Month: April 2017

Brash Bullets – Radio Therapy

If you like your punk served up old school British style, but want something new to be mad chuffed about, then here’s your ticket, kiddies.

“Radio Therapy” is the debut EP by South UK, “‘77 style” punkers, Brash Bullets. While you only get six tracks, what you get is chock full of punk tunes tempered by the influence of bands like, Crass, Business, Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers, etc. I ain’t gonna lie to ya, if you’re not into the “77” sound you’re probably going to pan it as derivative. However, if you ARE into that, I think this will be right up your alley.

The tracks are mostly mid to up tempo and clock in around the two minute mark on average. This is great for short attention span folks like myself. Oddly the epic length track, Girl Next Door, registering in at a mind bending 2:34 is my personal fav on the EP.

As far as the “sound” coming from my speakers, the recording seems efficient, and there’s a rather garage/basement vibe. Not that the tracks aren’t clean, so much as they are minimalist. It seems that overdubs are used sparingly if at all and I’d suspect that it was recorded in as few tracks, with as few takes as possible. I like the result, it’s sharp, yet raw. I think overproduction would diminish that feel.

At any rate, a solid dose of new punk from some old soul upstarts in the South of the UK, check ‘em out.

Here’s a grip o’ ways you can get in touch with the band:
Listen: https://m.soundcloud.com/brash-bullets
Buy: https://www.cdbaby.com/m/cd/brashbullets
Harass: https://m.facebook.com/BrashBulletsPunk/
Twitter: @BrashBullets

Bio:
Brash Bullets started gigging in mid 2015 flying the punk flag in the south of the UK. Taking inspiration from many of the ’77 punk bands and adding a pinch of modern life, Brash Bullets’ aim is to leave you questioning the existence of glossy la-dee-dah talent shows & mainstream pop. Ripping through their set lists at rapid pace, they have found themselves sharing the stage of punk royalty such as Richie Ramone, Anti-Nowhere League, GBH, Angelic Upstarts and Peter & The Test Tube Babies to name a few. Their debut ep ‘Radio Therapy’ is available now!

Tracks:
1. Snap!
2. I Wanna Buy Her Love
3. Indoctrinated
4. Girl Next Door
5. Capital City Disappointment
6. Soldier On

Spring Heeled Jack – New Release

I’m pleased to report that one of my long time favorite ska bands is back at it with new music. Sound Salvation, the first new material in nearly 20 years will be premiered at the “CINCO DE JACKO RECORD RELEASE FIESTA LOCO !!” … I seriously wish I could attend.

You can get more details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1813172175608675/

At Both Ends – Wheel’s Out The Window

At Both Ends is a pop-punk ska band reminiscent of the big 90’s 3rd wave era. They come from Sacramento and “Wheel’s Out the Window”, released under Morning Wood Records! Is their second album.

Alright, let’s get into it. One word I would use to describe this album is dynamic, and my opinion changed several times as the album progressed. As a predominately hardcore and ska-core fan, I was pleasantly surprised by some elements in this work. From the great rumbling bass riff to a thrash-like breakdown, I found many things to enjoy. Don’t let me paint this as a heavy ska-punk album though. The majority of the riffs are built around a poppy electric (emphasis on electric) guitar that most of the time got on my nerves, as did the singing which I will get into soon.

I do have to say I am a big fan of the horns on this album. Although they aren’t in every song I found them fantastic and well linked with the guitar, but were also original and crisp similar to that of Streetlight Manifesto’s many hits. Overall I am a fan of the music except for the voice. The lyrics and singer definitely put a damper on my appreciation of the piece. Though the songs have themes of unconformity (“Your Way”) and freedom (“Freedom”), the lead singer Gene sounds similar to the tone you think of when someone says pop-punk and not in a good way. Not to mention cheesy lyrics and rhymes, I found the album at its best when there wasn’t any singing at all. However, if Reel Big Fish, Green Day, and Less Than Jake are your jams, I think you will enjoy this album. Personally if Gene could pull off a kind of Jason Navarro of The Suicide Machines this album would be twice as good.

Overall I would recommend the album due to an overall appreciation for creating something fresh in the ska scene that announces similar values to that of the masters. Although I critiqued the guitar heavily, it did have its moments as well as the rest of the instruments. About 2/3 of the songs I can see myself listening to again, leaving about 5 or so songs that were in my opinion mediocre due to a pop sound and vocals.

You can find it at bancamp at:
https://atbothendspunk.bandcamp.com/album/wheels-out-the-window

Thanks for reading and leave your comments and opinions below! What did you think of the album?

-PW

The Best of the Worst – Painted Fools

Ska, Punk, Rock and Roll!

New Jersey based The Best of the Worst is back at it with a brand new EP. Painted Fools (available on 04/20/2017) offers up 7 new tracks of, well, ska, punk, and rock and roll.

From dreamy to screamy the band hits a wide range of sounds both across and within individual tracks. I’ll be honest here, I’m not at all familiar with this band, so I’m going to go out on a limb here with who their influences might be. I hear the subtle guiding hand of Bomb the Music Industry, Less Than Jake, Isaac Green and the Skalars, Lawrence Arms and, I don’t know, maybe some Tom Petty.

I am honestly a bit disappointed that I haven’t heard of them before, because I’m rather enjoying what I’m hearing. They’ve got track complexity, without being obtuse. The songs are well crafted with subtlety and nuance. Good takes. Good mix. There’s a link below. Go and buy a copy. Support local music, even if local is 1000s of miles away from where you really are.

We have the internet people! You can listen to sweet new music and then give a band some of your hard earned ducats so that they too can enjoy the sweet life of top shelf ramen on occasion.

http://chokeartist.storenvy.com/products/19480255-the-best-of-the-worst-painted-fools-cd

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Habits Live Hard
2. Inside My Apartment
3. Where Complacency Lives.
4. Spoiler Alert:
5. Doesn’t Really Matter, (feat. Tom Etts)
6. Like Bugs in Amber
7. We’ve Been Held Captive