The Uber Rock Singles Club – March 2013
Written by Johnny H
Sunday, 10 March 2013 03:30
For a feature that only started as a way of showcasing our love of vinyl, and that fact that at URHQ we don’t just pop along to our local record shop come Record Store Day, I have to admit the amount of quality stuff we’ve been receiving recently will probably see The Uber Rock Singles Club moving to a regular monthly slot, so if that sounds like music to your ears then your most certainly in the right place. Now all you need do is read on……
First up this time around and seemingly not content with polluting our warped and fragile tiny little minds with one split 7″ already this year, those sick and twisted muthafuckers The Hip Priests are back once more, this time with Deadcuts in tow for a red vinyl orgasm of punk rock bliss released via Speedowax Records.
The Hip Priests track included here ‘Jesus Died So We Could Ride’ is an absolute classic piece of Glunk that is a one finger (middle of course) piano rhythm track away from being legendary. Starting with a gospel intro and with sassy female backing vocals taking you through to climax this tune really is the mutts nutts. We demand more of this and soon you twisted fruits.
With my copy of this 7” having had the labels printed on the wrong sides I actually got to hear the brooding Psychedelic Furs pop of Deadcuts before the feral beast on its back. As a result I kind of overlooked it’s immediate charms, however after a few listens ‘Kill Desire’ really does build into a moody piece of guitar pop. Mark Keds is back folks and thankfully he’s still pissed off. You can pick up your copy of this super slick 7” by clicking HERE.
Up next, and released via Oi! The Boat Records on heavyweight white vinyl, ‘No Blacks. No Irish. No Dogs’ from Dublin punks Hooligan really is a corker of a release. especially for any fans of 1977 UK punk rock. The lead and title track of this four track E.P. is driven along on a skanking saxophone riff which actually brings to mind Hazel O’Connor at her very best whilst the second track on the A side ‘Calling Joe Strummer’ sounds so much like The Clash you would swear it was actually a long lost outtake.
Flip this beauty over and ‘Cops And Robbers’ keeps up The Clash vibe whist adding an SLF edge to proceedings, the song itself fair sprinting towards the finish line. The final track here ‘Bandit Country’ is the first track to feature a “woah oh” type vocal refrain and again it’s a more than decent slab of punk rock n roll. This EP really was a very pleasant trip down memory lane for me, largely because it took me back to a time when my every weekend was spent listening to EPs just like this whilst the world outside my window was falling apart….ummm not a lot changed has it?
Talking of that halcyon age of vinyl when the new double A side single by Jonny Cola & The A-Grades turned up at URHQ initially as a DVD containing videos of the songs on the single, the vinyl purist in me was not going to be swayed (or should that be Suede?). So when finally the orange 7″ released via Scratchy Records did finally turn up a few weeks later the nancy boy glam fop pop was made all the more sweeter on the taste buds due to the sound of that needle dropping on vinyl.
Of the music the lead track here ‘Straight To Video’ is a stab at ‘Dogmanstar’ grandeur that doesn’t quite have the killer hook to make it instantly memorable. It’s certainly ambitious and sprawling but the ass whipping mic action on the A side is a long time coming up and as such it’s perhaps more of an album track. The AA side ‘Marlborough Road’ though is a wham bang thank you glam slam of a tune. Jonny and Co might just have a case for doing a Spacehog on our sorry UK arses if they could just get this heard in the US. They just need to do it before Brett and Dame David release their new albums though, otherwise this quality 7” might get lost in the media rush to cozy up to the other two.
Having witnessed a suitably impressive live set from Radio Nasties just a week or so ago I’m sure the media rush around this Bristol trio is only just round the corner. At said gig I was impressed enough to pick up a copy of this three track 7″ pressed on red vinyl by Death Or Glory, and this release is every bit as impressive. If someone told you they could bottle raw rock ‘n’ roll energy and sell it, then it would be called Radio Nasties, because on each of the tracks here they conjure up the spirit and excitement of what it really must have been like visiting a smoke filled juke joint to check out the latest and greatest band in town.
Admittedly there is nothing new or groundbreaking here but who needs that when tracks like ‘Cuttin’ Out’ and ‘Good Ol’ Fashioned’ just make you want to jump and jive about the place. ‘Smalltown Mind ‘ may owe more to the Stay Cats than the other tracks on offer here but is that really such a bad thing?
If I had hair to comb mine would be in a D.A. right now as Radio Nasties are the coolest kids on the block right now and I want in the gang. “Don’t Fuck Wiv Da Nasties”.
Making up for only having a Rancid single and album in February’s Singles Club Lars Fredericksen is back with a vengeance and yet another Old Firm Casuals split 7″ this month, this time with The Headliners from Nantes, released via UVPR.
Again as with previous splits involving Lars and his crew this pairing works well as The Old Firm Casuals kick against the system anthem ‘March On’ and their ode to self destruction ‘Were all Gonna Die’ make good drinking buddies to The Headliners more rock n roll influenced ‘C’mon C’mon’ and ‘You’ve Never Done Anything’. The Headliners actually look scary as fuck in their promo pictures, but this duo of tracks has more than just one Doctor Marten in the New York Dolls/Humpers camp, and I’ll certainly be checking out their other releases sometime soon.
Finally this edition of The Uber Rock Singles Club and continuing the series of ‘Hooligan Classics’ double 7″ers released via Randale Records, we have volume two which includes another Old Firm connected track. This time around they are billed as The Resort Bootboys as the trio are joined by Millwall Roi Pearce (of Last Resort) for a blistering run through of ‘Aving It Large (Casual)’. War on the terraces this might be but in this day and age don’t forget to bring the prawn sandwiches.
The flip side to the first 7” in this gatefold release is ’40 Jahre’ by Stomper 98, a track I’ve already raved about in my review of’ Oi! This Is Streetpunk! Vol 2’, and this track just sounds better with each repeated play.
Over on the second 7” I get to encounter the all new Gonads for the first time, and I must admit that ‘Glorious’ ain’t half bad. Gal Gonad holding down a decent enough melody line whist ex Waysted six stringer Nacho Jase flicks out some quality guitar licks. The Gonads are back ladies and gents and they’re no way as shit as you remember them.
Closing this second single and E.P. are Iron Cross, who in spite of the provocative name actually just like The Headliners before them tread more of that fine line into NYC punk rock territory. If blokes in eyeliner had written and played ‘Action Woman’’ we’d all love it here at URHQ, but as these guys look like they work for a living in heavy industry it’ll instead just be the select few who get it.
All in all this edition of The Uber Rock Singles Club has produced a great set of bands and a great set of releases for you to all go out and discover…See you on the flip side people, and let’s try not to spend too much money on vinyl eh!