Cancer Maidens - Insects of Sound

Cancer Maidens were a Palmerston North band from the mid-nineties featuring members of Earwigs Under Fire/Feast of Stephens and Ross Harkness from Foisemaster. Earwigs Under Fire and Feast of Stephens were pop bands with a sound not too far from the poppier Flying Nun records bands.

Ross had a reputation as being a lunatic and a huge vinyl fanatic. I once witnessed him getting stuck into a record clerk at one of Palmerston North's music shops, which was once called the Record Hunter, due to not being able to buy a Butthole Surfers vinyl. They were definitely an influence on the Cancer Maidens. Written in type on the CD are the immortal words "I wish this was a vinyl record".

The first song mentions fellow local bands ,State of Hate(due to drummer, Ham committing suicide) and Wholesale Drainage who may or may not have been important factors on the sound of the Cancer Maidens. James Bond author Ian Fleming also pays a couple of visits.

Shaken not stirred

Once in nearly thirty years

Here!

Third World War

Take cover. It's the Third World War. Flying in the face of the late sixties/early seventies peace and love movement with the chosen band handle and a song titled "Preaching Violence". There were so many great albums released in 1971, Third World War became one of the many largely forgotten bands. Sometimes credited as British proto-punk and at other times called heavy metal, Third World War were clearly a band that didn't fit in. The lyrics often represent the politics of the working class, the vocals are gruff and the guitar sound is often heavy but whether it could be metal or punk is up for debate.

War!

UK Subs/Skaface Claw/Gaywyre @ Bar Bodega Wellington 22 Oct 2009

Missed the UK Subs the previous night in Palmerston North so went to the Wellington show at Bar Bodega. First band up were Gaywyre, who other than a Discharge cover were very much in power metal mode. A song or two sound either like Helloween or Iron Maiden with shrill squeals that were sometimes used when the singer spoke.



Above pic: Gaywyre

Next in line were Skaface Claw. They'd been a three piece the previous few times I'd seen them. This time they had a different drummer and were playing as a five piece with a keyboard and sax player. Their ska punk went down a treat.

Below pics: Skaface Claw







After a short break headliners UK Subs took the stage and Charlie Harper and Nicky Garret move around the stage like they were at least half their age.
The subs played most of their well known songs like "Warhead", "Stranglehold", "Rockers", "C.I.D." etc. Punkfest being during the weekend brought in extra punters and the crowd was reasonably large.

Below pics: UK Subs







Here's a youtube version of "Warhead" from the show. Warning: The sound quality is similar to the average live tape from tape trading days and will provide nostalgia for some and annoyance to others as it should be.

Nick Oliveri/ Boss Christ - Bar Bodega, Wellington Wed Oct 14, 2009

Above pic: Boss Christ

Below pics: Nick Oliveri

Boss Christ walked on stage unrecognizable as the man from the video from the previous post. He was clean cut except for a moustache. Wearing opened with a song just using footstomping, handclapping and completely foregoing the microphone Boss Christ opened his one man band set. His set consisted of bluesy songs, with deep whiskey drenched vocals played on guitar with occassional use of his kick drum. The Boss' main song topics are about drinking which always goes down well in a bar.








After a short break, Nick Oliveri stepped on stage and played a number of songs. He played a cover of Subhumans' "Wake Up, Screaming", Dwarves and GG Allin covers. Those who came to see him because he was once a member of Queens of The Stone Age walked away happy because a number of their songs were included in his set.
"Autopilot" being the best received as it had been shouted for a number of times.

Bruce Springsteen is a dick!

Boss Christ - Bruce Springsteen Sucks from A LOW HUM on Vimeo.

The Warners - the videos

It appears someone involved with NZ punk band The Warners has recently put some of their videos up on Youtube proving that there are still gems out there hiding among the wannabe stars and pet videos. Below is the video to the icredibly catchy Satellite Surfing. The EP was released on blue vinyl and was put out by Flying Nun in 1989.



Below is The Warners playing live in '85 at the Rising Sun which was filmed by TVNZ for Radio With Pictures.