The most anticipated NZ rock album of the last few years is finally here. Sticky Filth's fourth album in their 26 year career is out. Setbacks have included two serious accidents which have meant touring the album isn't an option.
Arguments about whether Sticky Filth are a punk, metal or a rock band won't be ended with this album. And really, why should they? The trio's template of blistering Motorhead style bass coupled with Chris Snowdon's metallic guitar leads with Craig Radford's melodic voice hovering over the top as the drummer sets the beat. As always the songs vary in tempo. The only major change, other than the new drummer, is that Snowdon handles vocal duties on two songs and his voice is just a little rougher than Radford's.
"Happy Birthday" has a quick beat that is similar to songs like "The Yorkshire Ripper" and "Dig You Up" from the band's first album. "The Witch That Got Away" should please those familiar with "The Burning" both musically and thematically. "Leave In The Morning" has rock radio hit potential written all over it due to its catchy chorus. The acoustic version of "Hate Remains" serves well as an album ender Sticky Filth will be able to win new fans while keeping their older ones simply by keeping with the tried and true. While listening to this album on my I-pod travelling on a train, two twenty-somethings were discussing whether it sounded like Parkway Drive or Disturbed and then asked what the music was. I really don't think the music sounds like either of these bands as the songs just sound like Sticky Filth. Expect to see this album on a number of best of 2011 lists.
I arrived in New Plymouth and some of the most amazing lightning struck the town accompanied by torrents of rain. Joe Satriani was headlining a show elsewhere in town and just down from the White Hart Hamilton metal band Chuganaut were playing an after-party for that particular show. The Sticky Filth show had been promoted as an after-party for the Roller Derby event. Before this show I'd never made it to New Plymouth's White Hart Inn despite seeing a lot of shows that I'd like to have gone to advertised over the years. I arrived soon after the doors opened and watched a little bit of the Auckland Warriors beating the Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby League game.
The White Hart started filling up and the first band Inebriation took the stage. They hadn't played for a number of years because their singer died in a motorcycle accident. At times the band seemed to be a wall of noise but occasionally they came together well. Personally I thought they sounded best when Renae from 1080 sang with them although the final song with three different vocalists sounded great.
Pic: Inebriation
Next up were Sticky Filth who most people had come to see since they don't play many shows any more. They started with some teething sound problems.
The band started with the prologue and Craig got the audience to yell out 'Play some fucken beats, beatmaster' at the start of "Nadia". Sticky Filth played most of their material from the last twenty something years. Chris Snowdon stated from the stage "This band never ends. When we're eighty we'll still be playing gigs at anywhere that will have us." So they played most of the stuff from all three of their albums and a few newer songs but they did threaten to play all the songs they'd ever written. I'm sure they didn't do that but as they played for nearly 2 hours they must have come close. I don't remember either member talking between songs in past shows I've attended but I also don't remember Chris Snowdon doing vocals.
Highlights were hearing all of the Stainless album live, "Witch Hazel" and "Weep Woman Weep". I filmed some of the show with my digital camera but the sound from the camera doesn't do the band justice. It was well worth driving to New Plymouth for this show.
Sticky Filth have now added songs to their myspace page including the catchy classic Weep Woman Weep and there are also photos from this show.
I managed to get my hands on a copy of the Sticky Filth demo DVD. It's mostly live clips of the New Plymouth punk band with the present line up of Craig Radford, Chris Snowden and Boot interspersed with slides of gig flyers plus newspaper articles/reviews. There is however a copy of the Weep Woman Weep video which was interesting to view again after all these years. It is amazing to think that the Weep Woman Weep LP came out twenty years ago and that the band have kept on going despite having at least four different drummers over the years.
Songs featured on this DVD are a good mix of the band's old and newer material with Dig You Up, Too Deep, The Burning, Vodka(an old single recently reviewed in mysterex blog), The Devil and Me, Scrap Metal Man, Jahbullheboosay, Yorkshire Ripper, Spartacus, Weep Woman Weep, Somethings Matter, Maybe a Lover and Astronaut.
There is an extra with two early versions of the band practising and I believe features the earliest line up with Colin Long. I'm told that there will be more live footage and an interview with Craig Radford added to the final product.
More details about the DVD can be had by emailing Alex: alex@smack.co.nz
For those that have never heard New Zealand's punk band Sticky Filth here is an NZ punk classic song 'Weep Woman Weep' in downloadable MP3 format.
This 2007 Red Hot Pussy Liquor CD-R is one very impressive package presentation wise. The layout and design and lyric sheet rivals a lot of regular CD releases. I didn't realize it was a CD-R until I tried playing it on a CD player I have that refuses to play it.
In his excellent New Zealand music book Ready to Fly New Zealand music writer/poet/reviewer, David Eggleton wrote something along the lines that a lot of New Plymouth bands were influenced by heavy metal and were heavy on comic-shlock imagery. The cover to this CD carries on that tradition in fine form. Pussy, Drugs, Liquor, complaining neighbours are Red Hot Pussy Liquor's main lyrical themes.
On to the music, it's punk with a touch of a metal influence. The album was recorded live in one hour so there's very much a live feel to this release. To my ears the drums sound louder than they really should be in places but I suspect that's due to live recording. At times vocalist Grady Waite sounds a lot like Sticky Filth's Craig Radford but that's hardly a complaint.
The first song Live For One Day is a song that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sloppy Seconds album.
The band's theme song Red Hot Pussy Liquor is a raging chug-long sing-song. Pussy Liquor!! Smack the Bitch Back is a great revenge anthem. Some call me a loser. Some call me hardcore. I'm just glad I broke this motherfucker's jaw S.O.S. is a song where Grady's voice reminds me a lot of Sticky Filth. The chorus is catchy as hell. Suicidal Land shows the serious side of this band. This is another song that reminds me of Sloppy Seconds with a touch of the Ramones and sprinkle of Suicidal Tendencies. Wicked Wicked is one of the highlights. An ode to rock and roll and women that is bound to offend a few. 40 hour week is another highly catchy number about the futility of working life. Buteel street is the first song about a complaining item and there is a copy of the newspaper clip that this incident is about attached to the lyric sheet. Burn Mikey Burn is a highly catchy punk number that could either be about a boy racer or someone that has an expensive car for show rather than driving. I love the fast chorus. Drugs and Scum would be my pick for the best song on this release. The mixture of slow and fast parts are perfect.
A few of the song on this CD can be heard on Red Hot Pussy Liquor's myspace page
To order this release email demonnationmusic[AT]gmail.com
I was searching for more info on Sticky Filth for the previous post and came across this article.
When Craig Radford was at school his teachers were forever telling him to put down his guitar and pick up the maths book.
"Now it's `pick up that guitar and play'," says the 20-year veteran of Taranaki heavy metal band Sticky Filth.
This week he was back at the school where he first learnt to play the bass guitar.
But this time he was the teacher.
Mr Radford has been at Coastal Taranaki school in Okato for the past three days passing on his musical knowledge, under the New Zealand Industry Commission's music mentors programme.
Mr Radford was asked to come to Okato by the school's music teacher, Anita Anker.
"I knew Craig already, so I got him into the school. The programme is about real musos coming into schools and sharing their music experience," Ms Anker said.
Mr Radford went to the school when it was Okato College and says he likes the changed attitude towards playing music.
"Kids are more inspired to play instruments and that's pretty awesome."
Music and writing songs should be encouraged, which is why he says he is doing the workshop.
"Some of these kids have already formed their own bands, but they are playing other people's songs. I want to show them they can write their own and do their own thing."
The 41-year-old says he loves working with the students and is impressed so many of them play instruments.
"It's great teaching the kids, it's just amazing. I want them to form their own bands. I have been in one for years and it's the coolest thing."
Sticky Filth formed in 1986 and has since made six albums.
This youtube clip of Craig Radford singing with the kids was on one of their bebo pages.
Before I even start this review, I'd better state that I'm a Sticky Filth fan from way back. This New Plymouth band were the first original band I ever saw in at a bar show back in the late eighties. Last time I saw them play was sometime in the nineties though. I have the German Gift of Life Weep Woman Weep on vinyl which sells for high prices now days.(bought new in Palmerston North for $30) and I have Nektar Der Gotter on vinyl (So I'm much better than you unless of course you have the Ima-Hitt copy of Weep Woman Weep. After claims of elitism I'll admit to selling my copy of Def through Misadventure 7" cause I didn't like it much at the time.
There was meant to be a new Sticky Filth album some before this album was released The master recordings were sent to an Australian vinyl pressing plant which closed down and the masters were lost. This explains the lengthy gaps between albums.
This came out in 2005 but due to living in Taiwan and Smokecds giving up shipping to Taiwan I wasn't able to get this album when it first came out. What do Sticky Filth sound like? Imagine Napalm Death, G.B.H.Dinosaur Junior, Suicidal Tendencies, Motorhead, eighties speed metal and The Birthday Party all meeting together and that's a rough idea of this band's overall sound.
Anyway to the Stainless album. It's great and retains the old Sticky Filth sound. Craig Radford's vocal have to be some of the coolest melodic punk vocals in NZ. There's thankfully no whooooah whoooooah type stuff. At times Radford does sound close to Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies but that's hardly a complaint. A few of the songs are more metal than previous Sticky Filth First song Nadia recalls Sticky Filth of old sing about witches and has the one of the rhyming couplets I love hearing this band do (In 1993/she cast a spell on me). ("Alice was there in her wonderland/dancing naked, she stole my hand" was my fave from Nektar and can't be topped). Hate Remains has the coolest Motorhead type bass which Radford does so well. Sucidal Tendencies influence can be heard on this song. Flesh recalls the slower songs from the Nektar Der Gotter LP(i.e cooler than pre-shark jumping fonzie). Same thing could be said for the next song, Cold. (although there is a riff that sounds a lot like Motorhead. Astronaut is a thrasher with an unrelentess drum beat. The intro of Jahbullheboosay has me wishing Shihad still played the style they did on Churn cause that's what is sounds like. Anyone yearning for Shihad of old could get their fix from this song.
Mary-Mary is Sticky Filth ska.It sounds like The Stranglers. Two Thumbs from me.
Mother is an awesome punk/metal crossover song. Vanguard Hellride 6 is another song that sounds like it could have been on Nektar Der Gotter as does Already Alright. Girl with the Luger is one the same thing could be said. This song is so catchy and cool. 30 Days harks back to the slower stuff on Weep Woman Weep and the Birthday Party influences can be heard in Craig's vocals on this song. Then it's back to thrashy punk with Scrap Metal Man. Too Deep which features guitarist Chris Snowden on vocals brings Slayer's South of Heaven album too mind though Snowden's vocals are more melodic than Tom Araya's. A great album by New Zealand's longest running punk band which ends with a couple of Techno remixes by Concord Dawn of Nadia and Mother which personally I have to be in the right mood to listen to.
A clip of Astronaut from the forthcoming Sticky Filth DVD
