The Über Rock Singles Club – The St Valentine’s Day Massacre

Curated by Monk

Well, 2021 may have may have managed its faltering steps into the middle of its second month but already has been as much of a shitstorm of a year, if not more so, than its predecessor, with the Government apparently losing the war with the pan(dem)ic and BoJo’s much vaunted pathway out of the crisis still some way off. The summer festival season already in severe doubt following the cancellation of Glastonbury and other events looking set to fall like the proverbial dominos – with more and more tours, some already rescheduled two and three times, being put back by up to a further 12 months – at least 2021 is sharing something more positive in common with 2020, in that it already has produced some terrific new music, with the promise of plenty more to come, if the if the inbox here at ÜRHQ is anything to go by…

In that context, as the new rock ‘n’ roll year finally starts to stand on its own two feet, with its DMs firmly planted in the mire and muck of the dissolving world around it, there has been a healthy slew of new music pinging itself our way, and the number of submissions we received for our ‘Singles Club’… Yes, it’s hard to believe it’s been a just a week since the Singles Club opened its virtual doors and we fired up the death decks with a selection of the finest single-track releases to have come our way in recent weeks. Yet, here we are again with a special St Valentine’s Day celebration of the artform we all love more than any other, with a baker’s dozen of tracks for your aural and visual delectation, whittled down from the 150 submissions which have come our way over the past seven days or so (any not included here are being held over for consideration for next week’s “normal” fortnightly edition of the Club). Once again, our playlist hopefully contains something to tickle almost everyone’s musical taste buds as we traverse multiple subgenres of the glorious music we like to refer to as rock ‘n’f’n’ roll…

And leading down our rosy path to rock ‘n’ roll romance is none other than Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X and his sidekicks by the name of The Drills, who are once again mining (sic) the rich vein of rock gold with their latest single offering, the appropriately titled ‘I Love You On Her Lips’, which is the first taster from the project’s forthcoming sixth album, ‘Stupid Good Lookings Vol 2’, which will land later this year via our good friends at Golden Robot Records – a label who released a fuckton of scarily good stuff in 2020 and look like they will continue to do so throughout the current year, if their first crop of single offerings are anything by which to judge…

Actually, in a twist of fate which reflects their commitment to quality rock ‘n’ roll, we stay with the Golden Robot roster for our next brace of offerings, the first of which sees us welcome back another bunch of ÜR regulars, in the form of Aussie punk quartet Under The Influence, who are telling us that magnets do indeed taste like the moon (believe us, they do!) with their latest 71-second long slice of no-nonsense hardcore, which offers a timely commentary on human greed, space, time, pollution, disrespect and man’s self-driven vendetta against the natural world:

Now, we love a good collaboration here at URHQ, and there are few cooler and sexier, at least in terms of their name, than Hookers & Blow, the project put together last year by Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed and Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi with the specific aim of recording an album of their favourite cover versions. Already they have provided with versions of Eddie Money’s ‘Shakin’, the Stones’ ‘Rocks Off’, Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and Zep’s ‘Trampled Underfoot’. Now, if you’ve been counting, you’ll know that this makes this interpretation of the Zombies’ ‘Time Of The Season’ the fifth single to be lifted from aforesaid album, which again is due for release a little later in the year:

Staying with cover versions for the moment, a bit of classic punk now, and a track that is in keeping with the title of this week’s special edition of the Club, as Birmingham scene veteran Spizzenergi presents us with his take on another David Bowie song, this time ‘Valentine’s Day’ – a song which, of course, is as far removed from flowers and romance as it is possible to get, given that it is about a school shooting in Illinois on 14 February 2008! Spizz has done a decent job with the tune, helped in no small part by having long-time Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti on mixing duties:

A total change in mood and location as we fly (virtually, of course) down to the south coast with the speed of a ‘Meteor’ – which also happens to be the title of the latest single from post-metalcore monsters Architects. It’s the fourth single to be lifted from the Brighton band’s forthcoming ninth album, ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’ – and if this latest taster is anything by which to judge it is going to more than live up to the hype created by thon insanely clever ‘Space Odyssey’ PR stunt at the end of last year…

The next stop on our virtual global tour is the ever-febrile breeding ground that is Finland, from where Red Eleven are describing the experience enjoyed ‘Before I Fall’ with this powerful alt-rock anthem, the third single to be lifted from their forthcoming new album, ‘Handled With Chaos’, which is due for release this coming April. On this evidence, it’s one we’ll be looking out for here at ÜRHQ:

Our next destination is Germany, and one of my personal favourite melodic rock acts from the late Eighties, Bonfire. To celebrate their 35^th anniversary year, the Bavarians have recently gone back to their ‘Roots’ with their forthcoming new album of the same name, which has seen them exploring their back catalogue and re-imagining some of their fan favourite anthems in “almost acoustic” style. On this occasion, they are revisiting those heady ‘American Nights’, from their 1987 opus ‘Fireworks’:

Another veteran act, and another fave here at ÜRHQ, who could be argued is going back to his roots is Mike Tramp, who, despite a solo career that has lasted more than two decades, is still best known as the frontman of hair metallers White Lion and subsequently alt-rockers Freak Of Nature. What is perhaps less well known is that, back in 1978, as frontman of the pop-rock band Mabel, Tramp (under his real name of Michael Trempenau) represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest… Showing that the wheel of history does indeed turn back on itself, Tramp is entering this year’s Dansk Melodi Grand Prix – the competition to choose the country’s entry for the 2021 iteration of the same competition… Let’s hope that everything is indeed alright for one of our favourite singers (and one of rock ‘n’ roll’s genuinely nice guys)…

At the tail end of 2020, London post-punks Drones emerged from the studio to present us with their first new material in two years. Now, they have defiantly built on the energy of their return with their cataclysmic and cathartic new album, ‘Our Hell Is Right Here’, released this past Friday. The final single to be lifted from the full-lengther is another in-your-face call-to-arms, as they tell us to ‘Live & Let Live’ and not judge people based on their appearance alone:

Our final batch of releases features entries which were short-listed for our #VideoOfTheWeek. First up we have dark progressive ensemble birdeatsbaby, who have re-united after singer Mishkin Fitzgerald’s foray into a “crossover classical” side project. This tale of ‘Esmerelda’ is taken from the band’s forthcoming ‘The World Conspires’ album, which they themselves describe as their “most ambitious and unorthodox” to date:

We head back to the west coast of the USofA again, where we encounter some real Lowlives: but, don’t worry, it’s just the pop-punk band of the same name – and, despite the fact they claim not to like us, we’re a friendly bunch here at ÜR and prepared to reach out the hand of reconciliation as we do battle with the clowns and pirates to present their latest single:

As Kevin prepares to ring the bell for last orders and we order a double round of neat JDs, we stay on the West Coast where, despite half of their previous line-up deciding to fuck off to the likes of Seattle, Iowa and Nevada, we find the husband-and-wife team at the core of Bodies Of Water re-invigorated and once again planting their tongues very firmly in their cheeks (while highlighting a serious underlying message) and taking things back to their roots as they tell us this extremely funny tale of ‘Women In Love’…

We’re signing off with something that emphasizes the fun side of heavy metal, as we welcome back those madcap Germans Feuerschwanz who, following a petition raised by their fans when they previewed it during a recent live stream (during which the band performed inside airtight rubber balls), have officially released a “black metal version” of ‘Schubsetanz’. The physical version of the single won’t be released until April, but we’re not waiting until then to revel in this in(s)ane slice of metal mayhem:

Well, that’s your lot for this special iteration of the Singles Club. Yet again, we’ve drunk the pumps dry and the optics are running low, so it’s time to neck the dregs and feck off to listen to DQ scream abuse at the Ireland rugby team… We hope you agree that it has been another eclectic collection, and that you found something to tickle your earbuds and drive you to explore some new musical horizons. Until next week, when the big lad who goes by the name of DJ Astrocreep will be transporting down from cyberspace to once again take his place behind the death decks, keep ‘er lit, keep ‘er between the hedges and #StayTheFuckSafe!