholic beverages.

These cats know that blues aren't just for washing clothes as there are a few moments that the scuzz is from a southern swamp.  The final song, " Snake Oil Blues" sounds like a cross between Motley Crüe 's debut combined with Alice Cooper's best moments meeting head-on with Black Flag and then grabbing a little something off a stoner rock band.  The album "Krokodil Rock" is streamed on the band's site which is linked below.  So you really should click the link.



4/5



http://drippingslits.com/

Carton - "Sunburst" EP

This EP from Vemont band Carton's comes as a nice change of pace and style from all the metal that's been gracing the pages on this blog of late.  Carton play beautifully messed up noisy pop with a garage rock approach.  There's no polish or pretense here.  The band would have fitted perfectly on 80's student radio in New Zealand between the Violent Femmes (in fairness, just the fact that they mention a "permanent record" brings the comparison) and the jangly guitar Flying Nun stuff.

There are three different guys handling vocal duties throughout "Sunburst" but it really doesn't alter the overall sound the band at all. "Better Drugs" is both harsh and melodic while carrying a bucketload of psychedelia although for some reason that is difficult to put a finger on, it brings The Senseless Things to mind.

On most of the songs, the instruments are louder than the vocals and due to Carton's raw approach, this definitely works in their favour.    There are three different guys handling vocal duties but it really doesn't alter band's overall sound very much.   If Carton were an animal, they would be a kitten getting tangled up in a ball of wool again and again because they quietly yelp, aren't clean, the hooks are definitely there and despite being messy and a picturesque quality can be found despite the mess.

3.5/5

Check the ep out on their bandcamp site.




Carton on facebook



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She Rides/Dripping Slits - Crucial Fix 7"

If you think limited 7 inch vinyl releases are the domain of douchebags, then skip this review and go read Pitchfork, douchebag. For the non-douchebags, here's another 7" platter served up from the good folks from Negative Fun records. The first band, She Rides play tight booze fuelled garage rock to swell booze too. At the start of "Grease in the Wheels", there's a touch of soul in the vocals but things get a heck a lot of rawer and more raucous after where informed, "the party never stops". "Rage Forever" is a speedy head rush that propels at full throttle although there is a tempo change at the end and as it has previously been a full rush the only option is to slow down. Dripping Slits are dirty, raw garage nicotine stained garage punk and when they sing about rock bottoming out, you just know there aren't any pretences here. This is another grimy slab of rock from Negative Fun that brings the party and swills in the mess for days while stepping on the potato chips and tripping over the bottles and cans but still partying despite being bleary eyed.   If this 7" is a contest and let's face it, split releases are, it's a damned tie.  Both bands equally bring it.   Get this 7 inch now, douchebag.

4/5

Check out this release here.

She Rides on facebook.     Dripping Slits on facebook

Electric Shit - All My Troubles

  Here's another garage band from Mexico City.  These guys go by the radio unfriendly moniker of Electric Shit.  This single has a fair amount of blues rock swagger and at the beginning of "Downtown Blues", it's difficult not to think of George Thorogood though these guys are a little rawer but have a blunt punk edge due to the vocals which lend the feeling of the song being an impromptu jam rather than a number that has been rehearsed, performed in the band's practice room and in front of audiences.  The rythm section of the main song "All My Troubles" ensures that it's a toe tapping, head nodder.  "Mannish Boy" is Southern swamp blues and feels like it's the longest of the three songs as it doesn't grab by the throat in an attempt to rock the listener out.  This release by these Mexican boys is much more polished sounding than the Red Hex single.
While this single doesn't rock out, the blues influence on Electric Shit's music makes for some interesting and enjoyable listening.  I'm not to sure about the details of actually getting a copy of this release so maybe try the band's facebook page otherwise just listen on their Soundcloud page.

3/5


Small Takeover on farcebook

Red Hex - Shoulda Known 7 inch

  Tacoma band, Red Hex use the Keep It Simple, Stupid approach and play garage punk the way it's meant to be.  Primitive, sloppy and loose are the adjectives that come to mind.    "Shoulda Known"  is a no-nonsense rocker that has its wicked way with the listener due to a seductively simple drumbeat and fuzzy guitar.  "Down in the Dirt" shows a pop sensibility with "Ratboy" is puked out scummy punked out brilliance with a movie snippet intro and a smidgen of surf guitar. Although the entire recording sounds like it was done on a cassette recorder placed a fair distance away from the band which means all the instruments sound a little muffled but just adds to the sloppy brilliance.  All fans of polished music will run miles from this and the real music fans will grab a beer or two and play this seven inch over and over again.  That is if they get the vinyl which is limited to 100 copies otherwise you'll need to make do with listening to them via Bandcamp

4/5

Sex Pest - Sexx Pest Epp

This cd-r took a while to get to me due to all of the recorded bunch being trashed due to being accidentally burnt on an oven which probably explains why the once ripped recordings up on my computer as "Virtually Dojo" by Red Shift. At least the mp3's were titled even if they were the titles of some other band's songs. The band take their name from a description of one of the main character's from the English comedy "The Inbetweeners". Lyrically a couple of the songs reflect the group's chosen handle.

Fast chaotic 80's Californian punk sums up "Give Me Fuck" though the vocals here aren't exactly melodic as the singer sounds like a sick corgi in heat puking up a pizza otherwise The Adolescents are the band that comes to mind. "Maybe Bloody Never" is a slower near sludgy jam with simple drumming and laidback guitar until the inserted mosh parts where the whole band go full tilt. The lack of total speed is a plus as there's a threatening dark edginess that thrashing instruments just doesn't always bring. Rock and roll is stripped to the bare bones in the garage rock of "Day Dream" although Sex Pest defiantly refuse to follow the verse chorus verse structure. However, The 13th floor elevators cover that rounds off the EP follows that standard. The talkback radio samples with a mother talking about an acid trip she found in her son's bag that begin and conclude the song were well chosen.

With only three original songs, the obvious route is to state that this recording isn't long enough and well, it just isn't long enough. It's a tough ask to give some variety in less than a handful of songs but these dudes have pulled it off. Ha! They even admit to the action in one of their songs. The cover to this CD-r is printed up better than some official releases I've received with lyrics, recording info and band members names. Not even sure if you can still get this EP or how. The Sex Pest frontman, Sam was responsible for the excellent Ratking mp3 blog which had some great NZ downloads but has disappeared and been replaced with http://wizardmasterdeath.blogspot.co.nz/. There's a download of one of the Sex Pest's rehearsals there that preceded this outing so that may be worth a look and a listen otherwise try Sam's email address: slwrightson@gmail.com.

3.5/5

Here's the cover song.





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Las Pipas de la Paz- El Mero Basilón EP

Whatever images Mexico City conjure up in your mind, I'm willing to bet that garage rock isn't listed amongst the Catholic churches and spicy food. Even trying to name a Mexican rock band is eluding. Sure, there's the grindcore band, Brujeera but those balaclava wearing pussies aren't really Mexican. Four piece band Las Pipas de la Paz will change some of that because they play sixties style psychedelic garage rock.

A slight Doors influence comes across in some of the organ playing and especially in "Psychedelic Trek" which lives up to its title but there's no doubt that these guys know how to rock. "Dance on Fire" has a simplistic but strong drumbeat pumping blood through the song while the organ supplies a healthy psychedelic vein. It's tough to pick a favourite song here or even a weakest as they are all good. It's the cliched complain that this release is too damned short because an album's worth of songs from would Las Pipas de la Paz be great. You can hear the band themselves on either their facebook or soundcloud page which are both linked below. The video to "Psychelic Trip" is a recommended fun watch.

3.5/5




La Pipas de la Paz facebook page


http://soundcloud.com/las-pipas-de-la-paz






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Buzzmutt - Static In the Mind's Eye Chpt 1

Buzzmutt – Static in the Mind’s Eye – Chapter 1

Earlier in the year I ventured out of the house to see a reasonably well-known American psychedelic band who were really just Black Sabbath clones in different clothes and haircuts, not that there’s anything wrong with that unlike paraphrasing hit and miss TV comedy shows. The band asked for no photos to be taken and the mirror ball with the lights took care of that anyway because most of the pictures wouldn’t have turned out. Listening to Buzzmutt from San Francisco, it’s easy to picture them using the lighting and mirrorball as another instrument or even a separate band member.

There’s no faking pscychedelia in Buzzmutt’s music; these guys are not just weekend flare wearers and incense burners. It would be totally incorrect to state that there is a hallucegenic undertone because if Hunter s. Thompson was to be in a band Buzzmutt would be that band. The band conveys a spaced out airiness in songs like “The Trickster” and “Adjusted Sight”. The rythym section proves their worth in “Coming To”. If chemical lounge jazz swing isn’t a genre yet then “I Don’t Remember Pain” sets a precedent. “After That” rubs with a Velvet Underground rawness vocally although there’s a pervading spring of a puppy here too. Stylistically these guys are capable of going all over the map while retaining their own sound and testament to that is when garage punk parks up and yells and sings “Sharp like Razor”. Pleasurable distortion without added weird primal effects sums up “Jungle Zombie”.

These guys sent me an email describing their music as noisy experimental indie rock kind of stuff. The word "expreimental" is often used in musician speak and means only listenable to the band and a few of their friends. Believe me, that’s not the case here. All too often twelve songs from an unknown band wear out there welcome however Buzzmutt have abided by the review rulebook and followed Rule 1117 section E, which categorically states don't make each song sound the same but if you do then make certain that your band don't sound like shit. Unfortunately most bands don't even read the rulebook past page 3, the forming a band section.

Buzzmutt may have their own sound but one song sounds different enough to another for them to not only get away with it but for the length to make sense. No complaints about this release being too short either from this reviewer. It’s available from their bandcamp site at a price of your choosing or on cassette from the band.

4.5/5




Buzzmutt's bandcamp

Buzzmutt on facebook




Small takeover on facebook

Mojo Waves -

I don't usually bother checking my spam folder but last night I had the strange urge to see how many squillion pounds I could collect if I stepped on the long haul flight to London to meet a Nigerian prince who possesses a free email account coupled with poor spelling and grammar. To my surprise there actually was a submission to the blog from Finland.

Here's what the band say about themselves: "
Mojo Waves is a power-trio rock group based in Helsinki, Finland. The band was formed in late 2011 but the musicians have been playing together for some years.

Mojo Waves' sound is something that you wouldn't expect to come from Finland. These days most of the Finnish rock bands play over-produced, safe and highly predictable music that lacks the attitude and the spirit of what rock music used to be in the past. Mojo Waves is the opposite of the common rock band. It's unpredictable, personal and energetic. Although influenced by vast amount of bands, its sound is unique, and its music doesn't fit in any one category.

Although the band feels some sort of spiritual connection with the rock music of the past, it doesn't try to copy its influences. The main goal of the band is to make their own personal songs that they can be proud of and play as many gigs as possible. Live music is what music has always been about, and that's what the band loves most, too. It isn't easy to describe the music of Mojo Waves, so you should listen to our demos "Introducing Mojo Waves" and "Enjoy, Don't Destroy". The demo was recorded by ourselves in the spirit of garage rock, and it gives some perspective to our music.

The members of Mojo Waves have their ambitions and goals set high, so we are always looking for something new."

The band definitely have a garage rock approach and some of the weirdest yet accessible vocals I've heard in a while. The vocal style has a smilar Donald Duck breathing out helium characteristic to Ween's "Push th' Little Daisies. This material has the energy of a toddler that has digested a box of energy drinks and is just as noisy and into the cupboards due to expirimenting. Though this is a youthful band, Mojo Waves have a mature sound. The vocals may be a weakness when it comes to releasing an albums worth of material but they work well enough on the 3-song format.

3/5

You can check the band's two demo recordings out here.




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Hip Priests - Full Tilt Bullshit

(Ghost Highway)

Look up all your liquor cabinet and all the female members of your acquaitance because the UK’s Hip Priests are back with a new singer and their lurid punk and roll tales of sex, debauchery, more sex, more debauchery and did I mention even more sex and debauchery?  

 There’s a couple of songs here that more astute will realize are parodies of other songs including the tight opener “Sonic Repoducer” and I’ll take the less subtle “Outa My Head (Into My Pants)” over that horrible Billy Ocean song.  And it’s not to hard a stretch (ha!) to imagine  “Wrist Action” is their version of “Turning Japanese”.

“Baptized in Booze” clues the listener in that The Hip Priests’ shows are drunken sweaty affairs for the audience.  “Gang of One” is the perfect counter to all those punk songs about being in a gang hanging with the crew and comes complete with the obligatory woohoo vocals.  A possible weakness is that it sounds a little too much like all the other haning with the gang songs.  “Dna Dynamite”  lives up to the album’s title and is full tilt and seems to be over much quicker than three minutes and like all good rock 'n'roll borrows from elsewhere, in this case, it's from The Stiff Little Fingers with lyrics twisted to “I gotta go, I gotta ejaculate”  The speed theme continues with “Faster than Fuck”.  The theme of “Dressed Up, Messed Up”  should be  self-explanatory to most readers.  The title “Demon in My Genes”  is possibly the least obvious these guys get but just say it out loud and you get the idea.  Put simply the song rocks regardless.  It’s difficult not to think of The Stooges listening to “Terminal Lust”.

The world’s still in recession but if you love garage punk and roll you should seek out this album and spend your disposable income on  it instead of booze and loose woman although The Hip Priests themselves are more likely to take the latter options.

4/5

See also Dogfight

Hip Priests on facebook



The small takeover on facebook

The Cramps - Bad Music For Bad People

The Cramps – “Bad Music For Bad People”, 1984

Compilations often serve as a great introduction to a band and “Bad Music for Bad People” is no exception.  This album gathers the early Cramps material from previously released albums and b-sides.  The recording quality of the songs varies and some like “Love Me” have an underproduced sound.  Lux Interior sounds more possessed and evokes more danger than a Kool-aid carrying Jim Jones when he sings like a rabid evangelical preacher on LSD on the cover songs.    The Cramps ride the surf guitar on “Goo Goo Muck”.  As The Cramps put their identity stamp on another cover song.  The perfection of the screeching guitar, rockabilly horror b-movie soundtrackvibe in “Human Fly” has caused the investing in many large fly swats.  There’s free education here too as The Cramps give a lesson on how to get aboard “The Drug Train”.   Watch your head because psychoticness with murderous tendencies never sounded as appealing as it does on “TV Set”. Purists would argue that this isn’t an album.  There’s no doubt that The Cramps would balk at the thought of ever being considered pure.  “Bad Music for Bad People” is a dirty collection of mind-soiled songs and there’s no denying that the album cover makes for a great poster.

3.5/5

Penetrators, “Bad Woman”, 2009
(Slovenly Records)

Recycling is good for the environment.  We’ll pass on recycled food though.  On their “new” album The Penetrators give us a few of their old classic material and a number of  sixties covers.  The band sound like sloppy drunks who turn up and play as loosely as humanly possible but manage to replicate the experience and appealing feel next time they’re witnessed live.  The cartoonish garage rock of “Teenage Lifestyle” and “#1 Band in Town” summarize the band’s attitude.  The emphasis is on fun rather than exact playing.   Jack Lipton’s b-grade voice often brings a  drunken stumbling Stones to mind.  Bizzarely the Jagger similarity comes through strongest on the haunting cover of Roky Erikson’s “If You Have Ghosts” and “Last Time” pails in comparison.

For those who like rehashing there are two versions of “Bad Woman” with their two different vocalists and the CD has three versions of“Teenage Lifestyle”.   All in all, this collection of songs album serves as a  Penetrators appetizer compared to the full satisfying main course meal of  “Basement Anthology”.  

2.5/5


Penetrators band site

Sonic Negroes/The Hip Priests - Dogfight

SONIC NEGROES/THE HIP PRIESTS - “Dogfight”,2008
(Zodiac Killer)

The term “dogfight” describes a fierce battle between two or more opponents.  In today’s punk ‘n’ roll bout we have two well-matched battlers.  ,In one corner representing Sweden we have the Sonic Negroes and in the other side of the ring we have The Hip Priests from the UK.  The UK representatives start the show off by telling all and sundry “Let’s Get Fucked”.  They receive zero points for subtley but successfully combine the three vital elemements of their chosen musical style into a single frenzied song.  Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll are the bases covered in the lyrics and the UK contingent assure in one break-neck song that they are a threatening band.   Too many other bands attempt the same themes but sadly struggle to inject even a minimum dose of menace over the course of an entire album.  This is a sleazy band that should be kept a safe distance from your little sister and any other female companions.  Go on, guess, exactly what, “She Loves It” is about?  Too late for the youngest one but a restraining order might not be out of the question.  “Rip Them Off” has a simplistic Ramones chorus but these priests are blessed with an ever present Motorhead bulldozer capable of ripping and shredding the thickest jungles to pieces.

With their chosen name alone, it’s clear that the Swedish crew, Sonic Negroes wear their Norwegian influence on their collective sleeves.  It’d be far too easy to totally write them off as generic Turbonegro clones but lucky for everyone, the songs of the Swedes stack up well on their own accord.  Evident on “Born to Be Gone” is occassional use of express pace piano tinkering ensures any hurled accusations of mere carbon copying are stopped dead in their tracks.  There’s a revved up and modified corpse of MC5 inhabiting, rocking and breathing life into the twenty-first century through the presence of these swedes.

With the referee knocked out by both contestants picking a winner is a difficult feat however the trophy goes to the finishers Sonic Negroes largely due to better production which lead to a clearer vocal and overall sound.   In comparison, the Hip Priests’ vocals sounded buried in the background over their primal garage rock.

 Disclaimer:  This “Dogfight” was legally organized for disturbing the peace with the volume turned up above maximum.  No animals were hurt in the writing of this review.

3.5/5

Hip Priests facebook page

Sonic Negroes facebook page

MC5- Kick Out the Jams

Towards the end of the decade, the sixties protest movement had increased in volume. Led Zeppelin and The Who, amongst others, were twisting their amplifier dials to ear-splitting full capacity.  There’s the feeling of rebellion on MC5’s opening call for a revolution that precedes the anthemic ZEP-ish “Ramblin’ Rose” however the truly daring band move was releasing a live album right at the starting gate instead of waiting until their were a few more albums notched up on the belt.  “Kick Out the Jams” with its bouncy riffing and drumbeat oozes a primitive appeal. The chaotic dueling guitars of Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith mixed up with strong vocals and catchy sing-along inducing parts on “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa)” winning combination.  MC5 exercise control and take a leaisurely approach in “I Want You Right Now” and add a slow swaggering blues twist in “Motor City is Burning”. Before their demise MC5 squeezed out two first-rate studio albums.

Sassy!!! Diggin' Deep

Two piece bands tend to be a hit and miss affair with more misses than hits. As well know from the wellworn dog-eared book of cliches, the cream always rises to the top but then again so does pond scum. In terms of garage punk bands this opens a debate of the merits of cream versus those of pond scum.

Sassy!!! are a two-piece band made of two girls, Lynda Mandolin (who was of Fat Wreck Chords band, Fabulous Disaster) and Christian Diabiase. The band mine further back than just the punk era using sixties sugar-coated pop girl group harmonies on "So Bad It's Good" and "It Really Hurts". It's not all sweetness and light though as witnessed by the large rowdy drumbeats duking it out with the distortion over the ever-present sweet vocals in "Devil's Dance".


To use another cliche, the band's minimalism brings their strongest qualities to the fore. The strong poppy yet punchy harmonies in tunes like "Something About You". Irresistible hammering drums that are often at the forefront of the mix.

There's an equal measure of pond scum punk attitude in the instumentation and the sweetness of cream in the harmonies so I'll leave the rising to the top debate to others. The sticker on the CD compares the bands to the Muffs, The Kills and The Gossip. I can't comment on the others but the Muffs comparison rings true. The only weakness is the lyrics which are typical rock relationship fare. Sassy!!! kick a whole lot of attitude and unlike the cover of their CD are definitely not two dimensional.

4/5

Band Site

The Dirtbombs/The Datsuns/The Transistors San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington 14 March 2008

Photo: The Transistors by me.

I turned up to this show a little after 9pm. I had bought batteries for my camera as I wanted to film some of this show but I'd left the SIM card at home. I never had that problem with film cameras. The batteries I bought turned out to be rubbish for digital cameras.

Anyway Christchuch band The Transistors were already playing when I got there. They reminded me of The Replacements and/or Superstar Car Wash/Hold Me Up era Goo Goo Dolls. Pretty cool young trio who are really good musicians who unfortunately played to just a few people due to the early starting time.

US band The Dirtbombs played next. Until a week ago I'd never heard of them but familiarized myseself with their recent album, We Have You Surrounded . The album took a while to grow on me however The Dirtbombs live show was instantly enjoyed. Their mix of garage rock, punk and soul with two drummers and two bassists went down a treat. I later discovered that I am in fact in familiar with two of bassist, Troy Gregory's former bands(Prong and he was Jason Newsted's replacement in Flotsam and Jetsam)





Above pics: The Dirtbombs Below pics: The Datsuns All pics: By me.




After what seemed like quite some time Waikato band The Datsuns came out and played. I'd never seen them before and they were an enjoyable live act with a singer who heavily borrows stage moves from T.Rex's Mark Bolan. I knew a lot of The Datsuns material because I've owned their debut album for a few years now. There videos were sometimes shown on MTV in Taiwan. It seemed that most of the crowd was at this show to see The Datsuns because of their familiarity with their music.



The Datsuns seemed to play forever and lengthened forever by playing about four encore songs including one with a few members of The Dirtbombs. It seems weird to me that a New Zealand band would play on their hometurf after a US band and people would stay to see them but now days it happens.