The Uber Rock Singles Club – February 2016
Written by Dom Daley, Gaz Tidey & Johnny H
Sunday, 28 February 2016 03:40
Who needs record store day for some lovely slabs of 7″ plastic? We certainly don’t here at URHQ and this might be the shortest month of the year but let me tell you the quality on this month’s sleazy seven (inches) is a joy to behold and I think it’s fair to say it doesn’t get much better than this motley crew.
The Hip Priests / Bloodlights – Spilt 7” (Self Destructo Records)
It’s like a match made in heaven this as England’s finest The Hip Priests tag team up with Norway’s finest, Bloodlights. Boy what a tasty treat they have served up. Not content with being the front runners in any countries DIY punk rockin’ stakes The Hip Priests keep turning in song after song that’s stronger than the previous offering and this is certainly no exception. ‘Make War Not Love’ even offers up that “fuck you” Stooges piano middle finger as it thunders along. I’m surprised these boys can get anyone to go toe to toe on a split with them such is the filth that pours forth from their instruments. Yet another blindingly good song from the UK’s finest and it’s available in a super limited colour with free gift to Spasm Gang members only so if you want exclusives you better find out how to jump on board and join the gang. To be fair Bloodlights can hold their own with the best of them and ‘It Ain’t That Hard’ is a more than worthy contestant. Of course it’s blindingly good even with the Quo tribute riff. This single rocks like fuck – go buy a copy!!!
The Crybabys / Lester Greenowski – Spilt 7” Area Pirata Records)
Yeah you read that right. The Crybabys are back in the house boys and girls and this time they’re accompanied by Lester Greenowski for a fantastic four track 7”! On The Crybabys side it kicks off with classic sounding ‘Scars’ which is sung by Darrell Bath and has that late-night swagger as the acoustic guitars and electric works so beautifully, what an awesome way to announce you’re back! Track two sees Honest John Plain take the vocals for a crisp and welcome cover of ‘Tell Me’ which is as good as the Mick ‘n’ Keef version and superior to Stiv and his Dead Boys (oh okay it’s just as good then). This slab of wax comes all housed in a great sleeve and on the other side Lester gets his Dead Boys mojo working for ‘On The Autobahn’ and gets down to some blistering rock n roll for ‘Again’. Get your groove on kids and hit this link to bag yourself a copy as these won’t hang around.
Poison Boys – ‘Headed For Disaster’ (No Front Teeth Records)
Imagine if the Soho Roses were from some sleazy backstreet in the U.S. and they had been hanging with The NY Dolls. Well this Poison Boys shit is tugging at my heartstrings in all the right places these really are the doyens of sleazy punk rock and I could listen to this all day every day. As the lyric sheet says it’s to be played fucking LOUD! Well is there any other way to play this? You don’t need to tell me honey I’m already there. ‘Headed For Disaster’ is a beautiful, beautiful noise. Flip this bad boy over and ‘Got To Tease’ is street tough and bruising whilst ‘Without You’ isn’t a slowy, nah it’s a balls out rocker. It’s short, sharp and right to the fucking point. What a fantastic single, get on this one folks you won’t be disappointed.
RADIOHEARTS– ‘Tell You’ (No Front Teeth Records)
Sounding like a prime time Mick Jones fronting the Clash ‘My Heart Is An Obituary’ the flip side of this single by RADIOHEARTS is classic roughed up piece of powerpop and seems like a great place to start on this four track single out now on No Front Teeth Records. As usual those lovely pioneers of punk rock offer several versions but the music remains the same, high quality. ‘Who Are You?’ is like The Star Spangles never ever went away and that’s something that makes me feel all warm inside in so much as someone has come along to fill some pretty big shoes. Flip it over and the lead track is more of the same as ‘Tell You’ is cock of the walk as it swaggers through my speakers, part Buzzcocks and Generation X and part American powerpop. One thing is for sure, I’m in love with RADIOHEARTS, and you will be too when you hear this. Just go and buy it folks, don’t mess around.
The Rebelles – ‘All The Young Dudes’ (Turtle Recordings)
Hey if your dad’s Ian Hunter and you want to release your first single with him guesting on it then why not cover his most famous number? Don’t be fooled by the Bowies tributes littering the airwaves right now though because the three ladies behind The Rebelles (Tracie Hunter, Elizabeth Westwood and Phoebe White) are a ballsy bunch and have been rocking and rolling for many a year. With the launch of The Rebelles they have decided it was about time they once again stepped forward to centre stage and in fairness how can you go wrong with this Bowie penned tune? It is however a teeny bit perplexing that they should choose an instrumental version as the B side but hey it features both Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and James Stevenson (The Cult, Generation X), so let’s keep your powder dry and I await the follow up and hearing some original material. Go sisters!
Matty James – ‘Sticks & Stones’ (Pirate Heart Records)
Matty James releases this virtual single lifted from the much praised ‘The Road To No Town’ album that came out via PledgeMusic, ‘Sticks & Stones’ was and is for me the standout song on that album and to promote the commercial release of the record Matty has decided to push this cracker. Backed by ‘Growing Up The Long Way’ which see Matty knockout a non-album B Side that’s upbeat and with some great harmonica honking, it’s a top tune too to back ‘Sticks & Stones’. The ever affable James deserves success and he certainly isn’t afraid of the hard work required to get there and if he can continue to put out songs as strong as these then it’s surely only a matter of time before more and more people join the ranks of Matty James fans out there. In fact head over to his website www.pirateheartrecords.com and you’ll find everything you need there.
Dr. Boogie – ‘Get Back To New York City’ (White Zoo Records)
The first single to come from the splendid Dr. Boogie debut album is the stomping title track released on limited vinyl via Italian record label White Zoo (you can order your copy here!). If you want sleazy down ‘n’ dirty riff-a-rama that has the perfect marriage of powerpop and Bon Scott era DC then you just have to get yourself acquainted with these cats. I assure you these guys understand what it takes to use the influences of The NY Dolls and DC and turn them into top records. The B Side of this single is also a stunner in the shape of ‘Down The Road’ that has the torch for good time boogie burning so brightly you can almost smell the Chuck Berry and Thunders influences and the harmonica rasping over some honky-tonking piano is totally sublime. The jig is up kids Dr. Boogie currently can’t do any wrong and that’s a FACT! Although it would have been nice had they slung on a non-album track onto this slab of wax it would have been a great incentive for people who already have that platter to buy this as well.
The Black Halos – ‘Fossel Fuels’ (New-H Records)
It’s been God knows how many years since Jones ‘n’ Hopeless used the name The Black Halos and I find it kinda exciting that in 2016 they have decided to play a few shows together, Not only that but they’ve also got together to record a couple of new tracks for us as well, songs that we’ll be able to shortly buy either at their upcoming shows or via New-H Records. So what do they sound like? Well ‘Fossel Fuels’ is blood and thunder in true Halos’ style with some very tasty guitar breaks and “woo-hoos” whilst ‘Geisterbahn’ begins with some softly picked guitar strings only to break free and rock out with a very welcome catchy chorus. Let’s hope this is not the last thing we hear from The Black Halos, and who knows another album would be most welcome indeed. So, pick this up and show the boys in the band that the world that still loves The Black Halos and who knows what might happen next? Great stuff! (Dom Daley)
Defy All Reason – ‘No Need To Hide’ (Self Released)
Charity singles are supposed to be throwaway cheesefests, right? Well, nobody told Welsh would-be stadium rockers Defy All Reason whose new single, ‘No Need To Hide’, is epic in tone, classic in sound, and as poignant as the lyrics’ subject matter. Recorded to raise money for RAPCA (Rock Against Child Pornography) and NLC for Autistic Children, this five-minute powerhouse of a power ballad throwback was mastered by Pete Maher (Rolling Stones, Thunder, Jimmy Page, U2) and will put this already hotly-tipped bunch of hard rockers firmly on the map, and in aid of a more than worthy cause too. Echoing the sounds of Bon Jovi when they were good (they were once, honest!) and with an arena-sized hook, this song deserves your attention… and money. Available from iTunes on March 1st. (Gaz Tidey)
Hunters – ‘Rats In The Night’ (Self Released)
Hunters are a new name on myself and many others here at URHQ, however since we first got to hear this 4 track 7″ not much else has been on our minds other than trying to find out who the hell these guys actually are. So, after a little bit of interweb scouring I’m pleased to report that Hunters are in fact a five piece from Helsinki, Finland but other than that I’m still pretty much none the wiser. So, what do these guys sound like? Well if you can imagine The Adjusters with the pop suss of The Star Spangles you won’t be a bazillion miles away. Lead track ‘Rats In The Night’ is a veritable glunk rock STD just waiting to infect your brains, whilst the lead track on the flipside ‘Radio’ has more than a little bit of an early Biters appeal to it. ‘I Don’t Wanna’ and ‘Crackdown’ which make up the rest of this impressive single are top tunes too but maybe not quite as instant as those I have highlighted. Cut at 33 and a 1/3 on black vinyl this is my idea of what singles are all about…because now I want the album…and I want it like yesterday. The problem is trying to find out how you can buy yourself a copy, because I can’t find it listed anywhere. Maybe drop the boys a message via their Facebook page or if that doesn’t work wither then you can also listen to it here!!!!
City Saints / Old Fashioned Ideas – Split 7” (Spirit of The Streets Records)
Hot on the heels of Hunters sterling effort comes this split from City Saints and Old Fashioned Ideas and it’s another black vinyl 4 tracker cut at 33 and a 1/3 for maximum rockin’ ‘n’ rollin’ effect. I’m not really sure who takes top billing here (if indeed anyone does) so I’m going with the band I actually know something of first and that is Gothenburg street punks City Saints. ‘United We Stand’ is the lead cut here and it is another fist in the air working class anthem from a band who excel in writing these types of things. Fans of Street Dogs will love this whilst fans of punk rock in general will no doubt be as suitably impressed by the band’s solid run through of ‘I Fought The Law’ which basically follows the template created by The Clash version of the tune whilst giving it some extra punch for 2016. On the other side then we have two tracks from Malmo’s Old Fashioned Ideas a band who are about as subtle as a quick kick in the bollocks, as I quickly find out as ‘Above And Beyond’ bounds out of my speakers like early Exploited meets Argy Bargy. ‘Oi! Ain’t Dead (But You’re Trying To Kill It)’ continues my ferocious introduction to the world of Old Fashioned Ideas in typical 100 mph fashion, but again the strength of this tune lies in the chorus which I can see being an instant hit with skunx lucky enough to see the band live or in fact bag themselves a copy of this 7″ via the bandworm wesbite. If you do then you’ll also have two tasty new patches to stich on your Harrington jacket too, making this a truly value for money purchase for suedeheads and bootboys worldwide.
The Dwarves – ‘Sluts Of The USA’ (Burger Records / Greedy Worrldwide) & Svetlanas featuring Blag Dahlia – ‘Revenge’ (Altercation Records)
It’s been way too long since we last had a Dwarves 7″ in the Singles Club and here we have two for the price of one. Well that’s not strictly true as these things are costing me a small fortune to keep my collection up to date. Trust me it’s not easy being a Dwarves fan in the UK especially when Blag and his gang of ne’er-do-wells keep dropping short and sweet fire crackers like “Got Them Saints’ on me. To many bands tracks like this would be amongst their best tunes but when you are Blag Dahlia you can just throw these instant classics out as B Sides safe in the knowledge that your best tunes will still be shocking the fuck out of people and that’s exactly what ‘Sluts Of The USA’ was made for. The more public friendly ‘Fun To Try’ on the B side meanwhile was made to be a hit worldwide, and if there were any justice in this world you people would be getting off your arses and bagging yourselves a copy. Well at least you can make it a hit with The Dwarves that way. One of the best things about this 3 track black vinyl 7” apart from it coming signed was that for once the sleeve didn’t have me wondering if the vice squad might be raiding URHQ any time soon after it made its way through Customs.
The second of these releases sees Blag guesting on a single sided clear/red splatter vinyl single with Russian punks Svetlanas. The A side has Blag providing a split lead vocal version of ‘Revenge’ a track perfectly formed in the drop dead nasty but gorgeous image of the Legends Of Punk Rock that are the muthafuckin’ Dwarves. Life is too short to sit around and wait for music this good to drop into your laps so get on that there tinterweb and make sure you don’t miss out on these rare as hen’s teeth slabs of wax….you can order them direct from the band right here! (Johnny H)
As we said at the start of this edition of The Uber Rock’s Singles Club this might be the shortest month of the year but by fuck there has been some quality 7” releases this side of the vinyl pressing plant lockdown otherwise known as Record Store Day. We hope to see you all in March, but if we do have to take a short break we trust you’ll understand why.